Free Printable Chore Charts for Kids
Download printable chore charts for kids in both blank and filled formats. You'll also find a list of age-appropriate chores, reward systems, digital chore charts, and more!
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I love a good chore chart! And I've got a few different designs and ideas for kids' chore lists to share with you today. Instead of having several different blog posts about kids' chores, I'm consolidating them into a one-stop-shop post for all things chores on the blog. And these are all free chore chart printables!
In our family, it is so incredibly useful for us to have a checklist of simple tasks and age-appropriate chores that can be completed in a daily routine. Both free printables and cleaning are kind of my thing; so of course this topic fits perfectly on the blog, too.
What chores can my kids do at their age?
Before we get to the printable chore charts, let's first take a look at what chores kids can do.
Chores are going to change as your children get older. I like a very loose, simple structure to responsibility charts when kids are in the preschooler range, getting more complex as they get into adolescence.
Above, I've got a few household chores that are fit for certain age groups. I shared the above graphic in a post a few years ago, but I think it's worth sharing again. I pulled a few tasks right from my cleaning schedule that are appropriate for several different age ranges.
Chores for Toddlers (2-3 Years)
- Declutter
- Put away & organize toys
- Dust/clean surfaces
- Clean baseboards
Chores for Preschoolers (4-5 Years)
- Organize shoes
- Organize end tables
- Clean kitchen table
- Help load/unload the dishes in the dishwasher
- Water plants and maintain flower beds
- Organize tv areas
- Clean doors & handles
- Sort dirty laundry
(Other appropriate chores not on the graphic: cleaning out hampers, feeding pets, sorting dirty clothes)
Chores for Young Children (6-7 Years)
- Clean out closets
- Make bed
- Organize junk drawers
- Clean windows & blinds
- Organize under bathroom sinks
- Clean sinks
- Fold laundry
- Hang & refold clothes
- Clean out refrigerator & pantry
(Other appropriate household tasks not on the graphic: simple lawn care, taking out the trash, cleaning bathroom mirrors)
Chores for Older Kids (8-10 Years)
- Vacuum & mop floors
- Cleaning bathrooms (sinks, toilets, showers)
- Dusting fans/curtains
- Full laundry routine (sort, wash, dry, fold, put away)
- Sweeping/blowing leaves
Now that we've got the actual tasks down, let's organize them into charts!
How to Print & Use the Chore Charts
All of the printable files you see below are formatted to print on 8.5x11" printer paper. An at-home printer is perfect - this is the printer I use! I would use regular paper for the chore charts and cardstock for the chore cards.
The easiest way to use chore charts over and over is to laminate, use a sheet protector, or use an inexpensive picture frame (like the one pictured above, from Dollar Tree). Once in the protector, write on the chore chart a wet-erase or dry-erase marker to mark off the tasks on the daily checklist. Simply use an eraser to reset every night, rather than having to print another daily chore checklist.
Printable Chore Chart for Preschoolers
We'll start with a simple chore chart that's really guided. This one is already filled in with age-appropriate chores and personal care habits for younger kids (anywhere from 3-4 years old). It's great for instilling a little bit of responsibility in younger ones without too much depth.
You'll notice that this is a mix of personal habits and traditional home chores. I am a big believer in forming habits, whether it's for kids or adults. Integrating personal habits (like brushing teeth, taking a bath, or learning a new fact) into a chore chart is a great way to build those habits early in life.
Chore Chart for Younger Kids
Now, let's make it a little more complex! This is a similar filled list with more responsibilities. It's great for little kids (anywhere from 5-7 years old).
With this list, I divided the tasks into morning and evening. That way, kids that are in school still have some structure as to what chores need to be done and when. It's still a mix of personal habits and home tasks, just a little longer and more age-appropriate.
Chore Charts for Older Kids & Teens
With older children and teens, you're going to need a little bit more flexibility with your chore chart. I get that a pre-filled chore chart doesn't necessarily work when different kids have different needs and responsibilities. So, I have a couple of blank checklists that kids & parents can fill in as needed.
The first weekly chore chart I've got breaks chores down by day. If you have a chore schedule that repeats daily, this one is perfect for you!
You can also grab this weekly chore chart in a different color scheme.
Again, I like a mix of home care and personal habits in chore charts. Here are a few ideas we use in our home:
Example Home Care Chores
Example Personal Habit Chores
Printable Chore Cards
Want a different option than a structured chore chart? Let your kids pick their own chores!
You might notice a section on the chore charts above that says "chore of Mommy/Daddy's choice." That was always kind of a tricky one for us.
Since Journey to Clean (my cleaning system) is divided into Rooms of the Week, I don't always know off the top of my head what my daily tasks are (not to mention what's age-appropriate for my kids to do). I don't like to give her the same task each day (because let's be honest - that gets boring very quickly).
