A recent study showed that doing jobs around the house, and having a simple house cleaning routine helps children learn responsibility and empathy. But if you’re like many families around the country, getting your kids cleaning is a difficult thing to do.
How do you get kids to help? Here are nine suggestions of jobs for kids that you might even find they enjoy!
1. Taking Care of Pets
A great way to learn about responsibility is to take care of pet animals. Whether it’s feeding the fish, washing out dog bowls or brushing the cat, your child can learn valuable lessons about responsibility and caring for others.
Feeding is a great way to help the child bond with their pets, too. Whether it’s something as small as a hamster, or as large as a dog, they are all happy to see their food bowl getting topped up. That reaction will help encourage your child to keep at it.
2. Watering the Plants
Even toddlers can help with watering the plants, with supervision! Buy a watering can that has a narrow spout to avoid drowning the plant. Alternatively, you can make your own slow pouring watering can from a soda bottle, and decorate it as a craft activity.
3. Helping in the Garden
From raking the lawn, through watering and onto more serious plant care, there is no reason why children can’t help with yard work. And remember, spending time outdoors is seriously good for your health.
You could even give your child their own patch to care for, including watering and weeding. Let them grown their own veggies and you could improve their diet, too!
4. Washing Up
A great way to get your child cleaning is to involve bubbles. Washing up with a sink full of warm water and foam is a great way to entertain and have them help out. Make sure you don’t give them anything sharp or breakable and have towels on hand for any spills.
You can also turn this into a play session, once the dishes are done. If you add a small amount of water and dish soap to the bowl and use a hand mixer to whisk you will have a beautiful bowl of foam to play with. Add food colouring for extra fun!
5. Get Your Kids Cleaning the Car
On the subject of bubbles, one great way to enjoy cleaning with kids is to wash the car. If the weather is good, run a big bucket of bubbles and get out on the drive together.
You’ll need to supervise your kids and make sure that they don’t use the wrong sponge to clean or gather up dirt and stones which might scratch the paintwork. After washing and rinsing, you can show them how good it feels to polish the car to a shine.
6. Helping with the Laundry
There are lots of ways to involve your kids in the laundry. Beginning with putting their clothes in the basket, and moving up to sorting the colours and the whites. There are great learning opportunities there too, practising colours and numbers.
If the weather is good, then head outside to hang your washing on the line. You can ask your kids to pass the pegs or the clothes, or lift them up to let them do it themselves.
7. Put their Things Away
Taking responsibility for their own possessions is a great way to introduce the idea of cleaning. When your child has taken off their shoes, they need to be put away. Their coats need to be hung up.
The same is also true for their toys. Putting things away when you are done with them helps keep all the pieces together and makes sure your toys are ready to go the next time you want to play.
Lastly, remembering to take your dishes through to the kitchen when you’re done is a simple thing that helps demonstrate the importance of a clean house for kids.
8. Purging the Toy Box
As part of your spring cleaning, you can give your children the chance to clear out unwanted toys. Dump out the toy box and ask them to find any toys that are broken or have missing parts. Can these things be mended, or do they need to be thrown away?
You could also ask them to select things they don’t play with anymore, which can be donated to charity. There are always opportunities to donate toys to those who don’t have any, or your local hospital may be glad of a box for the children’s ward.
Once that’s done, you can work on organising the toys so they are easier for your children to find, and play with.
9. Making their Bed
In this day of duvets and pillows, it’s easier than ever for your child to make their bed. Pulling the covers straight is a simple job that even a small child can attempt.
And kids can help with changing the covers too. Whether it’s stretching the sheet over the bed, or clambering inside the duvet cover, there are plenty of opportunities for fun as you change the sheets.
Make Cleaning a Habit
You might find that getting your kids cleaning takes some time, especially if they are older and haven’t been used to helping. Just stick with it, it takes time for something to really become a habit. Be consistent, and if your child responds well to them then offer rewards for a job well done.
Being a parent in this day and age can be stressful, finding a way to balance the responsibilities of parenting, work and keeping your home clean. When the house gets out of hand, it can impact all aspects of family life.
If you’re in the Melbourne area and you need some help in getting your home back into order, then give us a call. We offer home cleaning services across Melbourne and would be happy to take your call and discuss how we can help you out.
If we all work together, including the kids, you can soon have the clean and tidy home you’ve always wanted and can be proud of.
