Pretty much since L learned to walk, we’ve asked him to help us with chores. He loves it. Now that he’s two, he is actually quite helpful. Asking a two-year-old to help with chores requires a lot of patience but it’s been worth it. He’s gained some independence and feels like a contributor, we don’t have to follow around behind him cleaning up messes constantly. These are the things we ask him to do:

-Help unload the dishwasher. He stacks up plastic plates, put utensils in drawers and cabinets he can reach, hand us plates, bowls to put away. He have colorful dishes, so we also use this to work on the names of colors, or counting skills.

-Help set the table. Give each person a napkin, fork, plate.

-Help clear the table after dinner. Brings plates and cups to whoever is washing the dishes.

-Unpack groceries. We have him help get things out of the bags, bring items to us to put on higher shelves. He even carries in the lighter bags from the car!

-Put away his toys and books. Toys go into an open bin, books go on a low shelf.

-Put away shoes. We are all bad about taking off our shoes all over the house, but he will happily put them all back in the cubbies by the door.

-Throw away trash. Just small non-messy things like an envelope, napkin, empty container.

-Feed the dog. Our dog’s food is in a big tin with a plastic scoop. He pulls it out of the pantry a few feet to be close to the dog’s bowl, takes off the lid, gives him a big scoop of food, and pushes the tin back into the pantry.

-Carry in the mail. I get it out of the box and hand it to him.

-Water the flowers. I just put a small amount of water in a regular watering can, but I’ve seen child-sized ones too.

-Pick tomatoes, beans, and strawberries in the garden. He loves this and asks to do it every day.

-Sweep up small messes. We ask him to clean up things like spilled dry cheerios with a small dustpan and broom brush.

-Clean up spills. If he accidently spills milk or drops food on the floor, we hand him a towel and have him clean it up. We may have to go back later and “touch up” but we do this when he’s out of site.

-Put laundry in hamper.

-Sort clean socks. We dump out a basket of clean laundry and he puts all the socks in a pile, we’re starting to work on learning how to match them up.

-Put away laundry. We hand him a small stack of folded laundry and tell him where it goes (“put these dishcloths in the bottom drawer”).

He’s usually pretty proud of himself and high fives us afterwards, but of course, there is always the occasional day where he refuses to do anything. But you know, I’m the same way, so I can’t really fault him for that.