Chores are a part of any functioning household, that’s for sure! And sometimes, it feels like they never end. Once your kiddos get a bit older, though, you can enlist them to help out with certain tasks. At first, you’ll need to hand out simple, straightforward household tasks and they’ll probably need adult supervision. When you have a preteen or two in the house, however, you can rely on them to help out with some of the more complex chores– stuff that you would normally have to do yourself!

You should avoid giving your kids too much to do, so that they can still be kids, too, but a few extra household chores will help them to build responsibility. (And it will help you, too!)

Read on for some of the age appropriate chores for kids between 12 and 13 years old.

Benefits of Chores for Kids

No matter the age, your children can benefit from making certain chores a part of their daily life! Chores can help younger kiddos with the development of important life skills like hand eye coordination. It also teaches your children the skills that are the chores themselves, like cleaning or cooking. Children of any age are taught values like responsibility, independence, and follow through, too, when you give them regular chores. These values are important no matter what stage of life your kids are in, but it can even help to form their personalities when they are younger and help shape them into responsible adults when they are older. Plus, it helps to take a few things off of your plate, too!

What Are Good Chores for Kids Aged 12-13?

Your preteens can handle more responsibility and a large variety of chores, just like your older elementary school kiddos should be able to. The difference here is that you have to supervise your older kids less, and may be able to give them the responsibility of some more complex or demanding chores. These could include certain kinds of yard work or chores involving equipment that your younger children might not be comfortable using yet.

Mowing the Lawn

A great chore for your preteens is to mow the lawn! This is a chore that can suck up a good chunk of your day which could be spent doing other things. It is also one of the chores that is not suited for kids that are much younger than the 12-13 year old age group, because it is strenuous and involves using machinery, too. You will definitely have to teach your kid how to use the lawnmower, and will have to supervise them until they’ve got the hang of things. It’s also a great way to get your preteen out of the house and to give them some exercise! You could also task them to rake leaves prior to moving the lawn.

Shovel the Driveway

Another strenuous activity that your preteen should be able to handle is shoveling the driveway once it begins to snow. Of course, unless you live in a place where it snows year round, this is a fairly seasonal chore. Depending upon the size of your driveway (and the amount and quality of the snowfall!), your child may need help shoveling the driveway. If you have a short driveway or there wasn’t much snow, though, it’s possible for your kid to do it all on their own! When they’re all done, reward them with a hot cup of cocoa– they deserve it after that hard work.

Take Care of the Garden

Gardening is another activity that is more seasonal, depending on where you live. Your kiddos can help you with different tasks in the garden or around the yard at all ages, but when you have a preteen, you can choose to make the garden their main responsibility if you want! They should be capable of taking care of the garden, from weeding to watering, planting or spreading mulch to make it look presentable. You could decide to assign all of these chores to your kid as their responsibilities, or you could just hand over one or two tasks. This is another great way to get them out of their rooms and into the sunshine!

Meal Prep

Cooking for a family can be time consuming, and sometimes it feels like you’ve just done the dishes from the last meal when it’s time to start cooking again! Your preteen should be more than capable of helping you out by acting as your sous chef and helping to prep ingredients for meal time. You could even have them help out by cooking the sides, such as putting together a salad with veggies from the garden or boiling water for frozen sides, or preparing a simple meal from scratch. If you did not have them helping out in the kitchen when they were younger, they will probably need a little direction at first, but they’ll get the hang of things quick!

This is a great age appropriate chore that will help them with daily responsibilities.

Making Breakfast

On the same note of helping to meal prep is making breakfast. You could give your kids the chore of being in charge of making breakfast for themselves and the other littles, or could simply say that they are responsible for putting together their own meal in the morning. This is a good chore because they do not have to be a fantastic cook to put together a breakfast– it could be as simple as grabbing a yogurt and banana from the fridge, or putting frozen waffles in the toaster.

Help with Grocery Shopping

Of course, it’s always helpful when our kids carry in the groceries from the car or help to put them away. But your preteen can help you while at the grocery store and can cut down the amount of time you spend on your shopping! They are now at the age where you are able to trust them to go off on their own to grab a few things for you at the store. Put together a smaller list for them (produce, for example!), and then they can go to that section of the store and collect the items.

If you are looking for more age appropriate chores for children visit:

Chores for toddlers 2-3
chores for kids ages 4-5
chores for kids ages 6-8
Chores for Kids Aged 9-11

using chore charts are a great way to keep track of your childs chore list. They can list out all of thier household chores and check them off once completed. parents can also use a chore chart for assigning chores as well.