20 to 30 minute chores for 11-year-olds
13 jobs that take twenty to thirty minutes that an 11-year-old can do or start learning, with how often each comes up and what it is worth in points.
20 to 30 minute chores at 11
| Job | Stage | Time | How often | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pull weeds | On their own | 20 min | Weekly | 15 |
| Rake leaves | On their own | 30 min | Seasonal | 15 |
| Wash the car | On their own | 30 min | Monthly | 15 |
| Pack their own bag for a trip | On their own | 20 min | As needed | 15 |
| Sort outgrown clothes and toys | With you | 30 min | Seasonal | 15 |
| Walk the dog | With you | 30 min | Daily | 15 |
| Wash dishes by hand | On their own | 20 min | Daily | 15 |
| Clean the pet cage or tank | With you | 30 min | Weekly | 15 |
| Do a load of laundry | With you | 20 min | Weekly | 15 |
| Mop the floor | With you | 20 min | Weekly | 15 |
| Shovel snow | With you | 30 min | Seasonal | 15 |
| Clean the kitchen after dinner | With you | 20 min | Daily | 15 |
| Clean out the fridge | With you | 30 min | Monthly | 15 |
On their own means most children this age manage it alone; With you means they start it with a grown-up alongside. Points are on a 5-for-a-small-job scale.
Start together at 11
- Sort outgrown clothes and toys (alone from about 12)
- Clean the kitchen after dinner (alone from about 13)
- Clean out the fridge (alone from about 14)
- Do a load of laundry (alone from about 12)
- Mop the floor (alone from about 12)
- Walk the dog (alone from about 12)
- Clean the pet cage or tank (alone from about 12)
- Shovel snow (alone from about 12)
Most 11-year-olds can do alone
- Wash dishes by hand
- Pull weeds
- Rake leaves
- Wash the car
- Pack their own bag for a trip
Time, added up
- Doing every job on this page once
- 330 minutes
- Longest single job
- 30 minutes
- Shortest single job
- 20 minutes
⚠️ Safety notes for these jobs: Wash dishes by hand: Warm, not hot, water. Knives and glassware stay with a grown-up until they are confident. Do a load of laundry: Keep laundry pods and detergent out of reach of younger brothers and sisters, and show older children how to measure rather than guess. Mop the floor: Wet floors are slippery. Mop toward the door and keep younger children and pets out until it dries. Walk the dog: Depends on the dog and the route. A child walks alone only a dog they can hold back if it pulls, on a route you know, and once they are safe near roads. Clean the pet cage or tank: Wash hands after handling animals, bedding and tank water. Fish tanks need a grown-up for water changes at first. Pull weeds: Gloves on, and show them any plants in your garden that sting or are poisonous.
A day of jobs at 11
- Daily jobs
- 3 or 4
- Weekly jobs
- 2
- Time
- 20 to 30 minutes a day
What these jobs teach
- letting go of things
- giving to others
- making decisions
- patience
- order of work (glasses first, pans last)
- hygiene
- seeing a whole job through
- teamwork
In TaskFamily these become jobs on your 11-year-old's own screen, with points, repeat days and the Trust Ladder to move each job from "check every time" to spot checks.
Free for one household. Premium is $5.99 a month or $49 a year for the whole family, never per child.
Keep reading
Ages and times are typical, not rules: children develop at different speeds, and you know yours best. The chore library is TaskFamily's own. The guide text is drafted with AI from these numbers and checked automatically before it is published.