A guide for parents

Chores by age:
What kids can take on, and when.

Children can help around the house in age-appropriate ways, from tidying toys at 3 to cooking at 13. How much is reasonable depends on age and ability, and German law spells out exactly that standard.

Last updated: 17 August 2026

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The legal background

Do children have to help at home?

Yes, within reason. In Germany, helping in the household is even set out in law, scaled to the child's age and ability.

"As long as a child belongs to the parental household and is raised or supported by the parents, it is obliged to perform services in the parents' household and business in a manner appropriate to its abilities and position in life."
§ 1619 BGB · gesetze-im-internet.de

"Appropriate to abilities and position in life" means age-appropriate and reasonable, never excessive work. DOTOG makes exactly this fair, age-appropriate sharing visible.

Orientation

Which chores fit which age?

Rough guidelines, not fixed rules. Every child is different; what matters is what they can manage.

Age-appropriate household chores by age
Age	Suitable chores
3-5years	Tidy toys, help set the table, put laundry in the basket, sort books.
6-8years	Set and clear the table, make the bed, water plants, take out small bags of rubbish, pack the school bag.
9-12years	Tidy the room, load and unload the dishwasher, take out the bins, care for a pet, vacuum.
13+years	Cook simple meals, do the shopping, do laundry, clean the bathroom, look after younger siblings.

Intended as a practical guide; the legal framework is § 1619 BGB ("appropriate to abilities and position in life").

Why it matters

Housework is still shared unequally

43.4%

more unpaid care work is done by women in Germany than by men, about 76 minutes per day. Children who learn to pitch in fairly ease the load for the whole family later. DOTOG shares tasks visibly and by age, so one person no longer carries it all.

Source: German Federal Statistical Office, Time Use Survey 2022 (as of 6 June 2025). destatis.de

Alongside visible housework sits cognitive work: thinking ahead, planning, remembering and following up. It attracts little attention and usually rests with one person. Our guide to sharing tasks fairly explains how it arises and what a shared list changes.

Safety

Less data for younger children

DOTOG stores no email address, location or real name for a child. We store a nickname, avatar, date of birth and data created in the app: group membership, tasks, stars, streak and redeemed rewards. We need the date of birth for the age check under Article 8 GDPR, because a child account for anyone aged 7 to under 16 requires parental consent. Data is processed on servers in the European Union. There is no advertising or advertising tracking.

All details are set out in our Child Safety Standards and the privacy policy for the app.

FAQ

Common questions

From what age can children help at home?

From around age 3 with simple tasks like tidying toys. At 6 to 8 add setting the table and making the bed, at 9 to 12 the dishwasher and bins, from 13 also cooking and shopping.

Are children legally required to help?

Within reason, yes: § 1619 of the German Civil Code obliges children who live in and are supported by the parental household to help "appropriate to their abilities and position in life". That means age-appropriate, reasonable tasks, not excessive compulsion.

How much help is reasonable?

The law gives no number of hours, but it provides a standard: under Section 1619 of the German Civil Code, children must help in the household according to their abilities and position in life. In practice, a task must suit the child's age, must not displace school or rest, and must not replace adult responsibility. Short, regular help works better than occasional large jobs: a few minutes daily for young children, one manageable task for school-age children, and a fixed responsibility for teenagers. Reliability matters more than volume, because children experience fairness when sharing is visible and everyone contributes. The age table on this page is practical guidance, not a legal requirement. If a child seems overwhelmed, the task is too large; the child is not too slow. Recording the task in writing instead of assigning it verbally helps everyone see who has taken on what and whose turn it was last.

Should you reward children for helping?

Rewards work best as a kick-start, not permanent payment. The obvious things stay normal; the extra effort gets rewarded. More in our rewards system for kids.

How do I share tasks fairly in the family?

Make it visible who does what and when. Then the load shares itself. That is exactly what DOTOG is built for; see sharing tasks fairly.

Want to share chores age-appropriately and fairly?

DOTOG is now on the App Store and Google Play.