It’s nearly the most wonderful time of the year…which means it’s time to get the house ready for it! It also means that, with the winter holidays right around the corner, the kids are home for good.
Whether your children have a couple weeks off at the end of the year, or your college student is coming home for a few MONTHS, it can be tough to wrangle the younger crowd into cleaning up. Before those bedrooms turn into disaster zones, here are a few tips to get your kids to tidy up!
1. Make it a game or contest
Are your kids competitive? Trick question – they all are! Starting a race to see who can be done fastest might result in some sloppy cleanup work, but it’ll work for the little tidy-ups in between the deep cleans. For little ones, getting toys involved can make the chore chart feel like playtime. Maybe the dolls want to help, and we’ve heard Handee Pockets can make great hand puppets…
2. Have a laundry regimen
How much of the mess in your kids’ rooms is from laundry, whether dirty or clean?…Don’t answer that. By having a set method for doing laundry, you can help reduce those piles. If the kids are older, you may want to have them do their own, or take turns doing it. For younger kids, having a hamper in their room or in an agreed upon spot will make everything cleaner – and easier! No more running around looking for more laundry.
3. Set up a rewards system
Whether your kids are still little or they’re too old to really be called “kids” anymore, a rewards system always does the trick. Doing it the old fashioned way will get the job done: try offering candy or other small prizes when rooms are clean, or hiding them in the room for the little cleaners to find! But for the older kids you might want to go for a modern method…screen time! Withholding the Wifi password until the chores are done will get those bedrooms clean ASAP. Desperate times, desperate measures!
4. Make a chore chart
While the bedrooms might be the most dire of the cleanup tasks, they’re definitely not the only one! Making a chore chart not only helps to make sure all the kids are doing their part – it also ensures that no big chores are piling up undone. We all know the difference between a daily bedroom tidy and a monthly bedroom overhaul! Divide the chores evenly among the kids and include some everyday tasks for everyone, like “Clean bedroom” or “Put away school stuff.”
5. Bring in the baskets!
When your kids’ rooms start to look so messy that you wonder how they even have so many things…it’s time to bring in the big guns. Before you start cleanup, drag the hamper, a trash can, the toy box, and whatever other storage you might need. You may also want a bonus basket for things that go in other rooms, so you can put them away in one go when you can see the floor again. By having everything ready to go, you can be done in a fraction of the time!