What chores do you think 11 & 12 yr olds should be expected to do?

Question

What chores are reasonable for an 11 yr old boy & 12 yr old girl?

How often do you think they should have chores?

(My kids say they have to do more than all their friends... ;o)

Answer 1

My oldest daughter is now 13, but at the ages of 11 and 12, she was making her bed and helping load and unload the dishwasher. I also have her put away all of her clothes that i washed and folded. We own 2 dogs, and once a day, she rotates between herself and her sister in feeding and watering them, and picking up their poop in the yard! :) Kids will always gripe about how 'many' chores they have, but it builds character and teaches responsibility. A good suggestion for your 11 year old is to have him dust or vacuum! Some woman in the future will be grateful to you for teaching a man to be domestic! :) My son is 3, but give him a paper towel with some Windex on it, and he goes to town! He loves it!

Answer 2

my kids have been doing chores sense the age of 2 they started with dishes then laundry by 11-12 as a working mom my kids where responsible for cleaning the house before i got home from work they took turns making dinner it was done everyday before i got home done each day was
2 loads of laundry
vacuuming
dusting
trash taking out
dishes

in a family everyone has a job to do some work outside the house others work inside the house if everyone isn't doing there job the family falls apart and the house doesn't run right

all kids complain about what they have to do let your kids know my 16 - 15 y/o go to school work part time and come home and clean the house

Answer 3

By this age they can be taught to do their own laundry, do the dishes, take care of pets, vacuume, clean the bathrooms. Make a chore chart so they don't get stuck doing the same thing everyday. The major cleaning (Like the bathrooms) can be done on the weekends. Kids need to learn to balance chores and schoolwork. Kids that are not made to do some chores have a hard time doing these things when they are adults and have a hard time managing their time and getting organized.

Answer 4

Does it matter what their friends do, really? A lot of kids don't have any chores to do anymore, but that is the parents faults...Chores are a healthy way of teaching your children it takes us all to run the home and keep it organized...It is team work...work never hurt anyone...Your kids live under your roof...maybe they forgot that...would they jump off the bridge if there friend did?
Kids are really spoiled now a days...keep up the good work...chores like dish washing, garbage, keeping their beds made and rooms clean....vacuuming...they can help out with a lot at those ages....'Good luck to you...remember also, 11 and 12 they are just getting started with raging hormones and the mouthing off is only going to get worse for a few years ahead yet... Sorry, but it is true...

Answer 5

My step kids are responsible for keeping their rooms cleaned, everything put away, beds made daily, and on weekends, vaccuming the upstairs, their bedrooms and cleaning the bathrooms from top to bottom before they can play. They also fold all their clothes and put them away with no complaints. They have lived in a dirty house before (not with us) and appreciate it being clean. At target they have a dry erase chore chart that we bought for each of the kids. They each have a list of what they have to get done, as well as extra chores if they want extras. My husband, the kids and I all have a morning of cleaning together, so we all pitch in the household. We make it fun and a contest between the kids vs the adults. It usually ends up with extra video game, movie or candy if they win. Chores depend on where they are on their maturity as well as what you trust them with. If you have a clutz and space cadet for a daughter (not saying you do) then she wouldn't be the one I would trust doing the dishes. My step daughter is like that and begs me all the time to do the dishes, after three plates (the non-breakable kind) broke all over the kitchen, she isn't allowed to touch the dishes.

Answer 6

Just about anything I do around the house. I have 3 boys ages 10 1/2 to almost 14 and they do just about every chore I do. We are a family unit and everyone must do their share to help the house run smoothly. They live here just as much as I do. I have certain things I do everyday and they have certain things they have to do everyday. Some days they do it without any problems and somedays I do have to get on their case. But even my 8 yr old does a lot around the house. Its part of being a family.

Answer 7

When i was young my parents would go to work in the morning, and i would go to school and come home 2:30 and they wouldnt get home till 6:00. So they would make me do all the chores and cook supper before they got home and i would get paid 50 bucks every 2 weeks. I was way over worked so i only make my kids clean up after themselves, wash the dishes and sweep the floor and vacuum the floor. They both get paid 15 bucks a week. I think that is about reasonable.

Answer 8

Depends on if the mom works. Not saying they shouldn't have to do chores if the mom doesn't work, just that they should help out even more if she does. They need to do chores to learn responsibility.
Anyway, I did dishes, laundry, vacuuming, dusting.... pretty much everything at that age. You could break it down into letting one be responsible for taking out the trash one week, the other being responsible for doing the dishes.... And switch chores from week to week.

Answer 9

At 11 or 12, I think they are old enough to complete any chore in the home. Not to mean that they do them ALL, but basically you can choose which task they have to complete and none would be out of their capability.
My oldest is 9yrs old. and she has a few chores that she is required to complete daily. This is above and beyond what is expected, like picking up after yourself, making your bed and keeping your room tidy. All of those types of things are not considered "chores", but rather it's always expected.
As far as addtitional chores that she has to do are things like cleaning her cats litter, feeding her cat, dusting, etc. It works out to be about 20 minutes of simple chores daily.
It's important for me to have my children understand that we are a "family" and that means we ALL help eachother out and that includes in the upkeep of the house.

Answer 10

I have an 11 year old daughter. She has chores daily in addition to her making her bed, setting the table, and taking out the trash. A sample schedule is as follows:
Monday: Clean kitchen floor and front entrance floor. Dust bath mats.
Tuesday: Work out in yard for 30 minutes (pick up weeds, leaves)
Wednesday: Throw out newspaper.
Thursday: Vacuum staircase. Work out in yard 30 minutes.
Friday: Get her clothes ready for laundry day (sort).
Saturday and Sunday (day off)

This schedule appears to work for my daughter and she has had some input in developing it. Hope this helps.