The Six Stages of Development: Is Your Child Ready?

The six levels of chores

Level 1, 3 years old:

Now that your children have reached the age of three, it's time to ask them to fully participate in household chores! At this age, children are often still very happy to help you, so it's a great time to introduce them to certain tasks they can easily accomplish, such as those represented on the magnets associated with their level: folding washcloths, putting away books, setting the table, putting away toys, and tidying their room. Here are some tips to encourage their full autonomy and the development of good habits in carrying out their little missions:

• Teach them now to put away their toys and books immediately after using them, before taking out anything else. The younger they get used to doing this, the more likely they are to do it naturally when they are older!
• For your little ones to be able to set the table by themselves, the utensils must be easily accessible to them! So make sure to store them in a drawer within their reach, rather than in the traditional top drawer.
• At the age of three, it can be difficult for a child to understand precisely what "tidying their room" means. To help them accomplish this task, make sure to clearly name each step.

Level 2, 4 years old:

Your child is growing, and now that they are about four or five years old, they are able to accomplish all new tasks around the house! Here are the ones we suggest based on their developmental level, and which are represented by our Level 2 chore magnets:

• Wash fruits/vegetables
• Water plants
• Put away toys
• Clear the table
• Dry dishes
• Tidy their room
• Put away clothes
• Bring bedding to laundry
• Feed pets
• Set the table
• Put away books
• Fold hand towels

Here are also some practical tips and tricks that will help you encourage their autonomy in accomplishing their tasks:

• For toys to easily find their place and be easy for your child to put away, separate them by categories using bins clearly identified with pictograms, as children of this age have not yet learned to read.
• Does your child have the important mission of watering plants? To accomplish this, offer them a spray bottle rather than the traditional watering can to make the task easier and, above all, to avoid annoying messes!
• Why not take advantage of drying dishes to have fun with your child? Sing, dance, let loose and make this a pleasant activity your child will want to do again!
  

Level 3, 6-7 years old:

If your children have been actively participating in household chores since a very young age, they are probably already very independent and need less and less of your help to accomplish their various small tasks. Here are some tips that will help you further develop their autonomy and encourage their full cooperation:

• At this age, it's time to develop your children's proactivity and encourage them to take the initiative to do household chores themselves. To do this, at the beginning of the week, place all the chore magnets on a chore chart and ask your children to choose one themselves each day.
• Children are often naturally drawn to baking cookies, muffins, or other desserts in the kitchen; to make it easier for them and allow them to prepare delicious snacks for the whole family, remember to store all baking necessities in one place: measuring cups and spoons, muffin and cake pans, spatulas, basic ingredients (flour, baking powder, cocoa, etc.), etc.
  

Level 5, 10-11 years old:

If your children are now ten or eleven years old and/or they have almost perfectly mastered the tasks that make up Level 4 of our magnets, it's time to offer them new missions to accomplish! Here's what they are now able to do, according to their developmental level:

• Fold towels
• Take out the trash, recycling, and compost
• Put away groceries and wash fruits/vegetables
• Empty the dishwasher
• Tidy their room, fold/put away their clothes, and bring their bedding to the laundry
• Clean, set, and clear the table
• Walk the dog
• Water plants
• Dust
• Get the mail
• Rake leaves and tend the garden
• Sweep and vacuum
• Feed and care for pets
• Wash and dry dishes
• Clean the bathroom
• Sort clothes and do laundry
• Bake cookies/muffins

Your children are now almost teenagers, and they may be more reluctant to do their chores, preferring to spend more time playing with their friends! Here are some tips to motivate them to cooperate:

• If you want to reward them for their efforts, consider offering them privileges they don't usually get easily: inviting a friend to sleep over or for a special activity, permission to stay up later, extra video game time, etc. We bet this will be enough to motivate them to fully cooperate with household chores!
• Don't hesitate to apply natural consequences to their choices. Do they forget to do their laundry every week? They won't have any clean clothes to wear! Do they not cooperate when it's time to do their chores during the week? Cancel special activities planned for the weekend, explaining that this free time should be used for house maintenance instead.

