TwinParenthood.com

Starting twins on chores at a young age and managing chores effectively as they grow older can be a life saver for busy parents of twins, triplets, or higher order multiples. If you begin chores early with twins, you can reap an early payoff and long awaited easing of some of the burden of having twins.

How old should twins be when they start easy household chores?

Parents can (and should!) effectively start twins on chores as young as 12 – 18 months. Yes! Many reading that will scoff and say that just doesn’t make sense. But, in truth, starting twins (singletons, triplets, or any child) on chores at a very young age will teach them that chores are an everyday part of life. Doing chores regularly will ensure that doing chores becomes a habit — like brushing your teeth. And, at this young age they are eager to help.

Even if you have missed the early window for beginning household chores, it is never too late to introduce a nightly “5 minute attack“. Each night after dinner, set a kitchen timer for 5 minutes and everyone participates in picking up the house. Model the behavior you expect, and make it a fun game. Turn on some music, and then in a very animated way, rush around the house picking up. You can even add an occasional “Hurry! Hurry! How much can we get done?!”

But what can very young twins really do effectively? Well, the word effectively is relative. We didn’t say they would do a good job — at a very young age, you are just establishing good habits. In some cases, having them do chores actually results in more work for tired parents — but the investment is well worth it.  You can invest in your children now and have real help in a few short years, or your can just do everything for them and face the music later when you are still doing everything for them into their teenage years.

The truth is, very young children can pretty much “help” with almost any chore if you carefully select out the part that they can do without danger to themselves. It is also important to get them smaller sized tools to make the task easy for little hands.

The following lists will give you some ideas of chores that can be accomplished by age. These lists are by no means exhaustive and you will, no doubt, identify many chores that should have been listed — so please do let us know in the comments. And, stay tuned for an upcoming article about chore charts, assigning chores, and rewards. For now, just get your twins started with the habit of doing chores and being a responsible member of the family.

Chores for Under Age 3

Many of these chores require help, but can be started at a very young age to begin the habit of doing chores. As they grow, you add more responsibility and independence into the chore until they are accomplishing the entire chore on their own.
- pick up toys
- dusting
- sweeping (mini broom & dust pan)
- mopping
- wiping windows (paper towel & water)
- making bed (pulling up the blankets/covers)
- taking laundry to the hamper
- sorting dirty laundry into bins by color
- matching up socks
- helping to feed the pets
- helping to cook
- raking leaves (mini rake)

By introducing chores at a young age and then progressing them through increasing responsibility, they will eventually be able to complete chores unsupervised — at a much younger age than you would expect. One example of this is the laundry. This is a chore that very young children can participate in, and over the years they learn the ins and outs of the chore. By the time they are eight to nine years old, they are capable to performing the whole chore themselves.

Preschoolers

All of the above, progressing in responsibility and independence, plus:
- Pick out clothes and get dressed
- Set the table
- Put away silverware and plastic items from Dishwasher
- Vacuum (buy a small cordless vacuum for them to use)
- Empty some wastebaskets into central garbage
- Folding some types of laundry
- Wipe the bathroom counters
- Carry in some groceries (and put away)

How can you help your child to do chores independently? Preschoolers are ready to start independently doing many chores.  With each chore, try to identify ways to set up your kids for success while acting independently from you.  Emptying the dishwasher, for example, can be a chore they can add and will be excited about the new responsibility.  You can move their plastic cups, plates, bowls and utensils to a lower cupboard that they can reach. That way, you can tell them they are responsible for putting away their own dishes — and keeping the cupboard organized. You have now made it easy for them to be successful.

Young School Age (6 – 8 years)

All of the above, progressing in responsibility and independence, plus:
- Take out the trash
- Clean windows and mirrors
- Empty Dishwasher (after adult puts away breakable items and knives)
- Running loads of laundry (with supervision)
- Sweep the porch / deck
- Assisting with household repairs
- Pack parts of their own lunch

Protecting your children from household cleaning chemicals is important. Try purchasing children’s rubber gardening gloves for use in performing household chores that might otherwise begin to unnecessarily expose them.

Older Children (9 – 13)

All of the above, progressing in responsibility and independence, plus:
- Wash the Car
- Yard Work (mowing, raking)
- Laundry (full job, end to end)
- Bathroom full cleaning

Teenagers

All of the above, with full responsibility and independence, plus:
- Prepare meals
- Changing the oil in the car(s)
- Household repairs

Parenting twins requires a lot of effort. Starting twins on chores at a young age can begin to lessen the effort of Twin Parenthood. It might be more work in the short run, but will quickly pay off in the long run — and that makes it worth the extra effort.

What do you think? Did we miss some obvious chores that you’ve started your multiples on?  Leave us a comment and let us know!

Copyright 2012 – TwinParenthood.com / Kathryn Whiteley