June 24, 2015

Chores and Responsibilities for the Preschool Child + FREE Printables

It is a question that I receive often – how do I get my kids involved in cleaning? Just what chores are appropriate for their age? With three kids of my own, two elementary aged and one preschooler, I feel as though I have honed in on just what to expect for a variety of ages. Today I am covering the preschool age group while the older kids will be covered next week.

Preschoolers are eager helpers and it’s hard to figure out just how to best harness their enthusiasm while giving them tasks that are actually useful. Depending upon the age and maturity of your child, there is a large variety of tasks that can be expected and accomplished by this age group. With this age group, modeling is especially important. For example, show them just how to dampen a washcloth and wring it out to wipe their face and hands or how to set the table appropriately with plates in the center and silverware on the left or right side. It will probably take more than one time for them to have it up to your expectations, so have patience as they learn the proper technique.

While not every child or age can be expected to complete every task in the list below, pick ones that fit your child or children’s age and maturity as well as your needs. After deciding ones that are good fits, use the blank list included in today’s download in order to make a checklist of sorts for your family.

With a little teaching and modeling, you will be surprised at just what your child is capable of. Every little bit of help counts!

Household Chores

• wipe baseboards/cupboards with baby wipes
• help fold laundry- match socks, fold dishcloths and hand towels
• help sort laundry into whites and brights/darks
• help put away clean clothes
• clean windows with damp microfiber cloth
• pick up toys, put books in bookshelf
• help unload groceries
• water plants
• gather garbage
• vacuum corners and edges along baseboards
• wipe bathroom counter with dampened microfiber cloth
• dust lower shelves and items
• wipe doorknobs and switch plates

Morning/Evening Chores

• brush teeth
• brush hair
• wipe face with a warm, wet washcloth after eating
• make bed- pull up comforter/duvet and put pillow at the top
• put dirty clothes and pajamas in clothes basket
• get dressed in the morning and pajamas in the evening

Mealtime Chores

• set table with plates, napkins and appropriate silverware
• bring dirty dishes to sink when done eating
• wipe down table
• sweep up crumbs using a small dustpan and broom or handheld vacuum

How about some FREE printables to make implementing responsibilities for preschoolers a little easier? I made 3 different colors of a simple chore chart and I also put the chores and responsibilities that I listed on a free printable. Grab the zip file with all 4 free printables here and save and print what you will use and get your preschooler started with some simple and do-able responsibilities.

Here are a  couple more ideas to encourage cleaning up – click on the images to go straight to the posts.

If you like these FREE printables you’ll love my HOMEKEEPING SOCIETY and the organizing printables in my shop!

This post is part of my SIMPLE SUMMER CHALLENGE – throughout the month I’m sharing ways to keep up with routines while having lots of fun in the process. Go here to see the introduction post, and here to see all the posts in this series. Make sure you’re following me on Instagram for more on this summer challenge!