7 year old girl doing chores with her mom

7 Chores for 7 Year Olds

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Do you want your 7 year old to develop skills like responsibility, respect, and work ethic?

Assigning them age-appropriate chores will give them the opportunity to work on these life skills and more. Chores are a time-proven way to support children to develop a range of positive behaviors, skills, and habits, all of which will help them to become well-rounded individuals. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that having an extra helper around the house provides some relief for mom and dad too!

If you’re considering going down this path but don’t know which chores to give your 7 year olds, read on. This guide will put a spotlight on 7 chores that are suitable and—dare we say it—fun for your 7 year old to do.

1. Take Care of Their Laundry

7 year old doing her laundry with her mom as part of her chores
Image credit: Pexels

Imagine if your 7 year old got into the habit of taking responsibility for their own laundry. A parent can only dream, right?

If you’d like to make this a reality, consider assigning this task as a chore. If you followed our list of chores for 6 year olds, they’ll already have a head start on this. But if it’s your first time getting your child to take care of their laundry, there’s no need to stress. The key to getting them on board with this chore is to provide them with some choice over their responsibilities.

Start off with a few smaller responsibilities, and then add on to them once they get into the swing of things. For example, you can start off by getting them to gather their dirty clothes and put their clothes away. Then, they can work their way up to putting a load of washing on, unloading the washing machine, and folding their clothes.

2. Put Away Groceries

7 year olds helping their mom pack away groceries as part of her chores
Image credit: Pexels

We’ve all wished we could grow an extra pair of hands to make the task of putting away groceries a bit quicker and easier. After all, a big trip to the store can take up a lot of time in itself, let alone the process of putting away all of your purchases.

Fortunately, you can ask your 7 year old to help out. You’d be wrong to underestimate the power of their tiny hands—they can cut the time it takes to put away groceries in half!

Before you assign this chore to your child, make sure they know their way around the kitchen. Point out where each item belongs, and show them how you’d like them placed. As to not overwhelm them, you may wish to assign a particular type of food for them to put away. For example, you can get them to put away all canned goods, or put the cold foods in the refrigerator.

3. Wiping Down Surfaces

Getting your 7 year old to help wipe down surfaces in your house is an ideal chore for a few reasons. Firstly, it’s about as straightforward as chores come. Once you show them the ropes, there’s not a lot to it.

Granted, it’s not the most exciting chore, but they’ll like the fact it can be completed without too much fuss. What’s more, this chore helps them develop good cleaning habits they’ll take with them through life. Plus, it helps to keep your house as dust-free as possible.

If you’re worried about your child accidentally knocking something over, assign certain ‘safe’ areas in the house for them to be responsible for. That way, you can have some peace of mind while they’re carrying out this chore, instead of worrying if they’re going to break your great grandmother’s vase.

4. Vacuum Their Bedroom

Another chore that’s suitable for 7 year olds is vacuuming. To be specific, vacuuming their bedroom. The reason we recommend limiting this chore to their own room is that vacuuming can be quite a big chore for a 7 year old.

So what are the benefits of assigning this chore? It teaches your child to be organized and take care of their belongings. Like wiping down surfaces, this chore also helps them to develop good cleaning habits. Finally, it will serve as a good reminder to keep their floors clear of toys… lest their precious Lego pieces get sucked up!

5. Fold Blankets and Sheets

After a chore for your 7 year old that’s simple and super helpful? Ask them to help you with folding blankets and sheets.

While this task feels like a chore when you have to go about it alone, it’s quick and easy to do as a pair. There are other critical benefits this chore offers beyond helping you out. It’s a great way to instill values of cooperation and teamwork in your child, and it helps them feel like they’re a valued member of the household.

6. Take Out the Trash

Yes, we’ve included everyone’s favorite chore on this list of chores of 7 year olds. But before you say, “My 7 year old will never be up for taking out the trash!”, hear us out.

Taking out the trash is no one’s idea of fun. But that’s precisely what makes it such a good chore. It teaches your child that some responsibilities in life aren’t always the most pleasant.

Taking out the trash is also part of maintaining a clean and healthy household, which is directly related to taking care of ourselves and our loved ones. Those are no doubt life lessons you want your child to develop early on, right?

The key to minimizing disgruntlement with this chore is to sell its benefits. In addition to explaining the above, highlight what a quick and easy chore it is. Explain that sure, it can be a little stinky, but they will be done with it in a few minutes, tops. Another way to keep groans at bay is to take it in turns carrying out this chore. Doing so will also emphasize the concept of shared responsibility and the importance of taking care of one another.

7. Sweep

Chores for 7 year olds don’t all need to be indoors. Asking them to sweep the deck is a nice way for them to get some fresh air while helping out.

Similar to wiping down surfaces, this chore is straightforward to carry out. That said, you’ll need to show them how to do a good job before they get started. You’ll also need to check that the broom they’ll work with isn’t too big for them. If it is, purchase a child-sized broom for them to work with. You may be able to sweeten the deal by letting them play witches or wizards with it… after they’re done, of course!

Giving your 7 year old chores to do doesn’t need to be taxing. Just refer to the guide above for some expert direction. If you’re after even more ideas, we’ve created a custom chore chart and comprehensive guide on chores for toddlers you can refer to.

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Monica Mizzi
Monica writes for Safe Smart Family. She has a teaching background, as well as extensive experience tutoring children. Monica loves the limitless curiosity and creativity of children, and enjoys helping parents to tap into both of these qualities.