As a solution, I cooked up a few daily chore cards they get to draw from a cup!
These are tasks that I typically haven't completed by the time my kids get home each day, that need to be done (no matter the week), and that they can complete with minimal supervision.
This has been a great solution to our chore dilemma. They love the variety of the chores and the fun of getting to randomly draw one (and I love having one less thing to do every day 😉).
I made both a longer and a more card-like format for these. You can print them for free by clicking the links below.
Simply cut these cards out and place them in a cup. I hope it helps you as much as it has helped our family.
Adult Cleaning Cards
If you want a more grown-up version of these cleaning cards, I have a Journey to Clean product that you'll love.
You can get each task in the Journey to Clean Room of the Week checklist in card form! I've broken these tasks down into color-coded weekly cards. Instead of doing the same monotonous list every week, you can simply draw 1-2 cards each day to complete your room of the week.
If you really want to shake it up, mix all the cards together and complete every task once a month.
This works the same way as the kids' cards - simply draw a few as you get the time to clean. I recommend doing 1-2 tasks a day, but you can definitely pace it to your schedule. This is perfect for a more flexible cleaning system.
Get more info about the Journey to Clean Room of the Week Cleaning Cards.
Make a Digital Chore Chart
If you're more of a digital person, I've got one more thing for you to try. Last summer, we switched to a digital chore chart and have been successfully using it since.
My family just does better with a digital format, so we're using the Our Home app to organize chores. This isn't sponsored by them, I just love the app! I am using the same general idea as the printable chore chart - just in a different way.
Each member of the family has a profile. I can assign daily chores that happen just once a week or repeat daily for each family member. For the kids, I award 1 point for each task...that's how they earn allowance (more on that below).
This is an example of what a day looks like. I'm using the same tasks that I did when I used the printables you see above; this is just a lot easier for us. I don't have to remember to give them an allowance - it's automatically loaded into the app when they check off a chore.
If they want to convert these points into actual money or use the points for rewards, I just manually deduct them from the app. There is a section of the app where you can automate rewards, but I just find that doing that part manually is way easier.
This app also lets me tell my husband what I need him to do from Journey to Clean for the week (although, sadly, he doesn't get an allowance for his chores 😉 ). Overall, it's just a great, easy way to automate the whole chore delegation process.
Chore Reward System
Of course, the best motivation for kids to do daily and weekly chores is a reward system. I think it's only fair that kids get an allowance for their hard work.
I wanted to teach my kids the value of hard work that was separate from actual money. It can be difficult to teach the value of a dollar when kids are regularly getting monetary gifts. So, I came up with a solution that has worked so well for us.
Meet Lambert Loot!
This started off as kind of a silly way to pay allowance in our home but has become an absolute staple to our chore/allowance system. (And yes, I pulled the silliest pictures of everyone that I could for these.)
Why don't I use actual money?
I tried using cash to pay the kids for chores at first, but I was really having the hardest time reinforcing the value of a dollar.
(The following is totally not meant as complaining - just part of our "why.") We have very generous grandparents on both sides of the family that love to give the kids cash. It starts becoming difficult to get kids to work for a couple of dollars a day when they're getting $20 here and $50 there from grandparents - and I'm not going to deny my kids money that the grandparents give them.
So, we use that actual money to save up for special occasions - vacations, events, school sales - making sure they are giving and saving some of that money as well. Then, in our home, we use the Lambert Loot as chore currency.
My kids get 1 Lambert Loot for each item marked off their chores each day. Then, they can use that currency to "buy" some of the treats and experiences you see above.
You can't "buy" Lambert Loot with actual cash...if they could, my kids would have unlimited funds to get whatever they want. They can only earn it through chores. However, you can trade 1 Lambert Loot for $1 (that way, if the kids do want to save up to buy something outside of this chart, they can).
This has worked amazingly well in our house. It has really taught the kids the value of working and saving, even when they are both already really comfortable cash-wise. It's also just a lot of fun!
Kids Chores FAQs
Thanks for stopping in today! I would love to hear your best chore tips and tricks in the comments.
We are thinking about move our new home in this summer. I am so glade that i found your blog with lots of information and useful ideas about this. Hope so it will going to be helpful for me. Thanks for the sharing this as a helpful article.
Thanks for a summer cleaning tips, I need to use that checklist to stay on track when cleaning for sure. So thankful you shared some tips and a checklist. This will surely inspire me to get it done quicker.
Great summer tips to follow! I love your summer chore printable and framing it is a cute way to keep track each day. Come share your links at "Happiness is Homemade" every Sunday through Thursday.
What a wise and pretty chart.
Thank you, Donna!
I love this idea and did something similar when my son was young. Featuring when my link party opens up tonight!
Thank you, Carol!