Save time and get the kids to pitch in. Want some ideas to get started?
How It's Done
Use strategies to make cleaning fun and offer incentives. These include:
- Music. Cleaning is always more fun with the right music. Help younger kids find something they will like, and consider letting older kids make the selection themselves.
- Hoops. For younger kids, make a game of basketball out of sorting laundry. Laundry baskets make wide, reachable "hoops" for shooting and slam dunking dirty clothes.
- Play. Give younger kids intermittent, "play" rewards. After the laundry has been sorted, for example, you could spray a wood floor to make a slippery surface for kids to slide on in their socks.
- Mark it. Download a chore chart and let younger children place stickers on the completed chores.
- Incentive. As for motivation, many folks tie the completion of chores to a weekly allowance. Along those lines, consider using a point system. Assign each task a point value and various numbers of points to a reward. When points are accumulated, kids can redeem them for a prize or privilege, such as playing a video game. A points system can also teach kids how to save and the value of hard work.
Molly Maid recently conducted a study that showed 10% of people would rather eat dog food than clean. See other fun facts here!
