Free Printable Chore Chart for Kids (Ages 4–5)
A print-ready weekly chore chart with watercolor animals and color-in circles. Free PDF, no email required.
Here is a free chore chart designed for the youngest helpers — the age research says is exactly the right time to start. Print it, stick it on the fridge, and let your kid color in a circle every time they finish a chore. No sign-up, no email gate, just the PDF.
What’s on the chart
Five starter chores that four- and five-year-olds can genuinely own — make my bed, put toys away, water the plants, help clear the table, sweep the floor — each with its own watercolor animal buddy. Every day has a dashed circle to color in (more satisfying than a checkbox at this age, and doubles as fine-motor practice). At the bottom there is a “this week I’m earning” box to fill in together — stickers, a park trip, or their first allowance.
Why start chores this young?
Because the research points squarely at this age. A University of Minnesota longitudinal study found that kids who started chores at three or four were more successful in their mid-twenties than those who started later — and the famous Harvard Grant Study found childhood responsibility to be one of the strongest predictors of adult success. The goal at this age is not a clean house (their “help” will slow you down — that is normal and fine). It is the identity: I am someone who pitches in.
Tips for making it stick
Keep it to three to five chores, do them at the same time each day, and let your kid color the circle themselves — the marking is the reward loop. Expect week three to be the hard part: the novelty wears off, and the chart only works if someone keeps it going. If the paper version stops getting updated (it happens to everyone), that is the problem Tally was built for — kids check off chores in the app, allowance tracks automatically, and nothing depends on anyone remembering the fridge.
Not sure which chores fit which age? Our age-appropriate chores guide covers every stage from toddler to teen, and if you are weighing whether to attach money to chores, we broke down the research in Should Allowance Be Tied to Chores?
Track allowances and chores with Tally
Free app for families. Log transactions, reward chores, and co-parent together.
