My kids have always liked cleaning, especially my son. They are happy to help unload the dishwasher, vacuum, fold laundry, and sweep. But there is one area that they absolutely do not want to have anything to do with.
Their own room.
When we moved to a smaller place, one of the changes we made was keeping all the kids’ toys in their own room. In the past, our living room would become overrun with piles of books, boxes of trains, and tons of miscellaneous toy debris.
Since the kids’ room was on the same floor as the living room now, it made sense to keep everything together in there. With smaller spaces, clutter is ten times more obvious and we wanted a living room we could enjoy without finding legos between our toes.
But, alas, my children were not interested in cleaning up the toy hurricane that rampaged through on a fairly regular basis. We’ve tried different approaches to get them into straightening up, with varying levels of success.
There were the clean up songs. The rewards. The bribes. The punishments. The “no one leaves this room ’til it’s clean” ultimatum. But if any of these worked once, they never worked twice.
Every household is different in how it goes about kids chores. And I really don’t think that there’s any one perfect strategy. But there are definitely some that work better than others because they work with the child rather than against them.
The one approach that I stumbled across that works remarkably well for us is what we call the Cleaning Challenge.
[Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. Please see below for more details]
The Cleaning Challenge is like a timed Candyland, if Candyland had you folding clothes and making beds. Using a whiteboard, I draw up a board for the kids to “play” on. Each space has a task that needs to be completed before they can move on. They have a magnet that they move from start to finish. And each square has to be completed in its allotted time.
I let the kids decide the order of the tasks (as long as it makes sense) and let them pick their team name. This can be anything from Team Eggs (in honor of their breakfast) or Team Fluffy (named after a mascot stuffed animal).
The only downside to this system is that I usually have to be present for all or most of the work. Not that that’s really a bad thing, but if you’re hoping to get other things done while your little ones are working, this may not be the strategy for you. Unless, of course, your kids are more self-motivating than mine. It’s hit or miss with us, but mostly miss when it comes to the bogeyman that is the Kids’ Room.
The nice thing about being there though is that you can be their cheerleader as well as their timekeeper. They no longer beg for help or say that they can’t do it because they have your support, attention, and an easily accomplished goal. They feel excited with each move across the board. It spurs them on and the timer keeps them from getting distracted (a major pitfall for us when going through toys).
In the past, when I would send the kids to their room, they would flounder because they had such a big project before them. They were too young to know where to begin and so they often just randomly picked things up, moved things around, and then left them when they got bored. But by breaking the larger tasks down into bite-sized pieces, they were able to be much more productive.
Sound familiar?
Kids aren’t so different from us adults. They need manageable tasks, some general oversight and guidance, and a reward system. I gave them easily accomplished tasks, a time frame and advice (when needed), and offered a reward when they completed their challenge.
The reward is up to you. It will depend on what you think your kids deserve for their work and what would be sufficient to keep them going when the job gets tough. My kids prefer going somewhere- the park, the library, the store. I try to avoid sweets or food, not just because it’s not very healthy, but because they aren’t a strong enough incentive to propel them through the entire challenge. It makes me question if they really are my children, or were they switched at birth…
You can see a copy of our most recent challenge above and how it was laid out. The shape varies on request. I try to keep the kids as involved in the process as possible so they feel invested in the outcome. The more excitement I can build, the more momentum they will have when they head into their room. I also put some easy tasks in the middle of the board for a little shot in the arm when they start to lose interest.
The basic goal of creating these cleaning challenges was to motivate my kids to clean their room. Period. But an unintended side benefit is that for however long we are working through our challenge board, they are getting my completely focused attention and receiving tons of positive reinforcement. They are happier and more helpful when they get that quality time with me. The fact that it’s done while they are straightening up their room? That’s just a bonus.
Do you have a cleaning strategy that works with your children? I’d love to hear your ideas! Let me know in the comments.
[Disclaimer: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a commission, at no additional cost to you. All opinions are my own and I never recommend anything I haven’t used myself and loved.]
Leave a Reply