Last Updated on November 8, 2024

One of the biggest challenges of motherhood is the sheer amount of chores that have to be done to keep our homes running, and even though there are chores we can delegate, we often do everything ourselves because it’s quicker to do so, which does nothing to help lessen our load.

However, delegating chores to other family members, even the youngest members, goes a long way into keeping you sane, and has a multitude of benefits for your children.

Children as young as 5 can help with household chores, in fact 5 is a great age for children to start being given chores, as it’s an age where children are eager to please their parents, and they actually want to help around the house.

If giving your 5 year old some chores is something you’d like to do, then here are some chore ideas for 5 year olds to get you started.

There’s quite a variety of chores on this list, so when deciding which chores to try out, choose the ones you think your 5 year old would enjoy, and that they are capable of doing.

Not all children have the same capabilities at the same age. What one 5 year old can do, another may not be able to. So when choosing from this list of chore ideas for 5 year olds, keep in mind the capability of your child, and give them a chore that they will be able to complete.

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THE BENEFITS OF CHORES

There are many benefits to children doing chores, some of these include:

• They learn the life skills they’ll need when they move out of home.
• They become responsible for helping to clean up their mess, which may hopefully result in them making less mess.
• Helping around the house allows them to see the results of their hard work, which builds the work ethic they’ll need when they enter the workforce.
• Their confidence and concentration levels grow from learning and doing new things.
• They learn how to work as part of a team, by helping others in the home with things.
• They gain an understanding of what it takes to keep a house and family running smoothly.

THINGS TO REMEMBER

Giving chores to a 5 year old isn’t about them completing the chores perfectly, in fact, if you insist on perfection you’ll have a battle on your hands, and will most likely have to do the chore yourself. Instead, see chores as a way to teach your child responsibility.

Another thing to remember is that 5 year olds are more capable than you think they are, so it’s worth seeing if they can do a chore before you think that they can’t.

Lastly, when you do allocate a chore to your 5 year old, the first thing you need to do is show them each step that they need to complete, then once you’ve done this watch them do it. Once they’ve mastered the chore, they can start to do it on their own.

This may be the point where you’ll think it’s just faster to do it yourself, but the time you put into teaching your child how to do something, will be much less than the time you’ll save once you don’t have to do the chore yourself.

Patience is key when getting your 5 year old to do a chore. They’ll forget how to do things, they’ll make a mess, and they’ll need to practice a lot before getting it right, but it will definitely be worth it in the end.

CHORE IDEAS FOR 5 YEAR OLDS

Here are some chore ideas for 5 year olds, which will provide them with the skills they need to start harder chores as they get older.

Empty the dishwasher

Before getting your 5 year old to empty the whole dishwasher, the first thing you can get them to do is empty the cutlery section and put the cutlery away (after you’ve removed sharp objects), as well as hand dry wet plastics.

Once they’re comfortable with this, they can then empty the remainder of the dishwasher and place each item on the kitchen counter, so you can put everything away yourself to avoid any breakages.

Set the table

As a start for this chore, your 5 year old can begin by putting the place mats, cutlery, and condiments on the table.

Once they’re confident with this, they could then put all the plates and cups on the table one by one, so they don’t break anything.

Clear the table

Once everyone is finished eating your 5 year old could clear the table of cutlery and condiments, and later on when they’re stronger, remove all plates and cups and dispose of any leftover food on the plates.

Take their plate to the kitchen

If you’d like to ease your child into clearing the entire table, you may decide to first start with them taking their own plate and cup to the sink, once they’ve finished eating.

Help with meal prep

My 5 year old loves to help with meal prep, and has even mastered the art of egg cracking.

Some great ways to get your 5 year old involved in meal prep is to get them to spread condiments on their toast, put milk in their cereal, help with baking by mixing ingredients or decorating biscuits and cakes, cut fruit or vegetables with child friendly knives, and wipe up spills.

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Put groceries away

One of the chore ideas for 5 years olds that we do in our house is have our 5 year old Ryan, help bring groceries into the house, and then put the groceries away in the drawers that he can reach.

Helping to put groceries away is a great way for Ryan to see what groceries we need for the week, ask questions about the types of meals they’ll be used for, and he gets a sneak peak at any goodies that are for him.

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Help with laundry

Ryan loves loading laundry into the washing machine or dryer, and overtime has learnt how to put the washing machine on the correct program after I add the washing detergent.

Allocating laundry as part of the chores your 5 year old does will eventually teach them how to wash and put away their own laundry, which will save you a lot of time in the future.

Other laundry related chores include:

• Moving laundry from the washing machine to the dryer
• Folding towels and underwear
• Matching socks
• Putting folded laundry in other family member’s rooms
• Putting their dirty clothes in a hamper

Pick up toys

This is probably one of the best chore ideas for 5 year olds, because picking up toys is never ending.

This can be made easy for your 5 year old by having a toybox in each room where your child has toys, and then asking your child to put their toys in it at the end of the day.

If your child is resistant to this chore, like Ryan is, than it may be worth making a game of it by challenging them to see how many toys they can put away in 10 seconds, or how many they can put away before a song that you play ends.

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Put shoes and school supplies away

Once your child comes home from school they can be made responsible for putting their shoes and school supplies away.

Having dedicated areas for shoes and supplies will make this easier for them.

Get dressed and brush teeth

Getting themselves ready in the morning teaches your 5 year old to become self reliant.

If you’d like to make getting dressed by themselves easier, then consider choosing your child’s clothing and having it ready for them to put on in the morning.

If brushing teeth is a chore you’d like your child to start doing, you may need to help them at first to brush the teeth at the back of their mouth. Then when they can do this themselves, leave them to do the entire job on their own.

Make their bed

Pulling their duvet up towards their pillow, and making sure their pillow is on their bed, is a great first step in making their own bed.

Once they can do this, and as they get older, they can then change their bed once a week, and make it every day.

Feeding pets

Feeding pets is a fantastic way to teach your 5 year old how to be responsible for something other than themselves.

A 5 year old can help to feed pets by making sure their pet has water and dry food, and later on they can even help to serve the wet food.

Other chore ideas for 5 year olds include:

• Dusting shelves
• Bringing in the mail
• Pulling weeds
• Watering flowers

I hope you’ve found some chore ideas for 5 year olds that you’d like to try at home.

From this list I’m going to start to get Ryan to set and clear the table, help more with his breakfast, and definitely pick up his toys.

What chore ideas for 5 year olds do you like the sound of?
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.