Pocket Piggy
Download the chart
A weekly chart with a box for every day and a Pay Day total at the bottom. Free to print as many times as you like.
What kids ages 6-8 can usually handle
By six to eight, most kids can handle a short daily routine without much help: make the bed, tidy their floor, pack their school bag, and help with a family job like setting and clearing the table. They can follow two or three steps in a row and remember a routine once it's been the same for a couple of weeks. This is a great age to start chores that help the whole family, not just their own room.
Kids this age also notice fairness. If a sibling has an easier chart, you'll hear about it. Explaining why a chore fits their age ("you're big enough to empty the small trash cans now") helps. Rotating one or two shared jobs between siblings each week keeps things even.
Chore ideas for ages 6-8
Pick a few from each area rather than all of them. Every family is different, so use these as a starting point.
Bedroom
- Make the bed
- Tidy the bedroom floor
- Put clean laundry away
- Pack their school bag
Kitchen
- Set and clear the table
- Load plates and cups into the dishwasher
- Wipe the counters with a damp cloth
- Put away spoons and forks
- Make a simple no-cook snack
Pets
- Feed the pet and refresh the water
- Walk the dog with a grown-up
Outdoors
- Water the garden
- Rake leaves
- Bring in the mail
Helping others
- Fold towels
- Sweep with a small broom
- Dust with a dry cloth
- Empty the small trash cans
- Help a younger sibling tidy up
Keeping it fun
- Let them choose. Offer a few chores and let them pick which ones go on the blank rows. Kids work harder on jobs they chose.
- Try a "power ten." Ten minutes of everyone tidying at once, with music on, before dinner.
- Give them a title. "Pet captain" or "table boss" makes a chore feel like a role instead of a task.
- Add a stretch job. One slightly harder chore, like helping make a no-cook snack, gives them something to grow into.
When a chore gets missed
At this age it's reasonable to expect most chores to get done, with a friendly reminder. When one is missed, ask them to do it now rather than saving it for later. If it keeps getting missed, look at why. Maybe it's at a bad time of day, or it isn't clear what "done" means. "Tidy your floor" can become "nothing on the floor except furniture." If chores earn money, a missed chore doesn't earn, and you can talk about that calmly on Pay Day.
Making the chart work
Keep the chart where the whole family can see it, and check it at the same time each day. Kids this age are ready to connect chores and money if you want to. The Pay Day row is a good place to add up the week together. If you'd like to plan how much, try the allowance calculator.