Key Points:
- It’s possible to raise a responsible child as early as 3 years old by assigning simple and safe household chores that align with their cognitive and physical skills.
- Parents can involve their children in tasks such as picking up toys, helping with baking, sorting laundry, and setting placemats, fostering a sense of responsibility and engagement.
All parents would love their young children to be responsible and help with some of the household chores, but you might be wondering if it’s too early to ask your 3 or 4-year-old to tackle some of the chores already. Even though it’s true that toddlers are messy and still have limited attention spans and tolerance to frustration, raising a responsible child as early as 3 years old is possible!
It’s certainly too soon to expect your kid to perform the chores an adult would, but there are lots of things your little one can help you with. In fact, many young kids enjoy imitating their parents around the house and that proves an excellent opportunity to assign them simple and safe tasks. Just make sure to keep reasonable demands. Overwhelming a toddler with responsibilities may prove counterproductive if they get burnt out and resentful of helping out. So, this isn’t the time to pass over the duster to the next generation!
Based on the What to expect: The toddler years guide, here are some ideas of which house chores you can ask your 36-month-old to help with. Most of them will be fun to do and will exercise their cognitive and physical skills as well!
- Pick up toys and putting them away.
- Mix cake batter, just make sure your kid doesn’t lick the spoon when there’s raw eggs involved.
- Shape cookie balls.
- Place dirty clothes in the laundry bin.
- Help sort color clothes and white clothes for washing.
- Unload clothes from the dryer machine after they’ve cooled down.
- Set placemats on the table.
Just make sure that your kid has adult supervision, and you’re all set!
