Tag : children motivation

Children are having a hard time staying at home for such a long time and not being able to see their friends. For some families it is even more challenging, especially if they have no garden where kids could play. The house ends up in a bigger mess than usual. But, there are ways you can get children involved in cleaning at home and make it fun.

Dance it Out

Everything is fun when you throw in some dance moves. And children love that. You can have a groovy song on and dance while dusting or wiping the windows. Let the children do the same.

Dancing is also a form of exercise and quite entertaining at that. You have healthy children and a clean home all at once. Doing it often will create great habits for them to last a lifetime.

Announce a Cleaning Contest

We don’t actually know a child who doesn’t like competitions with prizes in the end. Allocate rooms or corners for each member of the family and tell them whoever cleans well their area first is the winner. The prize could be whatever you feel is appropriate - an extra 30 minutes after bedtime, a sweet, a favourite activity they don’t get to do often. Just make sure it is really appealing to the children, so they get stimulated to clean and do it well.

Have a Quest at Home

Prepare some cards with small tasks like for example “Make the bed”, “Put the dirty clothes in the laundry basket”, “Wash the plates”, etc. Make sure they are age appropriate, of course. Older children can have more complicated tasks. Give them one card at the beginning, which would be a map journey to the treasure at the end of the quest. When they complete each task they will receive a card with the next step until they get to the final stop and the reward.

Hide Rewards

Put some coins (or chocolate candy!) in the places that need cleaning. Tell your children if they clean those spots properly they will be able to find all of the hidden rewards. That certainly makes domestic cleaning a lot more fun.

Don’t Expect Them to Do All the Cleaning for You

You can’t expect children to enjoy cleaning for too long. Tasks should take no more than 30 minutes all together. And of course, they would be relatively easy. It’s important for kids to see this activity as a game or a bonding time with you rather than a simple house chore.

Your Attitude Matters

Always encourage your children to get involved in domestic cleaning even if they don’t get it quite right. It is important to show them that you appreciate their efforts and practice makes perfect. Also when you do the cleaning yourself show a positive attitude. Children often copy their parents behaviour whether they realise it or not.