Children don’t like cleaning because it’s too boring and tiring. Making them help you with cleaning is a bit challenging. Surely it isn’t impossible. Nagging your kids to tidy their room is not going to help, on the contrary, it will make things worse. Instead of complaining about the mess in the room, why don’t you go for something more efficient like cleaning games? As you know, children love games. If you turn cleaning into a game, your kids will gladly want to participate. As a result they will have fun, and you… you will enjoy a tidy and clean home (or at least children’s rooms).
So, here we will talk about what games you can use to make your children clean their rooms with desire.
Ways to make your children clean their rooms
Play “shop”
This game’s rule goes like this: certain items are picked up from the floor and put back where they belong. For example, toys need to be delivered to the box. Socks, shoes and clothing should be put back in the wardrobe or laundry basket.
In addition, different items get different points. Needless to say, the ones that are harder to clean or tidy up and take more time to handle receive the highest score. Let your children know about the scores that different items have. The kid that has the highest score will get a reward. In case you have one kid, you can provide a list of scores and rewards they will get. For example, the lowest score gets an ice-cream and the highest – a new toy, or something similar. This will motivate your kids to try harder. Take a look at the list below. This is just an example at how you can determine the scores.
- Making beds – 1 point
- Picking up socks – 2 points
- Folding shirts – 3 points
- Cleaning dirty toys – 6 points
- Wiping dust – 6 points
- Tidying up the closet – 7 points
- Emptying trash bin – 2 points
- Picking up the clutter – 4 points
- Taking care of the pet (if there is any) – including cleaning waste and litter boxes, feeding and taking for a walk (if a dog) – 11 points
- Clean dirty shoes – 7 points
- Polishing computer screen and mirrors – 4 points
Turn cleaning into a dance
You may have to be a bit more creative here as you need to think of a choreography that involves picking up clutter and tidying up stuff. You can also include dusting in the dance. If you aren’t willing to create a choreography you can simply turn up the music (play a song that you know your kids love) and begin tidying with your children or watch them tidy while you play DJ.
Turn cleaning into a race
This may give the opposite result sometimes, that’s why we advise that you set rules from the very beginning. Offer your children a prize for the one that manages to clean and tidy their rooms faster. Use a stopwatch. This could be a great motivation for your kids to clean their rooms. Knowing there will be a reward at the end will make them work really hard.
Why this may not work? Because your children will try to be the fastest and as a result they may be reluctant about cleaning. Which means that the room may seem clean on the surface. But at a closer look, it may turn out that it isn’t tidy at all. Your kids may be tempted to clutter all the stuff in the wardrobe hoping you won’t notice. So, make sure you warn them about that.
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About the Author: July Minor has three daughters and loves them very much. As a cleaner at http://www.shinylondon.co.uk/end-of-tenancy-cleaning-n20-whetstone/ she pays attention on the cleanness of the house but she also likes to turns the cleaning routine into a funny game.
