Laundry chores for 5-year-olds
Laundry jobs at 5: 2 most children do alone and 3 to start with you, with the time, how often and points for each.
Laundry chores at 5
| Job | Stage | Time | How often | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Put dirty clothes in the hamper | On their own | 1 min | Daily | 5 |
| Match socks from the laundry | On their own | 10 min | Weekly | 10 |
| Put clean clothes away | With you | 10 min | Weekly | 10 |
| Fold laundry | With you | 15 min | Weekly | 10 |
| Sort laundry by color | With you | 10 min | Weekly | 10 |
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 5
- Put clean clothes away (alone from about 7)
- Sort laundry by color (alone from about 8)
- Fold laundry (alone from about 9)
Most 5-year-olds can do alone
- Put dirty clothes in the hamper
- Match socks from the laundry
Coming next in this area
- Change the bed sheets (starts with help around 8)
- Do a load of laundry (starts with help around 9)
- Do their own laundry start to finish (starts with help around 12)
A day of jobs at 5
- Daily jobs
- 2 or 3 short jobs
- Weekly jobs
- 1, done with you
- Time
- 10 to 15 minutes a day
What these jobs teach
- a bedtime routine
- looking after belongings
- matching and colours
- patience
- helping with family laundry
- knowing where things live
- keeping drawers tidy
- sorting
In TaskFamily these become jobs on your 5-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.