Chore charts for kids, by age.
Age-appropriate chore lists from toddler to teenager, and a free generator that turns any of them into a chart they’re proud to check off. Edit anything, print it free. No email, no account.
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Age-appropriate chores, by age
Every list below is written for what a child can genuinely own at that stage — single steps for toddlers, real household roles for teens. The first few in each list are the ones we start a chart with; the rest are there when you are ready to add.
A toddler chore chart works when every job is one step, visible, and finished in under a minute. These starter chores build the "I help too" habit years before real responsibility begins.
- Put toys in the bin
- Put books back on the shelf
- Put dirty clothes in the basket
- Carry my cup to the sink
- Help wipe up spills
- Help fill the pet’s water bowl
- Put shoes in their spot
- Put napkins on the table
- Throw my trash in the bin
- Help water a plant
- Match the socks
- Hold the dustpan
Preschoolers can handle real two-step jobs and love being trusted with them. This chart mixes self-care basics with small household contributions they can finish without help.
- Pull the covers up on my bed
- Set the table (napkins and forks)
- Feed the pet
- Get dressed by myself
- Brush teeth (morning and night)
- Clear my plate after meals
- Tidy the play area before bed
- Water the plants
- Sort lights and darks
- Hang up my backpack and coat
- Help carry in light groceries
- Wipe the table after dinner
Chore Chart for 6–8 Year Olds
12 CHORESEarly-elementary kids can own daily responsibilities from start to finish. This chart moves from "helping" to jobs that are genuinely theirs, done without reminders as the habit builds.
- Make my bed
- Do homework at homework time
- Load my dishes in the dishwasher
- Keep my room tidy
- Feed and water the pet
- Help pack my lunch
- Empty the small trash bins
- Fold and put away towels
- Sweep the kitchen floor
- Bring in the mail
- Water the garden or plants
- Line up the family shoes
Tweens are ready for multi-step responsibilities with real stakes: laundry, meals, shared spaces. This chart trades sticker-chart energy for a straightforward accountability list.
- Wash and put away my laundry
- Take out trash and recycling
- Unload the dishwasher
- Clean my room (including under things)
- Manage my own homework time
- Vacuum a room
- Cook or prep part of a family meal
- Wipe down the bathroom sink
- Do a yard job (rake, weed, shovel)
- Help a younger sibling with a task
- Put away groceries
- Walk the dog
Chore Chart for Teens
12 CHORESA teen chore chart is less about reminders and more about running a shared household between busy schedules. These jobs build the life skills they will need in a first apartment.
- Plan and cook one family meal a week
- Do my laundry end to end
- Clean a bathroom weekly
- Close down the kitchen after dinner
- Run an errand (or ride along to help)
- Keep my own schedule and commitments
- Mow or handle a rotating yard job
- Help with a sibling pickup or practice
- Deep-clean one zone a month
- Track a small budget (gas, lunches)
- Help with a household fix or project
- Own trash day (bins out and back)
Why age-appropriate chores matter
Most chore charts fail for one of two reasons: the jobs are too big for the kid, or the chart asks too much at once. A three-year-old handed "clean your room" is set up to fail; the same child handed "put the blocks in the bin" succeeds and asks for more. That is why this generator starts from age, not from a blank page.
Every age list here is written for what kids can genuinely own at that stage: single steps for toddlers, two-step jobs for preschoolers, full ownership in elementary school, real household roles for tweens and teens. Start with the defaults, cut anything that does not fit your family, and add your own.
One tip from the research on habits and rewards: keep the first chart short. A chart a kid completes builds momentum; a chart that is half empty by Wednesday teaches them to ignore it. You can always add chores once the routine sticks.
For the research on rewards and habit-building behind these lists, see why reward charts stop working.
How many chores should a kid have?
Fewer than you think, especially at the start. The most common way a chore chart dies is not defiance — it is a chart with fourteen rows that is already half empty by Wednesday. A short chart a child finishes teaches them that the chart means something. A long chart they abandon teaches them it does not.
