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 teens can usually handle
Teenagers can usually do most household chores that adults do: cooking a simple meal, cleaning a bathroom, doing their own laundry from start to finish, and looking after the yard. Chores like mowing the lawn or using cleaning products are fine at this age once you've shown them how to do it safely. Stay nearby the first few times, and talk about why things like ventilation and the right protective gear matter.
What teens need most from a chore chart is clarity and respect. They have busy schedules with school, activities and friends. Agree on what needs doing each week and by when, then let them manage the timing. A chart for a teen works less like a checklist you enforce and more like an agreement you both signed.
Chore ideas for teens
Pick a few from each area rather than all of them. Every family is different, so use these as a starting point.
Bedroom
- Keep their room clean
- Wash and dry their own laundry
- Change their own sheets
Kitchen
- Cook a simple meal once a week
- Clean up the kitchen after dinner
- Help write the grocery list
- Empty the dishwasher
Pets
- Look after a pet's daily needs
- Clean a cage, tank or litter box
Outdoors
- Mow the lawn, once a grown-up has shown them how to do it safely
- Wash the car
- Sweep the porch or shovel snow
- Take the bins to the curb
Helping others
- Clean a bathroom
- Vacuum and mop shared rooms
- Help a younger sibling with homework or a chore
- Run a simple errand for the family
Keeping it fun
- Connect chores to real life. Cooking a meal, doing laundry and running an errand are skills they'll use when they move out. Say so.
- Let them own a whole job. "You're in charge of Tuesday dinner" is more motivating than "help with dinner."
- Be flexible about when. A chore done Sunday night instead of Saturday morning is still done.
- Tie it to their goals. If they're saving for something, extra paid jobs give them a way to get there faster.
When a chore gets missed
When a teen misses a chore, skip the lecture and have a direct, calm conversation. Ask what happened and what would make it work next time. Sometimes the answer is a different day or a different job. If chores are paid, the agreement should already say what happens when one is missed, so follow it without drama. Consistency and fairness go a long way with teenagers.
Making the chart work
Keep the chart somewhere visible to the family, or let your teen keep it in their room. Check in once a week rather than every day. The Pay Day row is a natural time to talk about budgeting, saving and giving. If you're working out how much to pay, the allowance calculator can help.