Keeping your home clean is crucial for your children’s health.
Ask any parent and they would know — cleaning the house keeps germs away and prevents your children from catching sinus, flu or other dust-related allergies.
Now that your children are having their school holidays, it’s the best time to educate them and get them to be your extra pairs of helping hands around the house!
Although it may seem like an uphill battle to get them to cooperate, with the right instruction and guidance, you can nature them to be meticulous cleaners!
Here are some tips for you to get your kids to start cleaning:
1. Delegate chores and cleaning roles
Break up house cleaning duties so that every member of the family has a specific job to do.
For example, one child can be in-charge of washing the dishes, while another child can be in-charge of sweeping the floor.
Not only does this give your children simple and easy-to-follow instructions, it also allows them to take ownership of their tasks.
Additionally, do rotate their assigned chores regularly to keep them interested, and also to allow them to pick up new cleaning skills!
2. Make It a Game
For younger children, turning chores into games can excite your kids to clean the house. An example is to “race” them to see who can finish packing up the toys first.
Another tactic, especially for parents with multiple children, is to get them to work towards common goal.
For example, you could tell your children to clean up their room within a certain timeframe, after which they will be rewarded with an incentive, such as a trip to the ice-cream store!
3. Set Up a Reward System
The older your children get, the more difficult it is to get them to clean.
As such, they need a stronger motivation to interest them to clean — try out a reward system!
Reward them with privileges (such as extra play time, allowances, movie time, etc.) when they get their assigned tasks done.
The reverse also applies: take away these privileges when they refuse to follow through with their assigned task.
Of course, it is equally as important to follow through on your rewards and punishments to show them that you mean business!
4. Show Your Appreciation
Children are constantly seeking affirmation and reassurance from their parents.
As such, it is important for you to be as encouraging and supportive as possible, even if the cleaning task wasn’t done exactly to your expectations.
Rather than scolding them for not executing the task to your expectations, thank them for their efforts sincerely!
Then, practise the task again with them, guiding them through with helpful hints that would result in a more successful clean in the future.
5. Set a good example
You might not think that they are, but your children are constantly watching the things you say and do around the house. Children learn from our examples, and they inadvertently mimic our actions.
So do take the extra effort to put your shoes back into the closet neatly, or diligently wipe the dust from every corner of your house.
Your children will remember your actions and be more inclined to carry out their cleaning chores without making a fuss!
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