Look, we understand - you love your kids and you’d never change them, but sometimes they’re not quite as willing to lend a hand around the house as maybe you would like. There’s toys on the floor, that’s a bowl of half-eaten cereal still sitting out, and sometimes it just feels like there’s too much work for one set of hands.
Worry no longer! There’s ways to get your kids more involved with household chores or organization while making it easier - and maybe even fun - for them!
Make Cleaning Into A Game!
You can’t do this with all chores, but there’s easy ways to turn picking up around the house into a fun activity. For example, you could set up some colored bins that each hold one kind of item that needs to be picked up around the house (toys, Nerf darts, stuffed animals, etc) and assign bins - whoever fills up their bin first wins! Your kids will feel like they’re doing something a little more up their alley, and you’ll be able to reduce some clutter around the family room!
Help Make It Easier For Them
Part of why children often don’t want to help around the house is that the chores can seem a little daunting and disheartening. They can’t reach the sink, it’s hard for them to use a vacuum, and maybe they’re just scared of trying to help. Gather smaller containers and kid-level shelves for closets to help make your kids feel like they can do chores on their level and make it less scary to try to help the grown-ups clean!
Let Them Personalize It
When it comes to kid’s rooms, they always want to feel like they have some say in where everything goes and what everything looks like. If you buy something like a smaller dresser for clothes, a kid’s sized desk, or even something like kids lockers to make it a little more fun, let them pick out the color and where it will go. Giving your children some agency in what their room looks like will help make them feel like it’s truly theirs, and they’ll be more motivated to make sure it looks nice!
Sure, these methods aren’t foolproof and every kid is different, but we think these tips are a good starting point to get you inspired and (hopefully!) get your kids to help reduce clutter and clean up a little more.
Your spouse, though? That’s a whole other blog post...
