Cleaning can be such a “chore” n’est pas?! I try to make housework a family activity because A) it gets it done faster (mostly) and B) it teaches the kids the life skill of keeping things clean. Here are my 8 Tips To Get Your Kids To Help Clean…
8 Tips To Get Your Kids To Help Clean…
Making it fun really is the key (otherwise you are in for a whole lot of complaining). When I do laundry, I lift my son to stand on the dryer – and let him pour in the Tide into the washing machine. He LOVES watching the washing machine swish around as the water fills up with soapy bubbles.
For my tween and teen, there needs to be added-value in housework…like the treat of listening to music. They are free to tune into their ipods or tune into “their” radio station while they tidy. It makes the chores go by smoother.
Normally, it’s “hands-off” Mom’s stuff, but when it comes time for clean up I let the kids use “tools”. You should see the fights over who gets to use the Swiffer (crazy, I know…but proves tools can be fun).
When it comes to housework, time it. Make it a race to see who can put their socks away faster. How fast they can run to their room to put away their t-shirts and then run back. And also, just time the amount of time it takes to do the chores…don’t spend all day on it…a 10 minute tidy can be enough to keep your living room in a proper state.
To reduce sibling squabbles, give them a “job”. In my house, one child sets the table and the other one clears. It gives them set responsibilities and jobs yet keeps the amount of work equal.
I truly believe one of the best tips to get your kids to help clean is to make it a family activity. Saturday mornings, we all tidy our respective rooms. No one is sitting on the couch or at a screen. We are all doing the same thing.
With younger kids, I recommend to create cleaning games. Like putting two Bounty sheets underneath the feet of your toddler and letting him “skate” through the living room while holding your hand. It cleans the floor and busts some boredom!
Finally, positive reinforcement is the only way to go when it comes to getting your kids to help clean. Smiles. Saying “Good Job”. Commenting on how good your house looks. Maybe even a cookie treat after the housework is done. All go towards making chores a better experience.
Disclosure: I am a P&Gmom/mamanP&G. As part of my affiliation with this group I receive products and special access to P&G events and opportunities. The opinions on this blog are my own.
Some great tips and it is important to include the kids in household chores from the time they are little, teaches them important life skills. Cleaning can be fun if you put some thought into it!
It really is a life skill! And different ages need different encouragements: my ds will put away toys with a “good job!” whereas my tween & teen need the treat of blasting their fav. music while cleaning up. – whatever works works for me 😉
Praise is the biggest thing. It’s nice to hear thank you. Not just for the kids but for the adults as well.
It is sometimes like pulling teeth getting my older girls to help out with household chores. They moan and groan but I don’t let them get out of anything. Even so, their little brother is often more helpful!
When my son was 2 years old he USED to LOVE to clean… Now that he’s older not so much. I find that making it fun, putting on music and dancing around silly while we clean help him get back into the groove of things… If all else fails I tell him “Nana can’t come over if the house is messy.” That usually gets him moving pretty quickly.
You know what…I prefer to clean when it’s fun too. 😉
My mom used to make cleanup fun. Now everyone hates it lol.
its always nice to thank them for their help and tell them they are doing a good job and that it helped you get done faster by them helping
totally agree!
Love these tips! I play music to help my son clean, but most times it just takes asking in a fun voice to do it!
great tips we always had the music going and I would give them a treat if they did a superb job
Oh that’s fun!
Great tips, I have used most of those with great success.