Chores for teenagers (15 and up)
Chores for older teens are really life skills: planning and cooking a meal, doing the food shop on a budget, mowing the lawn, keeping a car clean. These are the jobs they’ll do on their own in a few years, so it helps to learn them at home first.
Treat teens more like housemates than kids. Agree who owns what, pay fairly for jobs that go beyond the everyday, and give them room to organise their own time.
39 chore ideas for ages 15 and up
Bedroom and laundry
- Do all family laundry
- Wash curtains
Kitchen and meals
- Cook full meals
- Deep clean kitchen
- Meal prep for the week
- Clean behind appliances
- Clean oven inside
- Cook dinner for family
Bathroom
- Deep clean bathrooms
- Clean drains
Around the house
- Wash windows thoroughly
- Polish furniture
Outdoors and garden
- Mow lawn
- Edge lawn
- Shovel snow
- Wash car
- Organize garage
- Vacuum cars
- Power wash patio
- Clean gutters (with help)
- Harvest vegetables
- Clean grill
- Organize outdoor storage
- Wax car
Bigger jobs and helping out
- Grocery shopping
- Replace air filters
- Babysit siblings
Daily routines
Habits rather than jobs. Great for earning points, not usually for pay.
- Morning routine
- Personal hygiene routine
- Exercise regularly
- Read daily
- Manage own schedule
- Review weekly goals
- Budget allowance
- Practice a skill daily
- Skincare routine
- Journaling
- Bedtime routine
- Limit screen time
Tips for this age
- Focus on skills they’ll need living on their own: cooking, shopping, laundry, basic repairs.
- Let them plan it. A teen who owns Friday dinner decides the menu too.
- Pay for the big jobs and let them budget. Mistakes with small money are cheap lessons.
Use these chores in Tasklio, free
Add a child aged 15 and up and Tasklio offers a ready-made starter set of chores and rewards. Kids tick off their own jobs; you approve with one tap.
Parents also ask
What chores should a 16 year old do?
Cooking full meals, doing the grocery shopping, mowing the lawn, cleaning the car, deep cleaning bathrooms and helping with younger siblings are all reasonable. Most teens can also manage their own laundry and room entirely.
Should teenagers be paid for chores?
Many families pay teens for bigger jobs, like mowing or washing the car, while everyday tasks stay unpaid. It mirrors how work and home life fit together as an adult.
How do I motivate a teenager to help around the house?
Give them ownership and trust, connect chores to things they value (money, freedom, the car), and keep expectations consistent. A shared chart avoids the same conversation every day.