Family Life: Age-Appropriate Chores for 7 Year Olds

You’ve cleaned the house 1000 times this week! At least…it feels that way. And then your children’s tiny hands and feet manage to turn order into chaos again! And YOU have to clean and tidy…AGAIN. So, why not use appropriate chores for 7 year Olds so they can help lighten the load?

As a parent it’s your privilege to teach your children the values that will guide them throughout their lives. But that’s also a huge responsibility! And since parenting doesn’t come with a manual, how do you know what to do when? For teaching your 7 year old child about cleanliness, having good personal hygiene and getting into the habit of tidying up, we’ve got you covered.

Use our list of chores for 7 year olds and other valuable information to have your child join in on house chores in an appropriate way. As a bonus, with the kids helping out, you’ll have some more time for yourself from now on.

 

When Should Children Start Doing Chores?

Kids are more capable than you may think!

Children as young as 2 can start taking part in chores, even if it’s only with simple actions like picking up their toys. Or you can include them in tasks to start teaching them the skill for later on. This is appropriate for feeding the dog or cleaning tasks like wiping and mopping.

By the time they’re six or seven years old, they should have the skills to work autonomously and take on responsibility to get the tasks done. Of course, thanks to tools like chore apps—including Enzo—you can remind all your family members of their tasks and track their progress. This simplifies home management and maintenance.

 

Developmental Milestones—Your Child at 7

For kids to perform tasks efficiently, the task must be appropriate to their abilities. Understanding what developmental milestones kids reach between the ages of six and eight, can help you understand what exactly is ‘appropriate’.

By using their practical, emotional and social development as guidance, set out tasks for them. Here are some milestones you can expect that are relevant to house chores:

• Because they become better at following commands—longer ones as they mature—you can give them more complicated directions as they grow.
• Since 7 year olds can usually tell time, you can request when you want them to perform a task, or by what time they should be finished.
• With their knowledge of numbers, shapes and colors chores for 7 year olds can include tasks where they need to count or group items. For example, let them help organize a drawer or take out cutlery for a certain number of people for dinner.
• They may start wanting to be independent, which you could use to teach them to take responsibility of their own belongings or look after their own pets.
• 7 year olds can grasp the concept of teamwork, which you can use for an efficient time of cleaning and doing chores as a family.
• Because they grasp right and wrong you can guide them in how to perform a task and why it’s not acceptable to skip their chores. Be careful not to criticize or embarrass, since they are sensitive and have an innate desire to please others, like you and their teachers. Rather provide positive encouragement.

 

Appropriate Chores for 7 year Olds

With your child’s perception in mind, you can consider adding their name to the family chore chart for the following chores for 7 year olds. Remember that for any new task, a time of guidance is necessary. Show them how and be patient while they learn to perfect the skill.

 

Indoor Chores

General Cleaning

This age group has the dexterity and strength to efficiently wipe down surfaces and dust furniture. Perhaps just keep them away from small, fragile items.

 

Dishes

They’re more than able to firmly grip dishes, even if they’re covered in soapy water. Give them the responsibility to wash and dry dishes. They can pack away too if the storage area is low enough to reach without standing on tiptoes, or a step or small ladder. Don’t run the risk of them losing their balance, falling and cutting themselves on a broken plate.

 

Laundry

Start teaching them how to fold clean laundry. It will still take a while before it looks perfect of course. You can give them the task of putting away their own clothing if you prefer perfection for your own cupboard.

 

Bedrooms

Making their bed should be a standard procedure by now. You can also ask them to clean out all the bedrooms’ dustbins on a regular basis. Depending on the size of your vacuum cleaner, they can also clean the floors.

Younger Siblings

If you have children younger than your 7 year old, ask them to help you look after their siblings:

• Feeding them at the table
• Putting on their shoes
• Helping them carry toys and other clutter to the room

 

Personal Assistant

Your little one may love discovering his or her abilities, so allow them to help with various tasks. Through these chores for 7 year olds, together you’ll find out how much he or she is capable of:

• Ask them to deliver a message to someone in another room or to a neighbor.
• Let them fetch items from another room.
• Allow them to watch while you work on the car. They can hand you tools or hold items in place as long as it’s safe.
• Fetching the mail from outside. If they’re avid readers, let them sort the mail according to names too.
• Let your child help you organize and declutter the house once in a while. You don’t have to do it all anymore! Chores for 7-year-olds can include grouping their belongings—clothing, toys or books—in categories. This can simplify your tidying up or identifying what needs to be donated or thrown away.

 

Being Creative

Include your child when you’re doing fun, creative chores, such as wrapping gifts or picking out photos to put on the wall. Create moments that they’re proud of being part of. By asking their input you’re also building their confidence.

 

Dinner Time

Setting and clearing the table are ideal chores for 7 year olds. They’re helping to host the important times together as a family. You’ll have to show them how to do some of it for a while still, because table placements may be a bit haphazard. But if it’s just for family, who cares?

 

Outdoor Chores

Weeds

Their small hands can firmly grip and pull to remove weeds. This is also good exercise and time to get fresh air.

 

Cleaning Outside

While you do more detailed work like trimming hedges, ask them to pick up any loose items and debris, like twigs or the dog’s toys. You can even start teaching them to rake leaves.

 

Watering the Garden

Of course, they will end up being a bit wet afterwards, but let them water the garden with a watering can. It’s the ideal way to teach them about caring for the environment too.

 

Walking/Feeding the Dog

For their own or a family pet, you can shift caring responsibilities to your son or daughter at this age. You may have to remind them, but soon they’ll be in the habit of feeding them each day. If you own a dog and it’s small enough, they can hold the leash while you go on walks.

Handy Tip #2: Invest in child-sized equipment, such as a smaller rake and a watering can he or she can manage easier. They will feel important having their ‘own’ items, enjoy the tasks more and becoming more enthusiastic about getting chores done.

 

5 Reasons to Use Chore Tracker Apps with Your Family

There are many ways to organize cleaning and other chores around the house, such as a chore wheel or a spreadsheet. But many families have found the value of technology, with a chore tracker app making things much easier:

• An app like Enzo sends out reminders, so no one forgets what you expect them to do. This is better than a chore list on the fridge that everyone gets used to seeing and ends up ignoring.
• You can track bills and expenses. This is ideal for a family with busy schedules where you don’t always get time to sit down and talk about the budget.
• Once you include your smaller children in using the app, you can share emergency numbers with them via the app, so they always have it available.
• You save time in allocating tasks thanks to the app managing recurring chores.
• Add family meetings or parties with friends to the calendar. All the kids will know when they need to be at home and by what time you need the grass cut to impress the visitors.

 

Lots of time saved! No more misunderstandings! Less conflict!

That’s an advantage in ANY household.

 

Final Thoughts

Teaching your children by giving them chores isn’t only possible—it’s essential. Taking on the responsibility helps children—even as young as seven—feel needed. Give them purpose by adding them to your chore chart or chore tracker app and they may just surprise you.

If you have more suggestions on how to get the younger generation involved, please share in our comments.