Patio Chores for Kids by Age: Here are chores you can reasonably expect your child to help with, sorted by the minimum age he or she can likely tackle them successfully.
Ages 2 and under:
-- Pick up outside toys
-- Collect snails in a pail.
Ages 3 to 5:
-- Previous chores, plus:
-- Put away outside toys and games (and all their pieces) in the proper boxes or bins
-- Help with planting
-- Water outside plants
-- Debug plants
-- Sponge down the outdoor play table.
Ages 6 to 9:
-- Previous chores, plus:
-- Hang up (pool) towel
-- Rake leaves
-- Sweep the patio and porches
-- Wipe outside table and chairs
-- Do easy yard work such as weeding
-- Help test the pool or hot tub water
-- Help balance the pool or hot tub pH
-- Help clean the pool strainer baskets
-- Prepare recyclables for pickup
-- Clean doormats.
Ages 10 to 13:
-- Previous chores, plus:
-- Take trash and recycling containers to the curb
-- Clean outdoor furniture
-- Plant plants and bulbs
-- Harvest vegetables
-- Mulch plants
-- Take compostable material to the compost pile
-- Cut flowers for the house
-- Vacuum the pool once a week
-- Scrub the pool sides occasionally
-- Fish surface litter out of a pool (with a grown-up's supervision, of course).
