12 Creative Ways: How to Make Kids Clean Their Room
From the archive. This post was first published on the original Green Eggs and Moms blog and is kept here as it was.
Chores can get boring.
Which is why you shouldn’t be surprised when your child refuses to release his room from its cluttered state.
Do not fret though for help is on the way!
You can start getting those tiny little hands to help you by first teaching your child how to organize and tidy-up his room.
Done? Here’s what’s next.
Most will agree that kids are more engaged when playing and fun are involved.
So get creative, Mama! Think of better ways to get that room from drab to fab. (Sorry, couldn’t resist the using the phrase.)
What’s that you say? You aren’t creative? Okay then, here are:
12 Creative Ways: How to Make Kids Clean Their Room
1. I dare you!
“Bet you can’t pick-up everything on the floor in under 7 minutes!”
Set the timer and watch your child ricochet from corner to corner.
2. Pirate’s loot
Tell your child he’s a pirate who has found a room full of treasure. Hand him an eye patch and explain that his job is to pick-up all the treasure (aka toys) and put them in the treasure chest (aka toy box) for safekeeping. Arrrgh!
3. Read a story
Read a book while your child cleans his room. And even if GoodHouseKeeping.com says this tip is for teens, who says you can’t use it on your younger child?
4. Count your way to cleanliness
Ask him to pick-up 7 toys while counting out loud. When he’s done, tell him to get 5 more!
5. “No Mess” sign
Tape this on your child’s door. This will remind him to keep his room tidy without you uttering a single word. Use sparingly.
6. Jump & Pick-Up
This idea is from a book called 77 Ways to Get Your Kids to Help at Home by Judith H. Wright. During commercial breaks, have your kids run to where the mess is to clean it up.
7. Freeze & Clean
This is like musical chairs only better. Play music and ask your child to pick-up the mess while his favorite song is playing. When the song stops he should freeze as well.
8. Guess What’s Missing
This is another idea from Judith H. Wright’s book. Tell your child to pick-up 10 items from the floor and then have you (yes, you, the mommy) guess what’s missing. Oh, and no cheating please.
9. Pay Them
Every so often issue checks after a job well-done. A check for one hug, kiss or whatever it is you can think of. Use sparingly.
10. Sing your instructions
Release your inner diva by belting out commands – no matter how bad you think you sound. At least this way, you won’t be accused of nagging.
11. Clean by color
Again, another idea from Judith H. Wright’s book. Ask your child to pick-up everything red first, then blue, green, etc. This will make the task of cleaning a whole mountain of toy less daunting for your child.
12. Play a song
Play your child’s favorite tune, this will get him bopping to the beat while returning those crayons in the drawer.
Here’s a bonus!
If none of these work, tell your child that toys or clothes left scattered around will end up in the trash. And we all know who loves garbage:
Do you have other creative tips on how to make kids clean their room?
Photo:Kids cleaning – jbcurio
Treasure chest – mags20_eb
Guess – SashaW
Video:
Youtube from sawing14s