Get Your Kids Excited For Cleaning And You Get Extra Help

There aren’t many people who get as excited about cleaning as your Maryland cleaning services team at Ana Cleaning Service!

And when it comes to kids, depending on their age, it can be pretty tough trying to convince them that cleaning is fun.

However, if parents get their children involved when they’re young, there’s a better chance they’ll learn the importance of pitching in as a member of the family.

In this article, we’ll share many ways to get the kids excited about cleaning and looking forward to providing a few more helpful hands.

Get Your Kids Excited For Cleaning

Have them create their own fun cleaning “caddy”

Cleaning caddies contain all your tools and products in a handy carryall. It makes cleaning easier, but can also make the idea of cleaning a lot more fun for the kids.

Take your kids to the dollar store and have them pick out their own cleaning caddy, such as a colourful bucket or basket.

Then, they can fill it with a sponge, cleaning brush, and spray bottle with a child-safe cleaning solution of your choice.

Take your kids up on offers when they ask, “Can I help?”

We often find ourselves unintentionally giving our kids the “brush off” when they offer to help because we want to just breeze through a cleaning task and get on with our day.

However, when your children ask if they can help, taking them up on the offer can help them become more enthusiastic about the idea of various cleaning tasks.

Start with the easy tasks

Expecting young children to perform tasks that require more coordination or thorough cleaning can discourage them when they aren’t able to do the job well.

Seeing mom or dad re-cleaning areas they already cleaned can create a feeling of failure.

Make sure you assign them age-appropriate tasks and work with them, allowing them to take the lead.

Create cleaning games

Make a game of cleaning tasks, like pretending to be robots, to complete the work. This makes it feel more like playing and can create a family activity that they will look forward to.

Kids have big imaginations and can really get into pretending, whether it’s imagining their toys are bones they’ve found at a dinosaur dig when putting toys away or packing up their clothes for a trip to the moon when doing the laundry, for example.

Clean to their favourite music

Create a cleaning soundtrack with their favourite songs and dance along with the music as you clean.

Music is always a great incentive and makes cleaning feel more like a celebration instead of a boring “chore.”

Complete cleaning tasks together

If the children see you sitting around while they’re expected to clean, it may send a very wrong message that can create resentment.

Instead, cleaning should be a family affair where everyone participates together.

Ready a fun reward after cleaning is finished

Having something fun to look forward to after cleaning creates an incentive while also connecting cleaning to a more positive experience.

Whether you go to the park, bake some cookies, watch a movie, or play their favorite game, it teaches them that cleaning the house allows them to have more freedom once the job is finished.

They will learn to take the good with the bad.

Set a timer to beat the clock

When completing tasks like wiping down bathroom mirrors or picking up toys, set a timer to see how quickly they can get the job done.

For example, they can see how many toys they pick up and put away in five minutes, or time how long it takes to wipe the mirror clean.

Then, have them try to beat their record on the next cleaning day.

Praise their work

Young children need support. Praising their work helps build confidence.

Just asking them to clean doesn’t provide an incentive, whereas being praised for doing a good job does.

This associates cleaning with a feel-good moment that encourages them to impress you, the parents!

Have a task jar

Write down kid-friendly cleaning tasks on pieces of paper, and have the kids select the task they need to complete on cleaning day.

This makes it fun not knowing what job they’ll “get to do” and avoid the boredom of having to do the same tasks repeatedly.

It also keeps things fair if you have more than one child, as no one gets stuck doing the same tougher or less glamorous tasks all the time.

Take before-and-after pictures

Have the kids take a picture of the mess before cleaning and then an after photo when the house is clean, so they can see how much progress they’ve made.

Showing off the picture proof of a clean and sparkling home will make them feel good about the work they’ve done.

It provides a visual that they can relate their work to, so they understand how much they’ve contributed. Make a big deal about it, so they feel good about their work!

Create a “Cleaning Day” schedule

Have a “Cleaning Day” that kids can look forward to, and build it up the day before. Remind them with comments like, “Guess what tomorrow is?” and tell them, “We get to vacuum!”

Although it really isn’t that exciting, they might get on board with your enthusiasm and actually look forward to their cleaning tasks.

Have a fun cleaning day cheer

A cheer helps create a sense of teamwork and makes kids feel successful and productive. It can be as simple as everyone shouting, “Go [your family name]!” before you start cleaning, or something more involved like:

Parent: “What are we going to do?”
Kids: “Clean!”
Parent: “Why are we going to do it?”
Kids: “To keep our house neat!”
Parent: “Who’s going to do it?”
Kids: “The [your family name]!”

Although cleaning isn’t something that the kids might look forward to, using these tips can help make them feel more excited about pitching in.

If you don’t have time to clean, then using Ana Cleaning Services in Maryland, Northern Virginia and DC is the answer.

Click here to contact us online. You can also call us at 240-485-4045.