How to Teach Kids to Clean!
Having to clean up after your kids can be an endless chore. Just as you have cleaned up the clutter from one room and moved onto to the next, you return to find what you had already cleaned to be a band new mess. This endless cycle is for sure frustrating and trying.
Helping your little ones learn to clean at an early stage can be easy. Here are some simple strategies.
Motivate kids to get involved – The key to getting your kids involved in the cleaning is to think about what motivates them. It is for sure that kids love to play, so why not make cleaning fun and playful. Turning on music, sing some songs together, do a little dance, makes any task less of a bore and even cleaning can be fun when it’s time spent together.
Start slow and keep it age appropriate – Giving a two or three year old a list of chores to complete is unrealistic. A child does not have the attention span or focus to remember a list of chores nor to keep them from what they really want to do, which is play. Keep it real and start slow. For a smaller child give them one thing to do, and show them visually on how to do it, and then praise them for a job well done. Once they have mastered the one chore, then you can build on that.
Give them a choice- Children who are given a choice of chores do them better and more happily. Making a child complete a task that they totally dislike will discourage them from wanting them to do it. Giving a choice will give them a sense of power and build their self-confidence.
Work together as a family – One of the best motivators for a child is to work together with an adult. From a child’s point of view, it’s downright lonely to be sentenced to clean a bathroom each afternoon after school. By forming a cleaning alliance, it speaks that we are all in it together which can also motivate a child.
Keep your expectations realistic – I know we all think we have the right way of doing something but this way of thinking can add an element of conflict. Encourage kids to clean by praising them for a ‘good job’ no matter on how it is done. An 8 year olds vacuum cleaning skills will get better with age and practice.
