Chores by age, minus the vague advice.
Pick your child's age for a useful starting list: everyday family jobs, bigger skills to add next, and a fair line between contributing and earning.
Chore guides by age
Age 5
Chores for 5-year-olds
The useful skill at this age is joining the family routine: notice a job, do one or two steps, and put the tools back.
See the list →Age 6
Chores for 6-year-olds
At six, a child can handle a short sequence and remember familiar tools when the setup stays visible and unchanged.
See the list →Age 7
Chores for 7-year-olds
The step up at seven is independence: one clear responsibility can move from “help me” to “this is yours to finish.”
See the list →Age 8
Chores for 8-year-olds
An eight-year-old can usually manage several connected steps, especially when the tools, time, and definition of done stay consistent.
See the list →Age 9
Chores for 9-year-olds
The key skill now is planning a small task: gather what is needed, do the work, check it, and put things away.
See the list →Age 10
Chores for 10-year-olds
A ten-year-old is often ready to manage a multi-step responsibility with a weekly rhythm, provided the tools and safety rules are clear.
See the list →Age 11
Chores for 11-year-olds
At eleven, the useful challenge is reliability: complete work on schedule, notice a problem, and ask for help before it becomes a bigger one.
See the list →Age 12
Chores for 12-year-olds
A twelve-year-old can often complete a whole job with light oversight: plan it, do it safely, check quality, and report when something needs adult help.
See the list →Age 13
Chores for 13-year-olds
The opportunity at thirteen is transfer: skills learned at home—laundry, food, cleaning, planning—start becoming useful everywhere else.
See the list →The rule that keeps a chore system sane
Everyday self-care and family contribution are not paid jobs. If your family uses paid chores, save them for occasional work that is clearly extra, agree on the result first, and approve the finished job before the reward lands.