Level 6, 12 years and older:

That's it! Your children have now become teenagers and have reached the last level of our chore magnets! At the age of twelve (or older!), they are now able to perform all the following tasks, corresponding to Level 6 of our magnets:

• Feed and care for pets
• Walk the dog
• Wash floors and vacuum
• Wash and dry dishes
• Fold/put away towels and their clothes
• Wash fruits/vegetables and water plants
• Sort clothes and do laundry
• Bake cookies/muffins
• Mow the lawn, rake leaves, tend the garden, and shovel snow
• Take out the trash, recycling, and compost
• Put away groceries
• Wash windows and the car
• Bring their bedding to the laundry
• Empty the dishwasher
• Tidy their room
• Set, clear, and clean the table
• Clean the kitchen and bathroom
• Dust
• Get the mail

Of course, most children of this age are now almost completely independent and are therefore able to accomplish most household chores without your help. Here are some tips to encourage their collaboration and fully benefit from daily tasks:

• If your teenagers spend a lot of time with their friends and therefore spend less time with you, take advantage of the moments when they are doing their chores to chat with them and make it enjoyable, even if it means lending a helping hand!
• Do your children ask for more independence? Establish a number of household chores to be done every week, but allow them to choose the time that suits them best to complete them. On Saturday, if their chores are still not done, simply require them to stay home until they are completed.

Ready to move to the next level?

Even if they are the suggested age, you're not sure if your child is ready to move to the next level? These few signs should help you know if it's time to move on to more complex tasks!

• Efficient and quick execution: a task that used to take your child 15 minutes now takes half that time, without skipping any steps.
• Satisfactory work quality, even without supervision: the task is accomplished not perfectly, but satisfactorily and according to established standards, without supervision and every time it is done.
• Boredom and disengagement: your child loses intrinsic motivation for the novelty of the task and expresses a desire for greater responsibilities.
• Adequate motor development: some tasks require physical strength, coordination, and dexterity that are only developed to a certain level.
• Respect for safety rules: your child is aware of the dangers that certain tasks can pose, and no longer needs your constant supervision.

The gradual introduction of new tasks

Introducing a new task obviously doesn't happen overnight. We suggest you follow these steps when the time comes to add a string to your child's bow.

• Step 1: Break down the task into micro-steps (dissect the task into its simplest components).
  
• Step 2: Identify the prerequisites necessary for the task (if one of the micro-steps is not yet acquired by your child, take the time to teach it to them before moving on to learning the entire task).
• Step 3: Choose the right moment (a particularly stressful period or when the child is sick are not optimal times to learn a new task).
  
• Step 4: Model the entire task (perform the entire task while your child observes you).
• Step 5: Gradually ask the child to participate (ask them to complete certain steps, accompanying them and performing the more difficult steps yourself).
• Step 6: Implement visual aids (for example, write down all the steps for starting the washing machine on a sheet of paper or use this little trick for cleaning the bathroom or kitchen).
  
• Step 7: Allow the child to perform the task independently with your supervision (you observe without intervening, while answering possible questions and reminding them of forgotten steps if necessary).
• Step 8: Adjust and simplify the task as needed (break down the task further if necessary and identify possible obstacles).
• Step 9: Allow the child to do the task completely independently (take the time to check the first few times and provide your constructive feedback).
• Step 10: Celebrate this new autonomy!

Special needs

If your child lives with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, an Autism Spectrum Disorder, or any other special need that presents challenges in terms of developing autonomy, here are some strategies that could help your child climb the ladder of autonomy at their own pace:

• Amplified visual supports: checklists with images, visual timers, color coding for each step, etc.
• Maximum task decomposition: even a simple task deserves to be broken down into several micro-steps.
• Immediate rewards: whether it's a star on a motivation chart or earning a privilege, children with special needs often require rapid gratification.
• Acceptance of different paces: even if it sometimes seems long to you, your child will also develop their autonomy, perhaps at a different pace and level than others, but they will still develop it!
• Celebrating effort as much as result: what seems like a simple task for others often requires much more effort for your child; remember to take that into account!

The myth of "All X-year-olds can..."

Do you like benchmarks and do developmental milestones reassure you? We understand. But these averages do not take into account the real diversity of human development, and the factors that inevitably create variations: motor development, executive function development, the child's temperament, special needs, etc.

Your child is not a statistic: rather, they are a unique individual with their own strengths, challenges, and, above all, developing at their own pace. Respect that!

Les Belles Combines solutions

Magnets

Our task magnets are offered in packs, each corresponding to a different level; thus, only purchase those that are appropriate for your child's age!

The Octave app

Our virtual family assistant automatically suggests tasks based on your child's age; no need to think about it anymore, we do it for you!

Take action

Take the time to determine, based on the description associated with each level, which one your child is at. Now, all that's left is to assign them tasks adapted to their developmental level!