What teens can realistically handle
Teenagers can do any household chore an adult can, including cooking full meals, deep cleaning and yard work with power tools once trained. From 16, those who drive can run errands, pick up groceries and take siblings to practice.
What changes is the kind of chore. Teens need practice with the invisible jobs: planning meals, making appointments, keeping to a budget and noticing what needs doing. Their time is also tight, so a smaller list of bigger, clearly owned jobs usually works better than lots of little ones.
Helping at home is usually good for teens, not just for you. In daily diary studies, teenagers felt happier on days they helped their family, mostly because it made them feel like a good son, daughter or sibling. The same line of research found that very heavy family duties can cost schoolwork, so lighten the load in exam weeks rather than dropping it.
Daily chores for teens
These happen every day, most of them inside routines you already have. Times are for a child who has been shown how and is doing it on their own.
| Chore | Time | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Clean the kitchen after dinner, start to finish | 25 min | 3 |
| Cook one part of dinner: the side, the salad or the main | 20 min | 2 |
| Keep their room and bathroom clean | 15 min | 2 |
| Take care of the pets | 15 min | 2 |
| Take out the trash and recycling | 5 min | 1 |
Weekly chores for teens
Bigger jobs that need doing once a week. Give each one a set day so nobody has to remember.
| Chore | Time | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Do all of their own laundry, including sheets and towels | 60 min | 5 |
| Deep clean a shared bathroom | 40 min | 4 |
| Mow, edge and blow the lawn Push mowers from 12 and riding mowers from 16, per the AAP. | 60 min | 6 |
| Do the weekly grocery shop from a list, within a budget Give them the list and a set amount. Anything they save is theirs to keep. | 60 min | 5 |
| Take the bins to the curb and bring them back | 5 min | 1 |
Want it on paper? Print the free chore chart for teens, or the after school checklist.
Stretch chores to try next
Once the daily list happens without reminders, add one of these. They are worth a little more because learning a new job is part of the work.
| Chore | Time | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Plan, shop for and cook a family dinner | 90 min | 8 |
| Paint a room with you: prep, tape, two coats and cleanup | 240 min | 20 |
| Check tire pressure, top up washer fluid and change the wiper blades | 30 min | 4 |
| Call and book their own dentist or doctor appointment | 15 min | 3 |
Making chores stick at this age
- Give them a few big jobs with clear ownership rather than a long list of small ones.
- Teach the invisible work: planning a meal, booking an appointment, noticing what is running low.
- Consider paying market rates for jobs you would otherwise hire out, like mowing.
About the point values
Points here work out to roughly one point for every 10 minutes of work, never less than one. Change them to suit your family. What matters is that a harder job is worth more than an easy one. The chart of chores by age uses the same scale for every age, so siblings' lists compare fairly. Wondering whether to pay in points or cash? See points vs allowance and how much allowance by age.
Questions parents ask about chores for teens
How many chores should a teenager do?
No study sets an amount. A workable shape is their own room and laundry, a daily share of the kitchen and one bigger weekly job. The AAP's advice is that practice or a part-time job does not make a teen too busy to take the trash out, so trade chores around in heavy weeks rather than dropping them.
Should teenagers be paid for chores?
It is common to expect everyday self care and household jobs for free, and pay for bigger jobs you would otherwise hire out. The AAP suggests paying teens a commission for household projects as a way to learn to earn, and is clear that a sports schedule or a part-time job is not a reason to stop doing the regular ones.
What life skills should a teen learn before moving out?
Cooking a handful of meals from scratch, doing laundry, cleaning a bathroom and kitchen properly, grocery shopping on a budget, booking appointments and basic car care. The stretch list here covers most of them.
Sources
The chores and ages here were checked against the American Academy of Pediatrics' guidance. Where this page makes a claim about safety or research, it comes from:
- Age-Appropriate Chores for Children. American Academy of Pediatrics, HealthyChildren.org.
- Household Chores for Teens. American Academy of Pediatrics, HealthyChildren.org.
- Daily family assistance and the psychological well-being of adolescents. Telzer and Fuligni, Developmental Psychology, 2009.
- Lawn Mower Safety: Information for Families. American Academy of Pediatrics, HealthyChildren.org.
