For very little, I have them sort laundry into piles for who it belongs to. The next ones are folding washcloths and carrying things to/from the dinner table. Watering plants is also good for little ones.

Screentime while staying on the potty.

One of my kids is vegetarian. We have a meal box subscription (HungryRoot) that has a lot of vegetarian options. I let me child scroll through the list of ingredients and pictures and choose three things they'll eat. When the box comes, we unpack it together and my child decides what order we have those meals. All of the meals are simple to make, so when we find ones we like, we'll often buy the ingredients on our own and they become part of our regular routine. The meal plan allows us to skip boxes, so we only get it when we know we'll have a busy week or are out of ideas.

This probably depends on the kid, but when my kids were little I would give them a task/goal such as "we can go to the park as soon as your shoes are on and I finish one quick chore" and then walk away to do my own chore somewhere close by, like emptying the dishwasher. I found that they would figure out how to do things for themselves when I wasn't standing over them and tempted to help or looking at the clock. Be sure to do this a looong time before you have to be out the door.

Dressing dolls, especially barbies. When my kids were really little this usually involved me sitting and playing/dressing dolls with them and then they gradually learned to do more and more on their own.

Doll houses are great for both boys and girls. It teaches them to be gentle as they try to set things up and play without knocking things over.

What should you do if a zombie knocks on your door? Hope it's Halloween!

Jack wanted to build a car out of noodles and but Jill said it was impossible. She couldn't believe her eyes when he drove right pasta!

Am I the only parent that loves my compact? So easy to park and cheap to drive and maintain. I'd probably squeeze three kids in the back before going bigger.

do do do doot do doo If you're my friend then you'll buy this ...Just reading this question got this song back in my head...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mU_rUj1y71w

It's so good to here all of these no rug comments. I've always had one under the table to keep the chairs from scratching the floor, but I think I'm going to give up on the fight to keep it clean with a kid in the house. For the record, it is next to impossible to find a picture online of a kitchen eating area without a rug (image search "kitchen eating area no rug")

When my daughter was little (under 3) she would get increasingly hysterical and clingy if I tried to say goodbye, but then would stop crying as soon as I walked around the corner or shut the door, so I often skipped the goodbye to avoid drama. Just after she turned 3, she wouldn't do a drop-off class because I couldn't stay, so instead we both watched the entire class through a glass door, watched the other kids have fun, watched the parents come back and pick them up, etc. She was really eager to try a different drop off class a week later and has separated easily in all situations (with goodbyes) ever since.

My 3 yo recently made up a song that goes "Mommy finger, mommy finger, what do you do? Doing computer. Doing computer. That's what I do" which made me realize I needed to cut back on my own screen time around her.

This is me as well. Its so easy to get sucked in while just trying to look up information or send a quick message.

Hah! What a great way to help him see why pants are important :)

Your daughter and mine would be friends! I pretty much let mine wear whatever crazy combo she wants to school as long as it's seasonally appropriate and won't be uncomfortable or cause a distraction - no lace-up shoes, jewelry, princess dresses etc. She does regularly wear her princess stuff on errands, but I make sure she has something practical on underneath and a big backpack to stuff the dress into in case it starts to get in the way. I figure she should enjoy it while it makes her happy and seeing her dressed up seems to make other people happy too.

I don't think I really got it until my pet died in second grade, even though I went to a funeral in kindergarten and technically knew what is was. My 3.5 yo currently has no idea, even at a basic level. I definitely don't want to rush her knowing, but I've been surprised by how often in comes up through movies and TV shows. Even Daniel Tiger has an episode where his fish dies that caught me off guard.

This is such a timely poll question [rushes off to search for all the books that are due TODAY].

When my daughter was a year old I cut out a small tree and different shapes out of felt and stuck the tree to the wall with painters tape and let her decorate it with the felt shapes. This year a relative gave my daughter a magnetic Melissa & Doug tree-shaped Advent calendar. Other years we hung ornaments from houseplants.

My family wasn't planning on doing Santa, but my 3 year old decided at 6 pm Christmas Eve that she needed to put things out for the reindeer and then couldn't sleep because Santa was definitely coming (thanks preschool teachers). We let her put a carrot out and wrapped up an unopened box of cookies and a few other things as gifts from Santa. She was delighted.