Rub a Scrub Scrub : 10 Tips on Motivating Kids to Help Clean House

If your day is anything like mine, it goes something like this. You have been busy cleaning the house and caring for young kids for most of the day. Your toddler has been enjoying going from room to room dumping out and getting into everything. The kids come home from school, drop their backpacks on the floor, race to the kitchen (tracking mud and dirt through the house), make a snack (spilling juice, leaving dishes, food, and wrappers on the table and the counter top), and then run out to play. It doesn’t take much to turn a clean house into a mess. Here are ten tips to help keep order in the house and motivate your kids to help clean house.

Tip #1 Established a Weekday Routine

Children often do best with an established weekday routine. Make a chart that list what each child is to do after or before school each day to help clean house. For example: Jacob: Monday - dishes, Tuesday - vacuum, Wednesday - clean the bathroom, Thursday - take out trash, Friday - help with laundry. Give an easier chore on the child’s busiest day. If the child knows what is expected, then you shouldn’t have to remind him or her as much. It also helps to keep negotiations to a minimum. Set a time when the clean house chore should be done such as before dinner or by 7:00 p.m.

Tip #2 Allow for a Flexible Weekend Routine

Every weekend is different at our house. Sometimes we work on a household project, do yard work, or just go have some fun. It is best to keep chores on the weekend flexible to meet the family’s needs. On Saturday, everyone could choose what they will do to help clean house. You can also have each child work on a chore that only needs to be done once a week or once a month. It is best to focus on what needs the most attention at the time to keep a clean house. Some Saturdays can be dedicated to spring cleaning, other Saturdays just to fun.

Tip #3 Enjoy Big Job Fun

Kids often enjoy trading their routine chore of the day for something different. It is good to break the routine up every once in a while to do some chore that doesn’t need to be done every day. Chores such as washing the walls, organizing a closet, and cleaning the windows fit into this category.Just the other day as I was mopping the floor, I realized that the floor needed to be scrubbed. The texture of my white kitchen floor allows dirt to build up and mopping doesn’t always get it clean. I dreaded getting down on my hands and knees with a scrub brush to clean it. I asked if anyone wanted to scrub the floor clean. To my pleasant surprise, all my kids readily wanted the opportunity. So while I did the dishes and vacuuming, they took scrub brushes and buckets of soapy water to the kitchen floor. They did a great job and had a fun time rubbing and scrubbing the floor. They also did a lot of slipping and sliding, giggling and laughing. Water seems to attract kids and helps to clean house.

Tip #4 Avoid Chore Wars

Everybody has bad days, even kids. There are days when I just don’t feel up to tackling the laundry. If a child does not want to do a particular chore one day, see if anyone wants to trade chores for that day. Be flexible. The goal is to have a clean house. Ask what he or she will do instead. It might surprise you what a child would be willing to do to avoid the dreaded task of the day. Don’t expect perfection from children. Use some humor.

Tip #5 Surprise Everyone with an Occasional Reward

Occasionally, do something fun as a reward to the kids for helping to clean house. Order pizza, go out for ice cream, go ice skating, or go to the park. It is a nice way of saying thank you. Do remember to thank your kids for helping out. Everyone needs to feel appreciated. Don’t dwell on what they could have done better. Praise them for what they did well.

Tip #6 Everybody Helps to Clean House

The house gets clean a lot quicker when everybody helps. If everyone helps out for 15 to 30 minutes a day, it adds up to fewer hours of work you have to do each week. Even small children can pick up toys and throw away trash. Small children often enjoy helping the most to clean house.. It is amazing what can be accomplished in one hour when everybody pitches in. Also, things stay a lot cleaner when everybody picks up after themselves.

Tip #7 Be kind, Yet Assertive

Yelling at the kids to help clean house usually doesn’t motivate them. They will soon learn to tune you out and often develop low self-esteem. Children respond better to kindness. However, be assertive when needed. Let them know that they need to do their part to help clean house to benefit the whole family.Give them specific things to do such as first pick up the garbage, next put away the toys, and then vacuum the room. Let them know exactly what you expect. Supervision is usually required for younger children.

Tip #8 Make a Laundry Plan

Laundry piles up fast, especially if you have a large family. Put a laundry hamper or basket in every bedroom. This helps keep dirty clothes off the floor. Have children empty pockets and unroll their socks before putting their clothes in the hamper. Older children may be able to do their own laundry. It you have a place for all dirty clothes, it helps to provide a separate basket for each color. This will save a step in sorting clothes.It is often easier to find a few minutes to put clothes in the wash machine or dryer, than it is to find time to fold and put away the clothes. Make a laundry plan that works for your family. You could plan one day a week to focus on laundry or perhaps do two loads every day. If you do laundry every day, assign one child to help each day. Some families fold clothes while they watch television. However, it is often more productive to fold clothes without the distraction of the television.

Tip #9 Provide a Place for the Kids’ Belongings

Evaluate where the messes occur. Do the kids drop everything on the floor as soon as they walk through the door? If so, install hooks for coats and backpacks, to make them easy to put away. Put a trash can in every room. Encourage kids to throw out what is not needed. Kids are great collectors of junk. Provide a box, shelf, or container to keep their stuff in. Having a spring cleaning to discard unneeded items is especially helpful in keeping a clean house.Do the kids have too many toys to keep picked up? Box some up for another time. Rotate the stored toys every month or so.

Tip #10 Occasionally Enjoy Paper Plates and Plastic Cups

Some events in life can be hectic for the family, such as a new baby, company, illness, a special event, etc. During these time, buy some inexpensive paper plates and plastic cups to minimize the workload to clean house. Focus on a few essentials. Eat out. Lessen your expectations.