My daughter just turned 5, and I think it’s time to start giving her some basic chores around the house. I want to help her learn responsibility and contribute to the family, but nothing too complicated.
What simple tasks would be appropriate for kids at this age? I’m looking for things she can do without getting frustrated or causing more mess for me to clean up later. I’d appreciate any suggestions from other parents who have gone through this.
My younger one started around that age with feeding our dog every morning. She loves having that routine and feels so important taking care of our pet.
We also had good luck with making beds - not perfect, but just pulling the covers up. And putting away their own toys before dinner became a natural part of our day.
One thing that worked really well was setting up a small basket for each kid to collect things that don’t belong in the living room. They’d walk around and fill it up, then put everything back where it goes. Made tidying up feel like a treasure hunt rather than work.
We started with wiping down the coffee table and putting shoes by the front door. My kid could handle those without much help and they made a visible difference in how the house looked.
Setting the table worked pretty well too, just the napkins and plastic cups at first. Sometimes we’d turn it into a pattern game where she had to figure out the right spot for each thing. That age seems to love having their own special job that nobody else does.
What worked for us at that age was having her sort silverware from the dishwasher. She could handle the forks and spoons while I took care of the knives. It felt like a real grown-up job to her.
We also did something fun with laundry where she would help sort everyone’s clean clothes into different piles for each family member. She got pretty good at recognizing whose shirts belonged to who.
One surprise hit was having her water the houseplants with a small watering can. She took that job seriously and never forgot to ask if the plants needed water 
Dusting with those microfiber cloths worked well too. She could reach all the low surfaces and baseboards that I usually skip anyway. The trick was giving her areas where it didn’t matter if she missed spots.
My daughter also loved being in charge of checking that all the trash cans had liners in them. Simple but it made her feel important walking around the house on her little inspection rounds.
My kids started with putting their dirty clothes in the hamper and clearing their own dishes from the table.
Matching socks from the laundry pile worked well too. Simple stuff but they felt proud helping out.
Mine loved organizing the pantry snacks and putting cereal boxes back in order. Also wiping bathroom sinks with baby wipes worked great.
Sorting recyclables was another hit. She got good at telling cans from bottles.