Chores Your 8 Year Old Can Do. A complete list of chore ideas that your child can learn to do when your child is eight years old. Find out what chores they should already be able to do and what to add on this year.
An 8-year-old child can do a lot around the house to actually help and make a positive impact on the chores that need to be done.
If you haven’t done chores with your child yet, you are probably wondering what you can realistically expect your child to be able to do.
If your child has been doing chores for a while, you are probably wondering what chores should be added now that your kiddo is 8.
Post Contents
- What Age Should You Start Chores?
- Chores Your 8 Year Old Can Already Do
- Previous Ages Chores Posts
- Chores 8 Year Olds Can Do
- Learn To Buy Groceries
- Mop Floors
- Watch Siblings
- Organize Toys
- Take Hamper to and From Room
- Load Washer and Dryer
- Self-Care and Hygiene
- Improve on Chores
- Personal Talents and Interests
- Child Chore Cards and Chore Chart
- Conclusion
- Related Posts
What Age Should You Start Chores?
Kids can start chores as young as age two. They can even think they are helping you younger than that.
If your child is 8 and hasn’t really done chores yet, it isn’t too late! As the saying goes, better late than never.
>>>Just getting started? Read A Beginner’s Guide to Teaching Kids To Do Chores
When kids help around the house, then have higher self-esteem. There is something empowering about literally laboring with your hands. It is a benefit to the child and also to the family. The more the family works together, the more time there is for the family to spend time with each other.
Chores Your 8 Year Old Can Already Do
Here are the chores a child who is eight years old can do. If your child does not know how to do any of these, focus on adding these chores first.
- Wash dishes by hand, including drying dishes
- Be a gopher
- Help make dinner
- Pull weeds
- Help in the garden
- Care for pets–food, water, and love
- Pick up a room
- Wipe down a sink
- Clean a bathroom counter
- Wipe the outside of a toilet
- Empty trash cans
- Wrap gifts
- Bush hair
- Shower independently (with the exception of washing hair if it is long)
- Fold laundry and socks
- Put laundry away
- Dust
- Sort laundry and dirty clothes
- Set the table
- Clear the table
- Wipe the kitchen table
- Clean own room
- Yard work, including rake leaves
- Dress self
- Brush teeth
- Pet care
- Vacuum
- Make own bed
- Make a sandwich
- Warm up canned food
- Unload the dishwasher
- Load dishwasher
- Clean sinks
- Sweep–if the broom is too big, consider getting a kid-sized broom
- Use a dustpan
- Empty garbages
- Make own lunch, snack, or a simple meal
- Base moldings or baseboards
- Clean up and organize books
Previous Ages Chores Posts
For more details on the chores listed above, be sure to see my posts for all previous ages.
- 12 Chores Your Toddler Can Do
- 9 Chores Your Three Year Old Can Do
- Preschooler Chores: 12 Chores for 4 Year Olds
- 10 Chores You Five Year Old Can Do
- 7 Chores Your Six Year Old Can Do
- A Complete List of Chores Your 7 Year Old Can Do
Chores 8 Year Olds Can Do
Once your child can do the chores listed above, it is time to start to teach new chores and give new responsibilities.
We are raising future adults. Before you know it, your child will be graduating high school and moving out of the house. You want to be confident your child will leave home able to have clean clothes, feed himself, and keep the home safely clean.
As you add chores and responsibilities, remember to add them slowly. These are things to add over the course of the year your child is 8, not throw all upon your child the week of the 8th birthday.
When introducing a new chore or responsibility, don’t be afraid to introduce it slowly:
- Explain what the new chore or responsibility will be
- Have your child observe you doing the job
- Have your child try it out with your supervision
- Have your child do the job independently. You check after it is done. Correct anything that needs to be corrected.
- Move toward independence so your child does the job without you checking on it.
This can take place over days, weeks, or even months.
Here are some appropriate chores for an 8 year old.
