School holidays are here and in between the summer day excursions and kids play time, consider dedicating a few hours of the day to kids spring cleaning, in order to instil good values and habits. At the thought of cleaning, many young ones will sigh and roll their eyes, however there are cleaning tips that can make spring cleaning a fun challenge for you and your little ones whilst teaching them skills. Role play, rewards and team work are just a few essential cleaning tips for kids that will have you sweeping, dusting and packing away.
Make a Timetable
Instead of verbally setting out tasks, create a timetable that outlines cleaning activities for the day. The first cleaning tip is to stagger cleaning tasks over a few days, as children will get bored very easily if you attempt to complete house cleaning in a single day. An easy guideline and cleaning tip is to dedicate one day for a particular room, task or section of the house. The timetable will also help establish the cleaning as a challenge as opposed to a chore and help track the progress of your children, providing motivation.
Rewards
Challenges are usually not that inspiring unless there is a reward at the end. Thus as an essential cleaning tip, let your children know that if they perform their tasks diligently they will get a special treat, whether it be a trip to the zoo, a new toy or a movie.
Encourage Teamwork
Cleaning tasks are not just for the sake of orderliness and tidiness, but can also be used to teach your children the important values of team work and contribution. As a top household cleaning tip you need to set an example for your children, but be careful to play a supporting role as opposed to cleaning up for them. A home cleaning tip that works well is to encourage friendly competition between your children. For example, if a room or garden has toys sprawled everywhere, give each child a bucket and ask who can collect the most toys in three minutes. Another effective kids cleaning tip is to make the cleaning a type of treasure hunt. For example, leave healthy treats for them to find in the areas where they should be cleaning.
Make Cleaning a Game
If your children enjoy dressing up, a top cleaning tip and trick for kids is to role play with the cleaning. For girls, have them pretend that they are Cinderella (and you are the ugly sister) and for boys, turn cleaning tasks into superhero ‘missions’ that they must complete. Another simple cleaning tip for making tasks fun is to simply play their favourite music or stories while they work. Happy Cleaning!
Penny Munroe is an avid writer in cleaning tips and tricks, from developing effective and eco-friendly cleaning products from household items to selecting the best carpet cleaners.