Age-appropriate chore contributions are extremely important. Household work to make your family space clean and functional is irreplaceable work. As mothers, it is our responsibility to teach our children how to engage in this work from a very young age. If we do that appropriately and if we share the reason behind it – why we invest in caring for our home – they learn to love it.
From age 12 months and beyond, my oldest daughter has asked to help me clean. Amazing! I will take it! How many teenagers do you know that beg their mothers to take part in cleaning? A far-reaching hope I’m sure. However, hearing from seasoned moms who are way past the point of toddlerhood, I know that if you plant the seed early, you can instill a sense of accountability and pride in your children to help out in your home.
Here are 5 toddler-approved chores to get your little one in a mindset of service!
1. Dusting and wiping surfaces.
Quite honestly, a toddler helping you clean probably creates more mess than it actually helps you tidy or clean surfaces. However, the payoff is substantial, even 6 or 12 months down the road.
While I am dusting, I give her a dusting wand or damp cloth and she can go along and wipe surfaces with me. Now that she is a bit older, and she can hold a spray bottle herself, she will take the water spray bottle and go to the sliding glass door, spray it down and start to wipe it. It is not a clean sliding glass door after the fact, but that’s not the point. The important part is that she is learning the skill of spending time to make the home the caliber of clean that our family thrives in. And also at the same time, I’m able to complete the household tasks that I need to without as many interruptions or potential meltdowns because she is preoccupied!
2. Putting away clean (unbreakable) dishes from the dishwasher.
I’m often multitasking in the kitchen first thing in the morning. Help with unloading the dishwasher is an easy win! I take out anything that is breakable, too heavy, or sharp and then I open up the dishwasher and allow her to take out the rest of the items and put them where they belong. She knows where most things go that are at her level in the kitchen because she’s plays while I’m cooking. The dishwasher is a no-brainer and an easy opportunity for her to put something away and feel a sense of pride in assisting mama with the morning chores.
3. Grocery bag unloading.
Simply bring the bags in from the car and set them on the floor. Then let your toddler go to town, perhaps with a freshly purchased snack in hand! It’s the same principle as with the dishwasher: I put anything into the fridge that’s raw or breakable, and then I open the bags and ask her to put groceries away into the pantry first. She grabs items and it’s like-for-like processing. Consider it a real life matching game! She knows the rice goes with the rice, cereal with cereal, beef jerky with beef jerky, etc.
At 2.5 years old, the fridge is a bright cave of endless fun! She knows cold food belongs in the fridge so she’ll bring cheeses or yogurts to me there.
I love this tip because it is a practical chore to help your toddler start to learn where food lives in the kitchen so that they can help to serve themselves or serve others with food as they grow up.
4. Three words: Mini Dyson vacuum.
The mini Dyson vacuum was the most brilliant first year birthday gift she received. This kids version of a mama’s classic is technically functional and picks up a little bit of dirt…but that’s really not the big idea.
While I’m vacuuming, which happens at least once a day, she eagerly gets her Dyson and vacuums right alongside me. She now identifies when there are crumbs on the floor or something breaks or we are messy, and knows we clean it up by using the vacuum.
5. Grabbing diapers and choosing an outfit.
Another task you can assign to a toddler is grabbing their own diapers and picking out their clothes first thing in the morning. You can also do this if they have a sibling, asking for their help in delivering you a clean diaper. This idea hinges on storing diapers and their clothing at their height.
Being that I have two daughters, I’m uncertain if the desire to help in this area differs with sons, but my oldest daughter absolutely adores carrying her sister’s dirty diapers to the trash can or bringing me a fresh diaper as needed. Basically you can engage your toddler in the dressing process and a little bit in the trash that is made from diapers.
Perhaps this is the most practical tip because there are many, many diaper changes to be had!
You will see for yourself the fruit of teaching them how to put away the groceries when you are postpartum and they’re in the pantry with their dad showing him where groceries belong in your place – a fond memory I now hold! They want to feel valued and that’s actually a huge motivator for them.
I adjust these “chores” as my toddler’s abilities grow and change. Try them out or institute your own that make sense for your household. When we start to think about our toddlers as having the ability to invest their own time into the patterns that exist within our homes, we will look at it much differently when it takes the extra five minutes to explain to them how to do something.
made for mothering 
Leave a comment