Good Clean Fun
Let's face it. When it comes to fun activities to do with your kids, "cleaning the house" doesn't usually top the list. However, involving children in household responsibilities not only builds independence and boosts self-esteem, but it also makes the dirty work go faster—which means everyone has more time for the real fun stuff. If mops and brooms are met with moans and groans in your house, try these tricks for turning "but-do-I-HAVE-to?" cleaning into good clean fun.
Tools of Their Own
Instead of a boring old dust rag, a colorful plastic bucket (one for each kid) filled with some basic supplies will make little ones feel like they're part of the team. A plastic spray bottle filled with plain water and a few drops of lavender or tea tree oil is a safe, natural disinfectant they can use pretty much anywhere. A pair of rubber gloves turns "clean up" into "dress up," and might provoke a few giggles along the way. Add a few colorful cloths for dusting, some toothbrushes for scrubbing and a kid-sized broom or mop, and you've prepared your army for any germ battle.
Find-the-Stray-Item Game
Is clutter making your cleaning tasks twice as hard? Choose a room and play "Clutter Busters." Set a timer (five minutes works well) and have kids round up as many stray items as they can: magazines, lone mittens, forgotten sippy cups and Barbie shoes and LEGOs that have migrated from who knows where. Pile everything up in the center of the room—sometimes, cleaning means making more mess first! When the timer goes off, have each family member huddle around the pile and plan a rescue strategy for the strays. Then reset the timer and see who can return missing items to their rightful homes the fastest.
Puzzle Time
Do your kids love puzzles? Try turning cleaning into a puzzle-piece scavenger hunt. Give each child a list of age-appropriate tasks and a paper lunch bag. Hide a puzzle piece in each zone on their lists: on countertops, under the bed, next to the bathroom sink, behind the couch, etc. With each completed task they'll add a new puzzle piece to their collection. When cleaning time is done, everyone can meet back up (in the spotless living room, perhaps?) to put all the pieces together. For an extra-suspenseful twist, buy blank puzzles at your local craft store and write out a secret message. They'll be scrambling to finish their lists so they can solve the mystery!
Sock Wars
Remember how much fun pillow fights were when a kid … and how thrilled you were when mom and dad actually let you have them? Put a new twist on sorting and folding laundry with Sock Wars. Dump a pile of (clean) socks on the floor and set your timer again. However many correctly-paired sock balls each child has when the buzzer sounds is the amount of "ammunition" they get to start with. Draw some imaginary battle lines and let the hurling begin! While they're pelting each other with argyle, you might even get a chance to fold the rest of the laundry …
Dance Party
No matter how mundane the task, music makes anything better. To get reluctant bodies moving (with rags and mops in hand), try making every room in the house into a separate themed dance party. Each family member gets to choose a genre—Saturday Night Fever in the kitchen, Justin Bieber in the playroom and some old-school Beach Boys in the bathroom, perhaps? The music stops when the room is done and it's time to move on to the next set of tunes. Some broomstick and mop-handle percussion will help keep the beat!
Dishes are Done!
When your little ones were babies, a tub full of sudsy water probably counted as an afternoon's activity. Even as they grow, the joys of water play remain. Who says adding dirty dishes to the mix has to take away the fun? Start with a sinkful of warm water and those silly-looking rubber gloves—they're practically guaranteed to bring some smiles. Add a healthy dose of dishwashing liquid, a few plastic drinking straws for blowing giant bubbles and some sponges (try animal, alphabet or heart-shaped versions for extra fun), letting them tackle the grease, one dish at a time. For younger kids, stick with plastic dishes and towel-duty only.
Purge, Donate, Celebrate
Most households hold on to a lot more "stuff" than they need. Make sorting and purging a seasonal family activity, and cleaning will be easier all year long. Have all family members take inventory of their own closets and drawers, and tackle communal rooms together. Make piles to toss, sell or donate.
Kitchen cupboards cleaned out? Donate canned goods still within their expiration date to your local food pantry … and then celebrate with ice cream cones or a pizza party. Toy bins cleared out? Have a yard sale, pool the proceeds and choose some new video games the whole family can enjoy. Setting up goals and rewards ahead of time will have everyone in the family thinking "purge" days are the coolest days ever.
Pirate Cove
When the word "cleaning" just isn't going to fly, try tossing out a good "Arrrgh, Matey" instead. First, they'll need to look the part: Bandanas and rolled-up jeans will do the trick (bonus points for homemade eye patches). Use empty toilet paper or paper towel rolls, some black construction paper and a stick of white chalk to make "spyglasses" perfect for spotting items lost at seas. Hide plastic or foil-wrapped chocolate coins and send them on a treasure hunt for gold doubloons after their areas are sparkly clean. Finally, instead of straightening their rooms, they'll need to "swab the decks, batten down the hatches and scrub for their lives" … or be forced to walk the plank.
On the Clock
If games and tricks fail to get your kids onboard with household chores, don't despair. Sometimes all it takes is a simple stopwatch. Give each child an age-appropriate task list and start the clock. For every minute they log getting their living space spick-and-span, they get one minute back to use for an activity they love. (Ten more minutes of Angry Birds, 15 extra read-aloud moments before lights out, an extra half hour at the park before dinner…) Showing your kids that their hard work pays off is one of the best ways to encourage good habits for life. Hey, don't we all deserve a little playtime when the hard work is done?
