It is amazing to find out all the things that a toddler between 1 year old and 2 years old can do!!! Here is a summary I made from http://www.babycenter.com/ organized in the form of a list for quick reference.
Less than 2 years old:
• Putting bread in the bread basket for breakfast
• Getting his bowl from the cabinet for his meals
• Wiping the high-chair's tray with a cloth after a meal
• Putting his sippy cup in the dishwasher
• Putting your dishes in the dishwasher
• Tossing all of his stuffed animals into his toy bin
• Stacking his board books into the shelves
• Line up his toy cars before lunch
• Picking up toys and putting them back into boxes or baskets
• Putting his own dirty laundry into the laundry basket
• Loading and unloading the clothes in the washing machine
• Putting clothes into the dryer one-by-one
• Sorting socks is another good chore at this age
• Carrying clean clothes one-by-one to his room
• Putting clean clothes one-by-one into the drawer
• Putting his soiled nappies in the bin
• Throwing away thrash into the waste-paper basket
• Dusting, for example, swiping with a damp rag over a surface
• Bringing you any object you point to
More than 2 years old:
• Mixing the cream into the fruit salad
• Turning off TV/DVD/PC before leaving the room
• Watering plants
• Feeding the pet dog/cat
• Helping daddy to take off socks :-)
• climbing up in his own high chair when it's time to eat
• Bringing you any object you name
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Additional Comments:
I think I am pampering J too much. So far J only puts the books back to the shelves. I didn't know toddlers can do so much and understimated babies and toddlers! A friend once commented how babies and toddlers are like creatures from outer-space - they are very intelligent. How true!!! It brings me in awe of God, and marvel at how intelligent He has created human beings (we are just talking about the average ordinary human beings), even already at a tender age of a baby!
I am going to start finding out what J can do by working down the list one-by-one for the next few months... ha ha :-)
A wise comment I've got to copy down from someone called pushkina from www.babycenter.com:
“in my world, if a child hasn't learned by the age of three to pick up after him/herself, then s/he will never learn to do it. my daughter is 20 months old; we've been working on nightly chores since she was about 14 months old. it's just part of what we do at night: supper, pick up toys and put them in the basket, bathe, story, last bottle, brush teeth, put away books, good night kisses, prayers and into bed, no later than 8.30. is it hard to do all that after a full day of work, housework and study for me and a full day of daycare for her? (we won't discuss her daddy on the sofa!) YES!YES!YES!YES!!!! it is bloody hard sometimes; and sometimes i just don't have the energy or the strength for the entire program so we may skip part of it. but we started it when we did because SHE wanted to help. she still does; she's so cute with a dust cloth or a dustpan and brush. she puts her dirty dish on the counter or in the sink; she'll throw her empty bottle into the sink. she showed us she was ready to help; we help her help. chores are for everyone, even in houses where there is staff. because if we don't teach our little ones how to do very basic things for themselves, they will grow up without knowing how and worse, feeling entitled, that someone else should clean up their messes, both big and small. i was always imprssed by my grandmother's stories about when she was little and her first family responsibility was when she was three: to collect kindling for the morning fire. her mother and father told her that the entire family counted on her to do her job, so that in the morning they all could be warm and have breakfast. and she did it and she told me she was so proud every morning when the fire would be lit, that she felt that SHE had made it happen. that is the beginning of self-esteem. leave it til later in age and it won't happen! humans haven't changed that much in a hundred years; if little kids in america could do real jobs and accept real responsibilities, i think the least i can do is maintain that tradition. those of us who had parents who grew up during the Depression or WWII remember hearing how fast kids had to grow up, because their lives depended on it. IMO, our kids lives depend also on learning early on that sense of independence and responsibility and the power of being helpful and giving. and they CAN do it. it's just sometimes really hard (for us) to teach them and insist.”
References:
www.babycenter.com/404_when-can-my-toddler-start-doing-chores-and-what-kinds-are-ap_6833.bc
http://housekeeping.about.com/od/chorechart1/a/ageapprchores.htm
http://www.choresandchecklists.com/chores-for-5-year-olds.html
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