Age-Appropriate Chores for Early Years

At Kent Nursery, we believe that children of all ages should be encouraged and taught to help around the home with age appropriate chores. This teaches children from early on how to contribute, and is a great way to build confidence.

The Value of helping around the home during the Early Years and beyond:

1. Chores help young children form good habits.
2. Chores help to build independence, as well as build personal, social and emotional skills
3. Chores for toddlers and young children will help to build their confidence because they love to feel that they are helping and are contributing. Even as little as they are, they love to feel needed.
4. Chores teach them responsibility – when they put their own laundry in the laundry hamper or make their own bed – albeit that it won’t be perfect – they learn that the house does not clean itself and that each person can take responsibility for themselves to a certain extent.
5. Chores help early years children to understand the world around them.

Parents regularly want to know what the best age is to start chores, how to introduce chores, and what types of chores their early years and foundation stage children could help with, so we’ve prepared these guidelines:

Top Tips for introducing chores to early years and foundation stage children:

1. Teach chores by explaining and demonstrating. Instead of saying “please make your bed”, you can show them how it’s done while at the same time describing the tasks in an age-appropriate way, for example “pull this corner here until it reaches here, then move your pillow to the top,” etc.
2. Model the behaviour you want to see – it’s important that your children see you doing your chores too!
3. As an activity, make a chore chart with your child and allow them to decorate it with stickers and doodles, etc. Agree on which chores they will do, and give them a sticker to put on their Chore Chart each time they achieve something.
4. Remember that chores are less about children attaining perfection, and more about them gaining confidence and learning responsibility. Try to avoid the temptation of over-correcting them if their bed is not made neatly or laundry is not folded correctly.

So what chores should your toddlers/early years be doing?

Here are some suggestions of age-appropriate chores for young children:

Kent Nursery is a British Curriculum Nursery school in Dubai offering state of the art facilities to early years foundation stage children aged 1 – 4 (pre-FS). We are situated in the heart of Meydan, just off Al Ain Road with easy links to Nad Al Sheba, The Villa, Meydan South, Al Barari, Falcon City of Wonders, Dubai Silicon Oasis DSO, and The Meydan Precinct. We are an inclusive nursery in Dubai, and pride ourselves on small class sizes, world class facilities and fully qualified and experienced. Come for a tour and see the difference for yourself.

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