OK, if most of us were really honest with ourselves, we don’t even like to clean up our rooms. Therefore, it’s pretty understandable why our kids may try and find any and every way possible to keep from cleaning theirs. Still, it’s a “necessary evil” that has to be done.
If you have a child who tries to get out of cleaning their room and you want a few tips on how to get them to do it, we have five ways below; ones that are so easy, you will probably wish your parents knew about them while you were growing up:
Use it for teaching purposes. If you have a younger child, you can use this as an opportunity to teach them things. For instance, educate them on how to count from 1-10 (or 1-20) by having them count each toy that they pick up and put away. Pretty soon, it will be more of a counting game than a cleaning chore.
Turn on some music. The thought of going into a room to pick up toys and clothes while it’s dead silent is not only a drudgery but pretty boring too. You can make it fun by turning on some of their favorite music. You can even time them to clean up certain areas while a song is playing. For instance, you can say “I bet you can’t get all of those clothes off of the floor before the song goes off.” They’ll be so focused on the “bet” and so caught up in the music, that they probably won’t even notice that they’re putting clothes in their drawers.
Inspire them. Children love to be celebrated. Once the room is totally clean, take a picture of it and put it in a frame to sit on their bed stand or dresser. When it’s time for them to clean up their room again, say “Let’s see if you can get your room as clean as in the picture.” If they do, make a big deal of it by cheering them on or maybe having a surprise treat at the end.
Get them their own cleaning supplies. Oftentimes kids, especially little girls, want to pretend that they are grown up. So, why not get them their own cleaning supplies? If you wear an apron, get your little girl one or your son some gloves. If you use steam mops, find your child a little dust mop to use. Put some distilled water and a touch of apple cider vinegar into a small spray bottle for your son or daughter to use on their toy chest to wipe down. They’ll feel big like you and that’s a surefire way to get more cleaning accomplished.
Clean with them. It can be hard for a child to focus on cleaning their room when you’re sitting and watching television. Another way to inspire them to clean their room is to do it at a time when you’re cleaning up as well. That way, they won’t feel like they’re missing out on anything. Everyone is cleaning and so they might as well join in on the “fun”.
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