20 to 30 minute chores for 12-year-olds
14 jobs that take twenty to thirty minutes that a 12-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 12
| 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 | On their own | 30 min | Seasonal | 15 |
| Walk the dog | On their own | 30 min | Daily | 15 |
| Wash dishes by hand | On their own | 20 min | Daily | 15 |
| Clean the pet cage or tank | On their own | 30 min | Weekly | 15 |
| Do a load of laundry | On their own | 20 min | Weekly | 15 |
| Mop the floor | On their own | 20 min | Weekly | 15 |
| Shovel snow | On their own | 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 |
| Plan the week's meals | With you | 30 min | Weekly | 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 12
- Clean the kitchen after dinner (alone from about 13)
- Clean out the fridge (alone from about 14)
- Plan the week's meals (alone from about 16)
Most 12-year-olds can do alone
- Sort outgrown clothes and toys
- Wash dishes by hand
- Do a load of laundry
- Mop the floor
- Walk the dog
- Clean the pet cage or tank
- Pull weeds
- Rake leaves
- Wash the car
- Shovel snow
- Pack their own bag for a trip
Time, added up
- Doing every job on this page once
- 360 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 12
- 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 12-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.