5 ways to get your kids to help tidying up around the house
You don’t have to be Mary Poppins to make household chores a little more fun. Try our five tips to get your home ship-shape.
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Being cooped up indoors can be boring for all of us, especially the kids. Whatever you do to keep them entertained can often result in mess, and it’s easy to become overwhelmed by the task of clean-up. Here’s how to get the little ones on board by giving you a helping hand…
5. Motivate your kids using cleanup countdowns
1. Musical tidying
Play their favourite music for a set amount of time – whoever’s done the most tidying when it ends gets a reward. Tidy-up songs for kids make cleaning faster and more enjoyable. What's more-such songs are reminders that make cleaning associated with something positive.
2. Artistic licence
Use clear plastic bins for toy storage and let your kids decorate them, ideally with a picture that represents what goes in each box. For example, it could be a teddy for cuddly toys or a pen for stationery. This allows your kids to show their creative side which makes them more likely to use it as they have ‘made it.
3. Job jar
Cut sheets of A4 paper into eight smaller pieces. On each, write a separate task like vacuuming the living room, emptying the rubbish, putting away clean clothes or dirty clothes in the laundry basket and cleaning up their toys. Once your child has done the job, you sign the slip and they put them in their job jar. At the end of the week or month, you reward your child either by giving them pocket-money, treats, screen time or anything else!
4. Target practice
Put the toy box in the middle of the room and see who can score the most direct hits with non-breakable toys. It’s a great way to make clean-up fun and its good for hand-eye co-ordination too. You will probably find yourself joining in too!
5. Motivate your kids using cleanup countdowns
Guess what other ways there are to encourage your kids to help clean and do other jobs around the house? Set a timer and see how many toys go in the box before the time is up. Can they do it faster and faster each time? Kids love competitions! Just make it fun! They will associate it with a play session instead of seeing it as a punishment. This is a fantastic way to make it a daily routine
6.Savvy tip
Time it right. Teach your younger kids good habits by asking them to tidy the kitchen, living room or bedroom five minutes before their favourite show starts on TV. This is a great incentive as your kids will complete the task immediately on pain of missing the show.