Age Appropriate Household Chores for Toddlers
Disclaimer: this post may contain affiliate links from various sites, including Amazon. As a member of the Amazon associates program, we earn a small amount from qualifying purchases when you use our referral link. This does not add any additional cost to you and helps with the expenses of keeping in Life and Littles up and running.
Do your little ones help out around the house?! I know that 19 months old may seem young to be “putting your kid to work”, but my son absolutely loves to be a helper. While some of the time (let’s be honest, most of the time) his help makes slightly more of a mess than we started with, E has been helping me with chores lately. It has become part of our daily routine and is time that I love spending with my son, watching him learn and grow.
There are so many wonderful benefits to having kids help out around the house! Performing chores can help kids feel important, teach personal responsibility, build life skills, and work on fine and gross motor skills. Here are some of the chores our boys help out around the house
Wiping The Table After Meals
It’s amazing what children pick up on just by observing their surroundings. After dinner every evening I clean up and wipe down the table. When E was finished with his meal I would offer him a wipe to clean his hands and his face, and one day after cleaning himself up he began wiping his place at the table. It was so cute to see him mimic my behavior, and while most of the time he just spreads his mess from dinner around the table I think it’s a great skill for him to practice.
Skills:
Personal Responsibility - if you make a mess, you clean it up
Motor Planning - motor planning is the activity of your brain telling your body how to perform a task without really “thinking about it”. We use motor planning for all physical activities like brushing our teeth, walking upstairs and typing on our computers. Wiping the table helps the brain learn how to judge distance and how to move their arm back and forth while holding a towel.
Placing Clothes In The Hamper
Placing dirty clothes into a laundry basket or hamper is a skill even some adults haven’t mastered (ahem: my college roommate) so it was a skill I knew I wanted to instill in E from an early age. It has now become a routine when we change his clothes for bed he takes his clothes from the day and places them in the hamper. He also enjoys helping me sort clothes into different hampers when I’m doing the family’s laundry. Katie does the same with R and even has him help transfer his dirty clothes into the washer when it’s time to do his laundry.
Skills
Personal Responsibility - picking up after yourself
Life Skills - learning to keep a clean room
Emptying The Dishwasher
With three people in our household, I find I run the dishwasher at least once a day. Part of my morning routine is making E’s breakfast, checking my work emails, and then emptying the dishwasher. E has always been fascinated with the dishwasher - trying to climb into it while it’s open, closing the door, and pushing the buttons on the front. Recently he took an interest in helping me empty the dishwasher. He picks up each item and says “here go Mama.” It melts my heart every time and has become a great start to our day.
Skills:
Life Skills - learning to keep a clean room and put items away
Fine Motor Skills - picking up small utensils builds pincer grasp and picking up larger plates and bowls help builds grip strength
Grading Force - the ability to adjust how much pressure or strength is needed to pick up an object based on its size and weight. Being able to grade force requires a good sense of body awareness and helps develop the proprioceptive system. Picking up light children’s plates vs. heavier plates or serving dishes is great practice for this skill.
Watering The Plants
Spending time outside and playing with water?! What more could a kid ask for? E and R both love helping with watering the plants. When we went to Katie’s Mom’s house for the 4th of July weekend the boys spent at least a half hour every day playing with their water cans and helping water the tomatoes and flowers. Now, when Katie needs the plants watered at home, R is always the one to do it.
Skills:
Sensory Play - providing opportunities for children to actively use their senses as they explore their world through ‘sensory play’ is crucial to their brain development. Sensory play is any activity that stimulates a young child's senses of touch, smell, taste, sight, and hearing, as well as movement and balance. Watering the plants includes so many of these aspects!
Heavy Work - “Heavy work” is an activity that requires effort from our muscles like pushing, pulling, or lifting. These activities create resistance input to the muscles and send feedback to our brain that calms and regulates the sensory system. This can be incredibly helpful for kids who are always on the move and love to be active.
Grading Force - learning to determine how much strength is needed to pick up and tilt the watering can, and how that changes as the can gets lighter.
Sweeping Crumbs Off The Floor
This goes on the list of activities that may or may not be so helpful, at least at the beginning. I have a small hand broom and dust pan that I use to clean up small messes around the house and after watching me my son started insisting on “cleaning up” his own messes. When he spills his crackers or fruit on the floor he now goes to the closet and asks to “weep”. It’s very cute! But most often the items on the floor end up swept against the baseboards or under the cabinets, but that doesn’t mean its not good practice!
Skills:
Life Skills - learning to clean up when a mess is made
Hand Eye Coordination - being able to see the mess on the floor and then use a tool in their hand to move that object is a very important skill. This one is fun to observe as your child improves! They may start with spreading their crumbs all around the floor, but gradually they will be able to make some of them into the dust pan. Watching the joy when they accomplish tasks like this is an exciting parenting moment.
