A free chore chart, and what to actually put on it
Most chore charts you find online arrive pre-filled with jobs, which is the one part that cannot be standardised — a list that fits a six-year-old will defeat a three-year-old, and a list that fits a three-year-old bores a six-year-old within a day.
So this one is blank down the left, and the age-by-age lists are underneath for you to choose from. There is also a shorter picture-friendly version for children who cannot read yet.
1. Weekly Chore Chart
Five job rows, seven days across. Write the jobs in yourself — or, for a pre-reader, draw a tiny picture instead of a word.
My Jobs This Week
Tick or sticker each box when the job is done.
Name: ______________________________
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
printablebloom.com
2. Three-Job Daily Card
For under-fives: three jobs, one day, done. A whole week on a chart is too long a horizon at three.
My Three Jobs Today
Date: ______________
Name: ______________________________
| Done | |
|---|---|
printablebloom.com
What children can genuinely do, by age
These are jobs a child can complete with a result you can live with. Pick two or three, not the whole list.
Two years old
- Putting toys into a basket
- Carrying their own plate to the counter
- Throwing a diaper or wrapper in the trash
- Putting dirty clothes in the laundry basket
- Passing you wet laundry, one piece at a time
Three years old
- Feeding a pet with a pre-measured scoop
- Watering a plant
- Matching socks into pairs
- Wiping a low table or a spill
- Putting their shoes on the shoe rack
- Helping to stir in a bowl
Four and five years old
- Making their bed, to their own standard
- Setting the table with the unbreakable things
- Sorting laundry into lights and darks
- Putting groceries away on the low shelves
- Clearing their own place after a meal
- Tidying their room against a picture list
Six years old
- Packing their own bag for the next day
- Emptying the dishwasher, bottom rack
- Taking the trash out with you
- Sweeping with a child-sized broom
- Preparing their own simple breakfast
- Folding towels and their own t-shirts
A two-year-old's chore should cost you time, not save it
This is the part that catches people out. When a two-year-old carries their plate to the counter it takes four times as long, involves a real chance of a dropped plate, and produces nothing you could not have done in three seconds.
That is the correct outcome. At this age the chore is not labour, it is an apprenticeship — you are buying competence at five and six by paying in patience at two and three. Expecting a toddler chore to lighten your load is the fastest route to giving up on the whole idea.
The corollary: do not redo the job in front of them. A wonky bed that gets remade the moment they leave the room teaches them their contribution does not count.
Making it work for a child who cannot read
A word list is useless to a three-year-old, so use the label column for a drawing instead — a plate, a sock, a watering can. It does not need to be good; it needs to be recognisable to the one child using it.
Better still, draw it together while you decide the jobs. A child who drew the sock on the chart remembers what it means, and gets a small say in a day where they usually have none.
Should chores be paid?
Under six, generally not. At this age chores work best framed as what everyone in the house does because they live here, and attaching money to that shifts the reason from belonging to earning — after which the unpaid jobs stop happening.
If you want to teach money, keep it separate: an allowance on its own schedule, plus occasional paid extras that are clearly outside the normal list. That way the ordinary jobs stay ordinary.
Questions parents ask
What age should chores start?
Around two, with one very small job. The aim at that age is the habit of joining in rather than the work itself, so a single toy basket or one plate carried to the counter is genuinely enough.
How many chores should a preschooler have?
Two or three, done daily, at fixed points in the day. Regularity matters far more than quantity — the same small job every day after breakfast beats a rotating list of five.
Is this chore chart printable free?
Yes, both versions print straight from this page with no email and no download. They are deliberately blank so you can write in jobs that fit your child.
What if my child refuses to do their chores?
Check the job first: refusal usually means it is too hard, too long, or lands at a moment when they are tired or hungry. Shrink it, move it, or do it alongside them for a week. A three-year-old who will not tidy alone will often tidy happily with company.
Should chores be tied to screen time?
It works in the short term and tends to sour the chore. Keeping the two separate leaves the job as something the family does, rather than a toll to be paid, and avoids a nightly negotiation.