Maybe you want to teach your kids how to be responsible or you think about showing them that they should clean after themselves. No matter the case, it is very important to do this from a young age.

Children have the tendency to leave pure chaos when they’re playing or just doing day to day activities, especially if you have three of them. The important thing is to teach them how to help you when you’re cleaning because you can turn this activity into a real game if you read the following tips and tricks.

Explain the Meaning Behind it

For instance, if they will understand that helping you clean the house is similar to playing a game, you will see how easily they can get into it. If you’re portraying it as a game of true responsibility, they will easily understand that cleaning the house really has a true importance and you will soon see some changes in their behavior.

Make a Schedule

It is very important to make a list and show your children what they have to do. Moreover, a great tip is to break the chores into much simpler tasks. For instance, you can try to make smaller tasks that will end up in one big responsibility – instead of telling your children to clean their room, you can tell them to make only the bed and after that tell them the next task they should do.

Furthermore, you can tell them that every Monday morning they have to clean the table after the entire family had breakfast. If you have more kids, like I do, you can assign each child a specific day when they have to do something, so they will all feel involved.

Get Them Involved

The key to success while making your children help you clean is to get them involved. To the fullest extent. How? – you might wonder. Well, it’s not as difficult as you may imagine. From letting them pick their favorite bed covers, to choosing a cleaning product, it will mean something to them and will motivate them even more.

Tip: Use a cleaner that is safe for children and make sure they are always safe as well. Let them choose the cleaner, especially the scent because it might be an important detail that your kid can notice and develop an interest in.

Make Them Responsible

What are their most used objects? I would assume that they have a lot of toys that are used on a daily basis. Sometimes, they can get dirty and messy, being thrown all over the place. You can let them clean their toys, using different ways. There are multiple options they can use.

For example, an antibacterial soap can be a great solution. Just fill the sink with a little bit of warm water and let them wash the toys as good as they can. After that, tell them to let them dry on a towel. After they’re finished, ask them to put the toys back where they belong (in the box, on the shelf etc.).

Using this method will only make your children more responsible with their own goods and in the future, they will be more careful with them, so it won’t be necessary to wash, dry and organize the toys as often.

Make It Fun

If your little kids will think that it is all a fun game, they will be more prone to do all the chores they need. For example, let’s say that you want them to clean their room. Apart from breaking this task into little ones, such as: rearrange their toys, wipe the dust off etc., you can use some other methods that will definitely keep them entertained.

If they have to clean their room, don’t let them do it for the entire day, because they might lose interest and waste that time, instead of using it productively. Let’s say it should take them about one to two hours to get this done – set a timer for each task and present it like a little fun “how fast can you be” type of game.

Making their bed should take five minutes, so you can tell your children “Do you consider yourself fast and strong? Can you do your bed in five minutes?” If the answer is “yes” as it should be (because kids love little challenges) you should start a timer and say “Ready, set and go!”

This way, you will only teach them to be more responsible and also make it seem like a fun little game. Every task should be presented to your children like a combination of fun and real responsibility – so that you’ll make sure they understand the real message behind every action.

Give Them Little “Prizes”

You can come up with cute ideas that can reward your little ones. If you know they really like a specific type of sweet, hide it in their room or in the place they’re supposed to be cleaning.

Another great way to motivate them is to hide a few coins around the room and don’t say anything about it. When they will find them after they’ve done their chores rigorously, act surprised so that they will feel rewarded without actually knowing that you’ve put the money there. This way, the next time they will be cleaning they will be motivated. It is important to tell them that they will not always be rewarded, and they shouldn’t do it only for receiving goods, but for the “good” feeling they will get after.

Overview

There are a lot of ways you can determine your children to be more responsible and to enjoy helping you clean the house. The ones I’ve mentioned above are just a few methods, but you can be as creative as you possibly can.

It’s is of high importance to tell your children that cleaning and being responsible for their own goods, such as toys and other objects, is really important. This way of seeing things will determine them to grow up as responsible adults and they will know the worth of every chore or task they need to get done.

About the Author

Anita Edwards is a professional writer and editor. She works as blog editor at Spekless, where she sharesher own and her colleagues’ tips for cleaning. In her free time, she enjoys cooking and going on day trips with her children.