Parents, experts weigh in on when to teach kids to do chores
You’ve probably started instructing your children in tasks they’ll need for the rest of their lives – using a screwdriver, loading a dishwasher and the like. Here are some more suggestions of activities that kids should master before being launched into the world:
Around the house
■ Clean a lint filter: With 144 clothes dryers (to go with his 157 washers, 15 TV screens and 5,000 customers a week), the owner of The World’s Largest Laundromat (worldslargestlaundry.com) knows lint filters.
“Having been a daddy and having raised a couple of kids myself, there’s nothing to it,” Tom Benson says. “An 8- or 9-year-old kid can do it. You take the filter, you brush it off in the trash and you’re done.”
■ Use a plunger: According to Raymond VinZant, one of the “Ask the Plumber” answer guys at RotoRooter.com, 10 is a good age, if mom and dad are patient and understanding.
VinZant also suggests teaching the proper technique, one that avoids splashing.
■ Basic auto care: Back in the day, a dad could take a kid out into the garage and demonstrate how to replace a fuse or change the oil. But cars today are more complicated.
“I wouldn’t direct most adults to the fuse panel out of fear of somebody grabbing the wrong thing and causing damage,” says Mike Walker, the Southeast Region automotive manager for UPS, a position that makes him responsible for the maintenance of all of UPS trucks, tractors and trailers in a 10-state area.
Walker, who started learning his automotive skills from his mechanic father, suggests instead that parents instill a mindset in their kids around age 6 or 7, using their bikes as a teaching aid.
■ Diaper a sibling: Figure around age 12, about the time most kids begin to baby-sit, says Elizabeth Shaw, Parenting magazine’s executive editor. She says even a 5- or 6-year-old could properly fasten a disposable diaper with adult supervision, “but a parent or caregiver should handle the ointment and cleaning duty.”
Shaw points out that having a toddler observe is a good way to make the child feel included in his new sibling’s life.
In the kitchen
■ Debone a fish or chicken breast: By the time they reach their teens, kids should have the safety smarts and dexterity to accomplish the task, so let’s say 13 to 15.
■ Make their own school lunch: When a child is able to get dressed on his own, he can also pack at least part of his lunch, according to Kay Logsdon, vice president and managing editor at ra.
“Treat it as a privilege rather than a chore, as in, ‘Look how big you are now!’” she says.
Kids can get involved even earlier – “the minute they can express an opinion,” she says – in choosing lunch items. That’s also an opportunity to discuss healthful food choices.
Character builders
■ Write a thank-you note: “Ask Amy” columnist Amy Dickinson says to start teaching this early.
“Very young children can learn the art of thanking people for gifts by doing so in person starting at around 3 or 4,” she says, “and then sitting down with a grown-up and ‘dictating’ a thank-you note and helping decorate and send it.
■ Care for a pet: There’s more to it than scooping kibble into a bowl. The lessons should start in preschool years, with kids helping fill water and food bowls, putting the pet’s toys away and doing simple grooming, says Dr. Sandy Passmore, humane education program manager at Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, Utah.
When kids get older, around 9 or 10, Passmore said, they can graduate to more responsibility: walking the dog or cleaning up after a pet, again with supervision.
■ How to eat in public: Parenting’s Shaw says it’s never too early. “If you want your lessons to stick, start encouraging polite behavior, like using a napkin and passing dishes instead of reaching across the table, by age 5. Moms should remember, though, that good restaurant behavior, like staying seated at the table and eating politely, largely depends on individual temperament. Some kids have it down pat by age 3, others could still struggle at 6.”
■ How to wash their hands: With swine flu looming, now’s a good time to hammer home the importance of properly washing one’s hands.
The basics
Here’s a primer on what kids need to know, by what age:
By age 2: Start sorting clothes for the laundry. Make a peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich.
By age 3: Help load and unload a washer or dryer. Make a bed. Lock the door when the family is in the house. Unlock a bathroom door.
By age 4: Tie their shoes. Prepare a simple salad. Greet people, making eye contact and shaking hands.
By age 5: Set the table with everyday plates, utensils and napkins. Call 911.
By age 6: Change a light bulb. Use a house key. Tell time. Learn telephone skills.
By age 7: Open a can. Bait a hook.
By age 8: Take out the trash. Use a needle and thread.
By age 9: Load and unload a dishwasher. Scrub a toilet.
By age 10: Iron a shirt. Shut off the water at the main valve. Throw a circuit breaker. Chop and dice with adult supervision.
By age 12: Set the table with the china. Use power tools.
By age 15: Change a tire.
