Age Appropriate Tasks — Ages 3 & 4
We’re working our way up the age list based on Maren Schmidts’s column “Home Responsibilities” in the September 2010 issue of Tomorrow’s Child: (copies available to Montessori House parents at the school):
Tasks for Three- and Four-Year Olds
- Setting the table, even with good dishes.
- Put the groceries away.
- Help with grocery shopping and grocery list.
- Polish shoes and clean up afterwards.
- Follow a schedule for feeding pets.
- Help do yard and garden work.
- Make the beds and vacuum.
- Help do dishes and fill the dishwasher.
- Dust the furniture.
- Have goal chart with tasks.
- Spread butter on sandwiches.
- Prepare cold cereal.
- Help prepare plates of food for family dinner.
- Make a simple dessert (gelatin, ice cream, yogurt).
- Hold the hand mixer to whip potatoes or mix batter.
- Get the mail.
- Should be able to play without constant adult supervision.
- Fold laundry.
- Polish silver, brass, and a car.
- Sharpen pencils.
The task and responsibilities are cumulative, so be sure to see our prior post on what to expect of two-year-olds.