Learn To Buy Groceries
This is just a learning process chore to introduce. Whether you shop online or in-store, start to involve your child. Talk about how you choose what to buy. Talk about looking at prices and how to find the best deal.
Talk about which foods and brands you are willing to pay more for and which you go with the cheapest option for.
Let your child help check this off the list as it is added to the card, virtually or literally.
Your goal right now is just to get your child aware of some of the processes for buying groceries. Getting groceries is one of the important life skills.
Mop Floors
Your child can already sweep and vacuum floors. It is time to now mop floors. The bathroom floor can be a good place to start. With the addition of mopping, your child can start to take on almost the entire bathroom all alone!
Watch Siblings
If your child has younger siblings, you can start to have her watch them at times while you are still home. You can leave the room so she can practice watching without you hovering there.
You might feel like your 8 year old isn’t ready for this yet, even with you there. Children have different maturity levels. But most kids can handle 5-10 minutes of being on sibling duty at age eight.
Organize Toys
It is time to start to teach your child to organize toys if this is not naturally happening. If you have toys that belong in certain bins or totes, teach your child to take note of that when cleaning up.
If your toys get into a state of chaos and get organized only a couple of times a year, it is time to start to involve your child in the process.
Take Hamper to and From Room
Your child might already to this. At our house, the location if bedrooms in proximity to the laundry room makes it so a certain size, coordination, and strength is needed to navigate the stairs with a big hamper.
If your child does not yet do this, have him carry his own hamper to and from the laundry room on laundry day.
Load Washer and Dryer
If your child is not yet doing this, have her load the washer and help start it. When it is time to move clothes from the washer to dryer, have her help with that.
Teach them how to tell what should hang dry. Teach them how to shake out the clothes to avoid wrinkles while drying.
Self-Care and Hygiene
You want to continue toward your child being able to get ready independently. Your tween will have a day when they do not want your help, and you want the training in place before your child gets there.
This is a good age to start to teach how to groom nails independently.
It is also a good age to continue or start to teach your child to wash her own hair. Have her wash it and you check to see how she did. You will want to still wash it at least once a week for now.
When she misses certain areas, either in washing or rinsing, tell her where and help her figure out how she can make sure she gets it.
Once your tween starts to hit puberty, she will be less and less okay with you helping her in the shower. Help them be adept and independent before that day comes.
Improve on Chores
Think through chores your child does to help around the house and improve on them. Does your child help in the garden? What is the next step to learn there?
Think about chores unique to your home, family, lifestyle, and culture and build on them.
Personal Talents and Interests
Your child is old enough he might be interested in starting to focus on a personal talent or interest.
Any activity your child might start to participate in will require some work at home. An instrument will require practicing and also cleaning up music books after practicing.
A sport will require putting cleats, balls, and jerseys away. It will require filling up water bottles and cleaning them up when they get home.
As your child adds activities, start the habit of your child being responsible for the many little things that come with it.
Child Chore Cards and Chore Chart
Are you looking for chore cards or a chore chart? My child chore cards pack is a downloadable file you can print. It includes cards your child can flip through and chore charts your child can check off.
This pack covers 2-8 year olds, so you can use it for multiple kids and for many years!
Do you already have my chores cards for 2-7 year olds? Contact me for a discounted pack to upgrade with the 8 year old chores.
Conclusion
Remember to introduce new chores and responsibilities little by little over time. I promise as your child gets older, you will be so glad that you have taught them to do these things.
You will have help from the family members to keep the home to your standards. You will have more time with your family. You will also send your child out into the world knowing they can handle it.
Related Posts
- Age-Appropriate 9 Year Old Chores
- How to Raise Independent and Responsible Children
- How to Motivate Children to Clean Up After Themselves
- Our Chores for 5-8 Year Olds
- How to Teach Children Life Skills
- Your Roadmap to Teaching Kids Self-Sufficiency
- 5 Ways to Make Work Fun for Kids