A reasonable starting point is two or three daily jobs for toddlers and preschoolers, three to five for early elementary, and five or six for tweens and teens, with a weekly job or two layered on once the daily rhythm holds. Those numbers are a floor to build from, not a target to hit in week one.
Add chores when the current set has gone quiet — when nobody is reminding, arguing, or checking. That is the signal there is room for more. Adding on a calendar schedule instead of a readiness signal is how charts get top-heavy.
Should kids get paid for chores?
Families land in different places on this and both work. The approach that causes the fewest arguments is to split the list: some jobs are simply what it costs to live here and are never paid, and a smaller set of bigger jobs can be earned against. Clearing your own plate sits in the first group. Washing the car sits in the second.
The reason the split helps is that it keeps the baseline from drifting. When every chore has a price, a child can reasonably decide that today they are not interested in the money, and they are not wrong — you set up a transaction and they declined it. Keeping membership chores unpaid removes that negotiation entirely.
If you do pay, decide the rate and the inspection standard once, out loud, and write both on the chart. Most conflict about paid chores turns out to be a disagreement about whether the job was actually finished, not about the money.
How to start a chore chart that survives the first month
Pick the chores together. A child who chose "feed the dog" over "set the table" has already agreed to it, and the ten seconds that took buys you weeks of not arguing. It also surfaces the jobs they secretly want, which are rarely the ones you would have assigned.
Attach each chore to something that already happens rather than to a time on the clock. "Dishes go in after dinner" survives a chaotic week; "dishes at 6:30" does not. The existing routine is doing the remembering, which is the whole trick.
Agree on what finished looks like, once, in plain words. Most chore fights are definition fights — you meant the bed pulled tight, they meant the blanket roughly north. Say it, write it, stop relitigating it.
Then put the chart where the child actually is. On a fridge, that means at their eye level, not yours. On a TV, it means it is simply there when the room is in use, which is the reason a lot of families end up moving the chart off paper entirely.
What to do when the chart stops working
Almost every chart stalls somewhere around week three. That is normal, and it is usually one of three things: the chart got too long, the reward stopped meaning anything, or the chore never had a reliable trigger in the first place. Each has a different fix, so it is worth working out which one you have before changing anything.
If it is length, cut rows until the chart is completable on a bad day. If it is the reward, move it further out — a weekly reward generally holds up better than paying per checkmark, and habits that already run on their own should have their reward retired entirely. If it is the trigger, re-anchor the chore to a fixed part of the day instead of a time.
One thing not to do is add a bigger prize. It works for about a week and raises the price of everything after it.
COMMON QUESTIONS
What age should kids start doing chores?
Around two, if the job is one step and takes under a minute — putting toys in a bin, carrying a cup to the sink. At that age the point is not a cleaner house; a toddler "helping" usually makes the job slower. It is the identity that forms: I am someone who pitches in. Real responsibility follows from there.
How many chores should a child have?
Two or three daily jobs for toddlers and preschoolers, three to five for early elementary, five or six for tweens and teens, plus a weekly job once the daily set holds. Start under that if you are not sure. A short chart they finish beats a long chart they abandon.
Should kids get paid for chores?
Either approach works, but splitting the list causes the fewest arguments: baseline jobs that come with living here are unpaid, and a smaller set of bigger jobs can be earned against. If you do pay, set the rate and the standard for "finished" once, and put both on the chart.
Do chore charts actually work?
They work when the jobs fit the child and the chart is short enough to finish. They stop working when the list outgrows the kid, the reward inflates, or the chore has no reliable daily trigger. Most charts that fail are fixable by cutting rows rather than by adding prizes.
Is this chore chart generator really free?
Yes. Pick an age, edit the chores, print it. No email, no account, no watermark, and nothing to unlock. If you would rather not reprint it every week, Luana can put the same chart on your TV instead — that part is the paid product, and it is entirely optional.
What is the best way to display a chore chart?
Wherever the child already looks. A printed chart works best at their eye level in the room where the chore happens — the kitchen for meal jobs, the bedroom for morning routines. Paper does have one recurring cost: somebody has to reprint and re-hang it. Families who get tired of that tend to move the chart to a screen the whole house can see.