The following post is written by guest blogger Sammy Dolan of Home Clean Expert.

How to get Your Kids to Help with the Cleaning

With kids, life can always be a bit hectic, but we still love them at the end of the day. If you’re looking for a way to have your kids help out around the house, try getting them involved in cleaning up after themselves and even pets if you have any. I know from parents I’ve talked to that getting their kids involved with household chores makes things a lot easier in the long run. Listed below are a few tips you can use if you’re struggling to come up with ways to have your kids help out.

Age Appropriate Chores

If you want your six year-old to help out around the house, having them vacuum the entire upstairs probably isn’t a great idea. Instead, find something that fits not only their work ethic, but their age as well. For instance, instead of having them vacuuming, what if they help sweep part of the kitchen, or got your cleaning supplies ready for you?  A handheld cordless vacuum can also be easier to control than a bulky upright vacuum.

Just make sure whatever you pick for your kids is something they can do. For younger children, working directly with them is probably a needed first step, but for older children, you’ll be better off giving them more hands free work.

Chore Charts

Assigning your children to different tasks through charts is a pretty effective method for having a clean home. Chore charts in particular help schedule out what days which child has to clean and what specifically they are going to clean and maybe for how long, if necessary.

The organization not only makes it easier for them, but easier for you as well since you’ll be delegating tasks while not having to physically be there. You’ll need to make sure that they’re following the chart and perhaps having a system where they have to mark a time-frame at when the chore was completely may help.

Making Cleaning Fun

When kids think of chores, they typically find ways to avoid them or get out of them altogether. However, if you give them a bit of an incentive, maybe they won’t see it as work. This isn’t to say that every time your kids do the dishes or sweep the living room you should reward them, but maybe do it in bunches.

 For example, say if they do five straight chores that they might get ice cream or something that they enjoy as a reward. The thing to be careful with about this method is not to reward them too often and to keep the reward minimal, otherwise they’ll catch on.

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Hopefully these tips were able to help you out in case you were wondering about ways to get your kids cleaning around the house. Making sure your kids are working on something age appropriate is crucial, along with making sure their working schedule is consistent, but at the same time not completely mind numbingly boring.

It’s not always easy to do, but getting your kids involved with cleaning will eventually give them the work ethic they’ll need later on in life to have a clean environment.

-Sammy Dolan
www.HomeCleanExpert.com