If you can’t get your kids to help clean up after themselves, you’re not alone. Many parents find it difficult to get their children to contribute around the house, but with a little motivation and creativity, you can make cleaning fun and easy. In this article, we’ll share 5 ways to teach your kids to clean and become more helpful members of the household.
1) Start Your Kids Early
Teaching kids from an early age is important because it means they don’t have to overcome ingrained habits when they get older—they just know how things work. The earlier you start, though, the better: Even something as simple as making sure the toys they get out to play with are put back where they belong imprint good habits in young minds! This way, all you need to do later on is ensure that expectations for their behavior and household responsibilities are consistently enforced throughout childhood.
2) Introduce Them To Simple Household Tasks
The first thing that you need to do is introduce your children to simple household tasks. Kids like having responsibilities, so when they can make a real difference in their homes, they’ll take pride in it.
It’s important to take into account your child’s age when beginning to introduce cleaning tasks to them. The younger they are, the easier the tasks should be so they don’t get discouraged. The older your children are, the more complex the cleaning tasks can be.
For example, you can have start by simply picking up their toys and organizing them into cubbies. Then, you can slowly introduce harder tasks like wiping down tables and countertops and dusting shorter shelves. By showing kids how these tasks are important and helpful, it will encourage them to take interest in helping around their homes as well.
3) Teach Kids Good Cleaning Habits
As our kids get older, they want to be more involved in household chores and upkeep. But with all of their other activities and responsibilities, teaching them how to help clean can be a challenge. Here are some ideas for teaching your kids good cleaning habits while keeping things simple.
- Pick up one item or area at a time – don’t overwhelm them or you might end up with something worse than before!
- Work together as a family – let everyone pitch in and take turns picking up after each other.
- Model doing it yourself – let your child see you doing an area before they have to do it themselves.
- Explain what you’re doing – talking about why a task is important or how it helps your family will help them understand and want to help.
- Stay positive – praise them for any help they offer and don’t get frustrated if it’s not perfect at first!
According to Healthline’s article ‘How Long Does It Take for a New Behavior to Become Automatic?’, it takes anywhere from “18 to 254 days for a person to form a new habit”, so stay consistent and remain patient with your child.
https://www.healthline.com/health/how-long-does-it-take-to-form-a-habit#difficulty-to-change
4) Create A Reward System
To teach your kids how important it is to clean, you might need to create a system of rewards. As your kids grow older, they should have an increased sense of responsibility and as such, they will be able to help out around the house more.
The best way for them to learn how important chores are is through positive reinforcement. For example, if your child cleans their room without being told or asked three times in a week then they deserve a reward. The reward could be extra screen time or maybe even monetary gain. For younger children, you can start with a chore chart and award them with stickers or checkmarks each time they accomplish something.
If a child sees that doing their chores is actually beneficial to them instead of just something that needs to be done, then they’ll develop good habits at a young age. And once those habits are set into place, cleaning becomes second nature and doesn’t seem like such a burden.
No matter what age your child is, they will be proud of themselves for accomplishing their goals and will want to continue doing their chores regularly if there is some sort of reward associated with it.
5) Make it Fun
It’s hard to make cleaning fun, but you can find ways to make it less stressful and more enjoyable. Start off with a game of charades or hide-and-seek; after that, keep a box of toys and games in each room so kids can clean while they play. Turning chores into challenges is great for teaching kids how to set goals and achieve them!
One fun game idea is to let your kids run around and pick up as many toys as they can in ten minutes and return them to a pile in the living room. Whoever picks up the most toys, wins! And then, you have a convenient pile of toys that can be put away in the playroom or bedroom.
When you turn cleaning into a fun game, it encourages kids to interact and engage in the cleaning process without the idea of it being a chore or a burden.
Hire a Professional Cleaning Service
Sometimes, life can get too hectic to clean up around the house, especially if you have young kids. If your home is becoming a mess because of your family’s busy schedule, then it might be time to hire a professional cleaning service. A professional cleaning service will do the hard work for you, from tidying up to cleaning up the grime. This will take the hefty task of cleaning your home off of your to-do list and free up your time to spend doing what you actually enjoy!
If you’re interested in a cleaning company that can give you back time to spend doing what you love, call Sparkling Clean Pro! Sparkling Clean Pro only uses eco-friendly, non-toxic cleaning products to ensure that your home is free of harsh toxins, making it safe for you and your family. You can reach out to us through our website at www.sparklingcleanpro.com, or call us at (415) 742-4869.