Toddler chores

N’s big on toddler chores at the moment.  He loves helping out; getting used to helping doing things round the house (however unhelpfully at the moment) may (fingers crossed) mean he’s more willing to help when he’s older.

So far he loves:

• Cooking.  A bit lethal as I have to ensure I keep knives well away from his reach, but he loves trying to peel carrots and potatoes, and mixing anything we’re baking.
• Washing.  Emptying the washing machine is fun for a toddler, and he can also now put clothes on the clothes horse…not brilliantly, it all needs to be redone, and there’s also the issue of him just removing everything from the basket and putting the clean clothes on the floor.
• Setting the table and clearing the dishwasher. He’s quite good at doing cutlery as he can put those in the right cupboard and drawers, and he’ll put his plates and bowls away.  He’s now handing me the good plates (with me grabbing them before he drops them), but I have to watching him for grabbing glasses!
• Nappy bin.  We have a little bin by the back door in the utility room which the nappies get dumped in.  When it’s time to make the fire up, N gets sent by his dad for the bin so nappies can get put on the burner.  The bin’s almost as big as him, but it’s one of his little jobs he loves to do
• Helping in the shower.  Sometimes he sits in the bath while his dad has his shower at the same time. I get N out, and after he’s in his pjs, he hands over his dad’s towel and deodorant when asked.  He’s really funny the way it has to be done just so.  The other day he got in a bit of a tizz because he’d missed his dad seeing him put on his deodorant.
• Shopping.  Maybe more of a hindrance here as if it’s a top up shop, he wants to carry the basket.  Even when it gets heavy.  Of course he gets in everyone’s way because he’s really slow as it is, but with a basket that’s awkward and large, he’s even slower.  After we’ve bought items, he likes to have a bag to carry as well.  Other people always comment at how helpful he is…I find it’s easier to let him have his way even if the bag’s dragging on the floor, to avoid any tears.
• Sweeping the floor. Seriously not helpful here, but something he enjoys doing. Not quite understanding yet that we’re collecting the bits up rather than spreading them further round.  And he screams ‘mine’ if you try to take the broom off him.

So a servant in training…works for me!  Although it could get expensive when he’s older once he starts to expect pocket money for doing chores.

What helpful tasks do your children enjoy doing?