Our kids tend to get the blame for a lot of things, not least for not tidying up after themselves or for making our homes look dirty and cluttered. But instead of admonishing them for this, why not try to help them become a part of the solution, and work with them to keep your home clean?
Here are a few simple ways in which your kids can help you clean your home:
- Setting cleaning ground rules that your kids can manage
Establishing a few house rules when it comes to cleaning can be a great way for kids to understand how important it is, and for them to see how much smoother the household runs when these rules are abided by. That said, you’ll need to adapt your rules depending on your kids, and younger tots will need much simpler tasks such as returning their toys to a box or collecting place mats after dinner.
- Keep instructions clear and simple when giving your kids tasks to complete
Giving multiple tasks tends to overwhelm kids and make them feel as if their work will never end! Just as loose instructions such as ‘clean your room’, may not give them enough direction as to exactly what you expect from them. If their room is untidy, give them clear and simple tasks to complete that will ensure it at least looks tidier, if it isn’t exactly clean. If you have storage crates for toys and other kids’ items, you could put a picture of what goes in each one, on the outside of it to help make it even clearer.
- Store toys and limit how many are played with at any given time
Kids love to gather up all their toys at once and scatter them about the place, and then are less inclined to tidy up after themselves. Putting a limit on how many toys or games they can play with at one time, will make their job a lot easier when it comes to tidying up. If you think your child has games or toys that they no longer play with, why not have a yard sale or donate them to charity? Less toys equals less clutter!
- Role play
We all know that kids love to play act, and so why not have your little ones pretend that they run a cleaning company while they are tidying up and putting things away, and you could even make them a little uniform with a pair of matching gloves.
- Boogie while you clean!
One great way of motivating your kids to tidy up is to play their favourite song and set them the challenge of picking up all their toys before it ends. They will enjoy the music and the challenge, and the cleaning will be accomplished a lot faster.
- Rewards for the cleanest room
Pitting your kids against each other sometimes works well in motivating them, particularly if there is a treat at the end of it! Ask your kids to clean their rooms and once they’ve done, you inspect it and give a reward to whichever child has done the best job. Although you may want to simply give rewards for cleaning their rooms without making a competition of it, it really depends on your kids!
Wherever possible, try to make cleaning and tidying up a fun job, and remember to praise them well if they have put the effort in. They may not always meet your standards or follow your instructions to the letter, but effort is just as important, and the more praise they get for cleaning, the more likely they are to continue doing it.