For my little kids, we do several things:
1) laundry "basketball" and call out colors as we put things in the proper stacks.
2) We play music and dance/sing while we work.
3) While cooking and cleaning the kitchen, we discuss what it's all for, the ins and outs of cooking and how/why we do what we do. I tell stories that different things remind me of as we come across something.
4) My 2 year old likes to play "Clean-up choo-choo". He gets to push the laundry basket around and we toss all the stuff in it (shoes, toys, pens, whatever) that we find out of place and then he gets to drive it to each room and we make "deliveries" in the rooms (shoes in the proper closet, trash to the trash can, etc, etc).
5) When my oldest turned 3 and was able to understand it, we started him on the allowance system. YES he knows that no matter what, he will do his chores because that's what's required in the family. HOWEVER if he chooses to do his chores well (age appropriately "well") and with a good attitude, not fighting me, then he will get paid for doing his "job" well. We have been doing this for a couple years and it works great for us! He has his little calendar and when he has earned his pay, he gets a star on the calendar. If he does not earn his pay, or if he's had a really bad day attitude-wise, he gets a black X. On payday (Saturday evening since our calendar weeks end on Saturday), we count his stars and he gets paid accordingly. We divide it all up: 10% to tithes/charity, 10% to savings, 80% to spending (he has a bank called The Giving Bank which is cute, decorated in stickers to divide the 3 buildings up: a church, a bank, a store). He loves putting the different money into the different buildings; it's a point of pride with him. And sometimes he's working for a specific thing he wants to buy. If he's really great or especially helpful with little brother, or if he does extra out of the ordinary chores (spring cleaning at this time of year = trimming hedges, washing screens and windows, bagging up lawn clippings, as well as just extra "stuff")---that means he can get 2 stars for a bonus that day (and I'll decide what the bonus is: from an extra 10 cents to $5, depending on what was going on that day). He is well aware chores get done "just because" but he knows it's much more fun to do it with a good attitude and get paid, so he can buy a new super soaker or whatever.