With the lockdown affecting us all, many more of us are staying at home and spending our days with our kids. Even if we’re working from home, our kids are there, creating a mess and demanding a constant supply of snacks and attention! However, this could be the ideal time to get your little one’s cleaning, and with so many hours of the day to occupy, it will certainly keep them busy.
Here are a few simple tips for getting your kids to help house cleaning:
- Make cleaning the norm
If having a clean and tidy home is what you aspire to and try to achieve every day, then your kids will soon pick up on this and learn that for a happy household, they need to pitch in. For younger kids, this might mean that they perform simple tasks such as putting their toys back where they came from at the end of every play session, or picking up the place mats after a meal, but every little helps, and as they grow older, you can assign them different tasks.
- Do not expect perfection!
No matter how conscientious your child is, they will never complete a cleaning task to your standard, but if they’ve put the effort in and have done their best job, then be sure to be proud of their efforts and thank them. However, if you have some tasks that you know need to be done perfectly, such as folding laundry, simply don’t assign it to them in the first place.
- Give clear and simple instructions
If you tell your little one to simply ‘clean their room’, it might be a little overwhelming for them, but if you break it down and ask them to put their toys away or pick up things from the floor and put them away neatly, they should be able to cope with that.
- Put labels/pictures onto containers
A picture of each type of toy on a storage box just might help very little ones to remember what goes where.
- Storage, storage, storage!
The more boxes you have for clutter to go into, the less messy your home will be, and the easier it becomes for your kids to help you keep the place tidy. Once boxes begin to overflow, then you’ll know it might be time to sell or donate some items.
Having your little ones help you around with house cleaning can be hugely rewarding for both parties and sets them on the right path for the future. Try to be consistent with your praise, and hopefully they’ll continue to help you as they grow. If your kids are consistently creating more mess than they can clean, however, there is no shame in calling in the professionals and having them get the place spick and span.
