For my kiddos, cleaning and fun don’t really go together. Sometimes it feels like they would rather cut off their arm than clean. Anything that takes them away from their fun activities, cartoons, or playing outside is a HARD pass.
Having 3 teenagers with chores of their own, adding to that list can be a challenge. However, making things fun for them actually helps you get more done around the house during Spring cleaning time!
Here are some really cool cleaning ideas for your little and not so little ones:
Clothes Folding Challenge: I don’t know about your kids, but if they are anything like mine, they are competitive against each other. What better way to use that to your advantage than to have a clothes folding challenge. Give them each a pile and whoever gets them all folded and matches the most socks wins!
Setting a Timer: Make it a race against the clock. Make a list of things that need to be done and set a timer. See how many things can be accomplished within that time frame. Get them to initial each item they accomplish and whoever has the most items initialed at the buzzer time wins!
Recycle Bin Basketball: Set three tubs out for each category of recycling, paper, glass, and aluminum. Let them go through the items and try to ring each tub where each item belongs. The one with the most items in the tubs wins.
Redecorate Their Room: Give them the choice on how they want their rooms to look. Let them exchange comforters and sheets or add furniture and art to their room – like hanging up their artwork from school or new collage of pictures of them with friends. Often times, they will clean up their room to make it look even more put together.
Sweep/Mopping Hockey: Make a team of sweepers and moppers. Let the sweepers go first as a team to sweep. One has the dust pan and one has the broom. Time how long it takes to sweep the entire kitchen floor. Next let the team of Moppers try. One has the mop, and one has the mop water bucket and time them. The team who takes the least amount of time wins!
Why not give them ways to enjoy the cleaning you need to get accomplished around the house? It’s not only getting chores accomplished, but creating family time and helping everyone get involved. They laugh and have so much fun competing against each other.
Having a prize for the winners can motivate them. Use snacks or one dollar bills as prizes to make the win even sweeter.
Getting all of the chores accomplished and helping them have productive fun makes it a win/win for everyone!
Susan Ingram, OWL Blogger
