Chore Ideas for Preschoolers

When my son was younger, he used to think the toy store was an “all you can carry” place. In other words, load up your arms with as many toys as you can carry and head for the exit door. I realized then that it’s never too early to start teaching kids about money. This past Easter, the Easter Bunny left him a piggy bank and hid coins in eggs around the house for him. Since then he’s been filling his piggy bank with coins and I’ve promised him a trip to the bank soon so we can see how much money he has saved. In order to help him earn money for his piggy bank, I’ve started assigning him chores around the house. He’s 5 years old now and very much in the “I do” phase where he wants to do things for himself. It’s the perfect age for him to start learning about savings and responsibilities.

Chores for Preschoolers:

When deciding which household chores to assign to him, I needed to consider what was safe for him to do on his own and what wouldn’t end up causing me more work. I also wanted him to know that there are certain chores he is responsible for that won’t earn him an allowance. For example, when his toys are scattered around the house it is his responsibility to clean those up without the “reward” of an allowance. Basically, he has his list of responsibilities that are his (personal chores) and then a separate list of chores that he could earn an allowance for (family chores). Here are some ideas for chores for preschoolers – you can decide which you’d pay an allowance for:

• making the bed
• putting away toys
• putting dirty clothes in the laundry basket
• putting laundry in the dryer
• folding laundry
• hanging up laundry
• putting away groceries
• emptying indoor garbage cans
• dusting
• setting the table (non-breakables)
• drying dishes (non-breakables)
• emptying the dishwasher (only plastic, kid-friendly items)
• sweeping the floor
• helping to pack lunch
• watering the plants inside or garden
• quarterly donations (going through toys and clothes each season and deciding which items we’ll donate)

TD Family Allowance App:

Now that you’re sorting out what types of chores to assign to your kids, the next step is deciding how to manage these chores and the allowance. TD has a free app for that! The new TD Family Allowance app is free to use & it’s a great way for kids to see their earnings grow.

Within the app, your kids can keep track of their allowance, set goals (maybe they are saving up for something special), and watch their savings grow. For parents, you can monitor your child’s savings, assign chores and teach your kids about the value of savings.

Not only is it for tracking your regular allowance but you can add in special deposits too like birthday gift money and tooth fairy money. There are so many easy ways to personalize the information in this app to make it work for your family no matter the ages of your children.

Note that this app is a virtual experience and not attached to your actual bank accounts. This means that young kids can work within the app as well and you don’t have to worry about them having access to the actual bank accounts.

For my son, I still like to give him coins for his piggy bank but then we plan on taking that into the bank so he can make his own deposit into his personal bank account. As he earns that allowance, we’ll track it in the app so he can see his savings grow.

For kids of all ages, this app is a great visual tool for teaching them about setting goals, managing responsibilities and saving money. Download it for free today!

*Disclosure: I was compensated for this post; however, all opinions expressed here are my own.