How to motivate your kids to clean!

Want a fun and simple cleaning game for kids? This one is an easy one (and you can do it anywhere!). Cleaning games make cleaning with kids bearable. Because ~~sometimes~~ all of the time, cleaning with kids is downright awful! You announce to the kids, “Okay, everybody, go clean up the living room, “ or “It’s your turn to do the dusting.” But kids are so easily distracted, and slooooooooooow, and they whine about it before, during, and after, and it just doesn’t feel worth the hassle, so you just pull your hair out of your head, then go do it yourself.

But experience has always reminded me that cleaning with kids is good for not only them, but also for YOU.

When you get the kids to help you out on a regular basis, you’ll actually get more done, in the long run (and by long run, I mean in the run of a day, AND your whole life). The simple reason is: you’re training them each time. So, they get better and better at it, each time, so that over time, you have to do less and less! What’s even better is that kids don’t have to just stick to the tidying – they can do the CLEANING, cleaning too! That’s toilets, sinks, floors, windows, etc.! Not only because they’re actually capable (with training), but because there’s a way to make it a non-toxic job! Norwex offers chemical-free alternatives with their cleaning set for kids that are SAFE– no more bottles of cleaner with a skull and crossbones on them that you don’t want your kids around!

The Cleaning Game You Should Be Playing With Your Kids

Here’s how to play this simple game.

Grab your phone
Tell the kids the task they’re completing

Some examples of what they’re more than capable of:

*Putting away laundry * Dusting a specific room * Wiping down the bathroom sink *Cleaning the toilet bowl * Tidying the toys in a specific room *Sweeping the floor *Mopping a specific room *Wiping down appliances *Wiping countertops *Vacuuming

Tell the kids how long they have
Set your timer
Crank up your favourite dance tunes
Countdown to the timer: 3-2-1 GO!
Let everyone clean, clean, clean!

When kids know they have a time limit, they feel super motivated to get the job done. And what’s even better, is you don’t even have to reward them, ha! They’ll happily do this for the satisfaction of getting the job done before the timer goes off. Oh man, it doesn’t get better than this!

Three things to keep in mind

This is easily adapted for different age groups! Simply modify the difficulty of the task and the length of the timer!
Make sure you give them a decent amount of time to complete the job
If they don’t get the job done by the end of the timer, just give them more time to try to beat!

This is also a great cleaning game for when you don’t have much time, and can only get a few essentials done. For example: your in-laws called and they’ll be over in 20 minutes, sort of thing!

So, next time you’re feeling frazzled by the toys strewn on the floor, grab your phone and start the timer! And you know what – this game is good for you too, Mom and Dad! If the kids are too little to help, or they’re in bed sleeping, I like to give myself a deadline when cleaning and I always get more done. This speed cleaning gets the chaos put away so your cluttered mind can think again. Trust me – once you try this, your timer App will become the #1 App used on your phone!

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