Teaching children to do chores will allow them to grow up knowing how to take care of themselves and the place they live. Kids benefit from having chores because it gives them responsibility. The key to teaching chores successfully is to start early. Children as young as 2 years old can help with basic chores, and their responsibilities should increase steadily from there.
Personal Chores
Preschool-age children should be taught to make their beds and put away their toys. As they get older, they should also get dressed and brush their hair and teeth. Older school-age children can also keep up on their own homework, keep their rooms tidy and be responsible for gathering their belongings for an outing and putting them all away when they come home.
Family Chores
Family chores are ones that everyone in the household must do to keep the house clean and running smoothly. Preschoolers can help sort laundry into colors, match socks, feed a pet, and help set the table. Slightly older children can do all of these things without assistance plus help put groceries away and help dust and mop floors. Children 8 and older can prepare meals with assistance, learn to do laundry and clean the bathroom. Preteens and older teens can wash the car, help with yard work and create grocery lists.
Rewards
Since chores are a regular part of a household, the benefits of doing chores should be the children having satisfaction from doing the job well and pride that they have responsibilities that contribute toward the success of their household. That said, if your child does extra chores beyond the scope of her normal responsibilities, it's fine to offer money for those ones. Or you can reward a child who has done chores very well for a week by letting her stay up late or have more TV time.
Consequences
The consequences for not doing chores, not doing them properly or doing them late should be reasonable, related to the chore and stated ahead of time so the children know what they are. If a bicycle is not put away, the child would not be allowed to use it for a few days as a consequence. If the bathroom is not cleaned properly, then the child should have to do it again until it is cleaned to your satisfaction. If she puts off doing chores or argues about them, then don't allow her to play outside for the rest of the day or until the chores are done.
Source:http://www.ehow.com/
