Can toddlers do very simple chores?

Beth - posted on 03/26/2010

My son is 20 months and has been cleaning up his toys for months. He loves to take everything out of toy box, but actually started putting them back in on his own. He now does this with his books in his bookshelf. So, there is definitely a way to get them to do simple chores.

Kim - posted on 03/26/2010

Yep I agree with all of the above, they are never too old to learn about the things that keep a household running smoothly. My 10 month old has been involved in tidying his own toys since he was old enough to strew them all over the lounge!!! I sing a packing away song, and put the toys in the toy box, and I give him ones to put in. Sometimes he tries to take them out again - but he'll get the idea!

Beck - posted on 03/25/2010

I get my 1 year old to do simple tasks. He loves putting rubbish in the bin at the moment! thats more a fasination with the bin than helping but! It takes a little more patience to get them to help (as it takes longer than doing it yourself) but its worth it in the end. They love helping.

Francesca - posted on 03/25/2010

I don't think its too early at all. In fact I read an article about starting it as soon as you can on babycenter.com

I know it sounds a little early, but I involve my 11 month old with tidying. When I am putting her blocks away I place a few in her hands and help her dunk them in the bucket. And when she finishes a meal and after I have already wiped her high chair tray I give her a clean cloth to do it again. But she has always been pretty insistant on doing everything we do. She's my little copy cat. And she seems to like it that way. She may not understand what she is doing, but the seed has been planted.

Amy - posted on 03/25/2010

We always approached is as a "could you help mommy/daddy with this?" and our daughter just jumped right on. Once she learned that certain toys always went in certain places, she could easily do that. She pretended to help with the dishes since she was about two. When doing laundry I'd put wet clothes on the door of the dryer and she'd push them in. Also with clean clothes I dumped them on the couch and she'd pull out the socks. Didn't really help me when she was two, but now at 3 she matches them and is starting to fold washcloths, socks and puts her shirts in half. I also put all her shirts in one pile, pants in another and she puts them in her drawers. People say it's too much responisbility for a young one, but she doesn't mind. She even helps put her baby brother's clothes away. She also knows where the towels are for when she spills. I get a feeling of uh oh when i hear "Oh, I'll go get a towel" because i know she's spilled, but am happy she knows what to do. She mostly just wants to be involved. When I get down and scrub the floors I give her a few baby wipes to use to clean up little spots. She sings that nightingale song from cinderella. cracks me up.

Martha - posted on 03/25/2010

I think it's important to start teaching things like cleaning up after themselves as soon as they can understand. I wouldn't be forceful or mean, but I def think there are ways to encourage cleaning. My daughter is almost 14mos old and i put a paper towel on her tray after a meal, and she wipes her tray off. lol. The first time she did it, it wasn't intentional, but she enjoyed it and I don't mind it at all! lol.

Rindy - posted on 03/25/2010

Toddlers can most certainly do simple chores around the house. my daughter likes to help put laundry down the laundry chute and helps switch loads from the washer to the dryer since they aren't right next to each other. She is responsible for picking up after herself but does need to be reminded or asked and she sets the table before meals. She will actually cry if someone else sets the table...I hope it always stays that way LOL!!!

Shalom - posted on 03/25/2010

Definitely! We made a game out of cleaning up the toys and blocks, etc. Avery has been playing "IN THE BASKET!!" for months now. In the beginning dad or i would throw a toy in the toy basket and yell IN THE BASKET and then the other would clap and say YAYYY when it went in. Then we'd give Avery one and say IN THE BASKET!!! and eventually she caught on an threw it in. If she missed we'd give it back for her to try again and then clap and say YAYYYY when she got it in. Now at 15 months, she yells BASSSIT!! and claps for herself and says YEEE! It's pretty cute and it's VERY helpful at clean-up time. We've expanded the game to include blocks on the box and hard plastic toys in a bag over time.



At our play group, they do exactly what Erica talks about, and that REALLY gets the bigger toddlers going. Avery's only just catching on to that one. The Clean-Up song is definitely what we'll be getting into as she gets bigger. I LOVE the laundry idea! Thanks Erica!

Celeste - posted on 03/25/2010

I agree, you can definitely teach a 2 year old to pick up their toys. We also sing "Clean up" too. I usually try to make it fun for them.

Erica - posted on 03/25/2010

Yes.. My 3yrs old started at that age and now (since he is learning colors) he seperates his own laundry on laundry day. Lol. At 2 I had to jus make it fun for him. Like singing Barneys "Clean Up" song as I pick up toys... he jumps right up and copies me. Then before u kno It when u sing the song its automatic that he gets up and starts picking up toys. lol..I hope that helped:-)