Being a parent is quite overwhelming, we all know that. Especially when you are the proud parent of a child with an excessive amount of toys and energy, spreading both of them around the house 24/7 it seems. And even though it’s great to see your kids lively and happy, it’s also great to actually have a rest from all the tidying up and enjoy a clean home without losing an entire weekend for it.
One way to achieve this is to teach your children to help around with chores. And for all the parents laughing while they are reading this, yes, we know how it sounds. However, there is a way around it. Kids are not that complicated, and thankfully, there are a few tricks that will get them to help you with cleaning regularly and even enjoy it!
Show them the value of cleaning
It’s important for kids to truly understand why it’s good to clean up and help with the maintenance of the house. If they do it just because you told them to, they will not continue once they are out of the house and here it’s really important to create life longing habits that will be passed onto their children one day.
With that being said, we strongly recommend that you don’t say things like “You created this mess, you will clean it”. It’s probably gonna be used against you someday. They need to understand that it’s important in general to be tidy and clean, helping other members of the family in order to enjoy a beautiful home all the time. Show them the importance of their actions, give them a good example and they are sure to follow.
Start with short cleaning sessions
Nobody likes a 6-hour cleaning marathon, especially kids. Start the cleaning sessions gradually and include them for about 15-20 minutes each time. Make it a habit first, with small clean-ups every day so that they get used to it and you will actually have less to clean.
Cleaning doesn’t have to be an event that takes them away from doing the things they like, it should be a routine in the family, one that can also be enjoyable. Show your kids that you like cleaning and that the whole process can be extremely easy and fun. How you can make it fun, though, we will learn in the next paragraph.
Turn cleaning into a game
This will always be the most effective way of getting kids to clean and enjoy doing chores. We can talk to them all day about the values of being a tidy person and how important is for the family and their future life, but at the end of the day, they are just kids. It’s gonna be hard to get them to do anything unless it looks appealing. So creating games is a great way to ease them into cleaning and truly enjoying it.
Here are three of the most popular and effective cleaning games for kids.
Roll for a chore
This is a bit of a psychological game for kids that say they don’t like the chores you assign them. Create a board game with different cleaning tasks in the various sections. Let your kids roll the dice and depending on where they land, they have to do the chore written inside. It’s not you making the rules, it’s just a game, they landed on the vacuuming all by themselves, so they have to do it. If you have more kids and they land on the same square, let them do the task together.
Create an Ad about your clean home
Most children love performing and getting into character. So a great way to turn a boring cleaning session into a whole adventure is to tell them you’re filming an ad about how a clean home should look like. They will be the main actors, showing how it’s supposed to be clean and promoting the property to the audience. You can look up different cleaning techniques on the internet and follow them, or create the script to the “ad” yourself. Your children will try their best to appear “cool” and interesting on the camera so the effort given when cleaning will be at least double. Encourage them to smile and have a positive attitude throughout the whole process and who knows, they might transfer that to the times you’re not filming.
Clean to the Music
Music is a great way of making any boring activity into a fun one, even for adults. Energetic music will get your kids going, especially if it’s a favourite song of theirs. First, create a list of things that need to be done. Second, play the song and let them dance and jump around for a minute or two. When you stop the music, your kids need to start cleaning according to the list and when you resume the song, they can continue dancing. Not only will they help with the cleaning but they will also be extremely tired at the end and will have no problems falling asleep later on.
Set up rewards
If your children are too young to understand the concept of responsibility, a reward system can always help to get them started working. Put their name on a list and put it somewhere visible, like a fridge. Across their name, you can put all the chores they need to do for a certain period of time and check when they finish a task. Once they get 5 checkmarks, they get a reward. Make sure that the prize is something they actually like and want. More time on the phone, more time outside, extra dessert after dinner. You know your kids best and what will be their motivating factor to get them cleaning regularly.
Chores are work after all and if we didn’t get paid we would probably not work for free. It’s the same for kids, they need a currency that will attract them. Still, you have to make sure to talk with them regularly about the importance and value of cleaning, as we mentioned earlier. Show them that they shouldn’t do it just because they are getting rewards but because it is the right thing to do.
Never say no when they want to help
This means that even though some chores are way easier without the quick fingers of your kids when they ask to help you out, find a way to include them. When you’re cooking and they show the desire to help out, find something they can do so that they feel a part of the whole process. Let them wash the vegetables or put the spices in order. Show them how to fold clothes and put them neatly in the drawer. Even if you feel that it would take more effort to clean, cook or do whatever, you can’t really turn them away when they want to. Instead, express gratitude and encourage their involvement in the process.
Clean up together
There is a big difference between, “Clean up your toys”, and, “Let’s clean up your toys”. Again, it will show them that this is not punishment, it’s just how things should be done in the house. However, you have to be careful not to get carried away and actually cleaning everything up by yourself. Let them lead and have conversations with them to help pass the time quicker and let your kids associate cleaning with bonding time.
Pay attention to what they like
Once you get them started on doing chores, pay close attention to the tasks they actually enjoy doing. If you see your 8-year-old child rushing to fold the laundry or wash the dishes, let them do the things they like. Maybe you will have to rewash some dishes but in the long run, that is not what’s important. The idea is to build lifelong skills and make your kids associate cleaning with a time well spent.