Cleaning can be boring, we get it. But what if we told you there are many ways you can make it more exciting for your children and get them involved in a variety of chores? Imagine how helpful that would be, especially during the summer holidays, when the amount of created mess magically multiplies.
Organise a Contest
Most children enjoy taking part in contests. You can make up your own rules. For example, divide the house in sections that need to be cleaned and assign each section to a member of the family. Whoever cleans their section first is the winner. You can also have a referee who must inspect the area before the winning title is awarded.
If your family is big, why not split into teams? This adds even more fun to the activity and it is a great opportunity for bonding.
Explain the Benefits of Cleaning up
Rewards are a brilliant way to stimulate children, but it is also important to teach them why maintaining their personal space in a good condition is important. When healthy habits are built in early childhood they last a lifetime. Speak to your children and explain what a clean home does to the body and the mind. For example, it helps everyone breathe easily, gives them more energy, protects them from falling sick, puts them in a good mood and makes them more creative. There are tons of children’s books on cleaning, tidying up and building good hygiene habits.
Put Some Music On
While in school children usually participate in tidying up activities every day. Most childcare and early education settings play specific songs to help children get in the mood for cleaning up. Adopt the same approach at home if your little ones are at primary school age. For older children, perhaps, playing party music will be more enticing.
You can also tell your teenager cleaning burns 120 calories per hour! That’s some motivation, isn’t it!
Add a Bonus to Their Weekly Allowance
Incentives do work when you are trying to get the children to help with household chores. You can add extra money to their weekly allowance for every cleaning task they complete at home. Create a price list for different chores depending on their difficulty and let the children take a pick. Payment in coins is a great option, but there are also mobile apps, which make this a lot easier to pay your child for the work they’ve done. One example is Go Henry. The money can stay in the account as savings, which they can cash out (with your permission) in time for the family holiday or as a Christmas gift.
This approach not only teaches children that money is earned through work, but also helps them figure out smart ways of managing a personal budget from an early age.
How do you manage to motivate your little ones to help around the house or at least clean up the mess they create?