The Self-Care Mom

Tidying up your home might seem like a difficult task when you have kids. Although it’s not as simple as these tips to quickly clean your kitchen at night. However, with help from the kids, you can tackle the items on your spring cleaning list.

Organizing your home can be exciting when everyone is on board. It just takes some task delegating to get everyone to participate.

Figuring out spring cleaning tasks for your children can be a bit of a challenge. By delegating things on your list, this can help your kids understand the value of teamwork. Simple tasks are always a great start. Here are a handful of ideas for you to try this Spring.

1. Have your children start by organizing their own spaces

By simply picking up items and placing them where they belong, your child will understand that everything has a place.

Bonus tip: Ask that they create a donate and toss pile as they go. This will help with minimizing the number of things in their play area and/or bedroom.

2. Make them check under hard-to-reach places

Pulling items out from under beds or couches while cleaning your home is always a plus! Make it fun by having your child go on a treasure hunt to find toys they might’ve lost along the way. Knowing they’ve helped you find a lost item will remind your child of the importance of tidying up every time.

3. Focus on family areas together

Our kids enjoy family movie nights and you’ll find them in the living room more often than us. Most of the time they’re just running around or playing with their toys. Oftentimes, their toys get left behind or LEGO pieces end up under the couch.

Adding family areas to your child’s spring cleaning list is a great way to motivate your child. Not only are these common areas used by them, but it’s one of the places they enjoy with you. Putting their toys and the dirty dishes in place will teach them the perks of a clean home.

After all, who doesn’t like to kick their feet up on the sofa?

4. Focus on their strengths when assigning tasks

Knowing what your child is capable of doing will help them feel as though they’ve accomplished something big. Playing up their strengths is always a bonus with multiple children. You do know sibling rivalry is a thing, right? Let them show off what they can do best. Maybe one child enjoys lifting semi-heavy items. Give them a box to put away.

Young children love to dust and wipe walls within their reach down. Use this to your advantage, mama! This is a great way to freshen up areas kids tend to make messes that go ignored.

5. Let them use cleaning tools, too

It’s easy to hand off the simple tasks to your child, but what if you let them pass the vacuum or simply wipe down the counters? Just be sure your child is wearing gloves to protect their hands. Using natural cleaners like Schmidt’s Cleaning Vinegar is always a plus! These products don’t have harmful chemicals in them.

Preschoolers and slightly older children can easily help sweep, dust mop, and even run the vacuum. These tasks are fun and easy enough for them to complete.

Cleaning Tasks Your Child Can Do Daily

As your child gets older, these spring cleaning list ideas become everyday tasks they can complete on their own. The best thing to do is to practice light cleaning daily. This helps you minimize the stress of constantly having to clean up after everyone.

A great way to motivate your child to clean up after themselves is to offer them a reward after a week of cleaning up.

Teens and older children can always help with big jobs, like cleaning out the garage and sorting the garbage and recycling.

Regardless of your child’s age, the best thing you can do to ensure work gets done is to make it fun. Aside from rewarding them, you can make a game out of each task. Below are some ideas to try this week:

• Shoot hoops with the items that go into the trash/recycle bin.
• Play your favorite music and have a dance party.
• Time yourselves and see who finishes first.

Have you created a spring cleaning list before? Tell us about it in the comments below!