If you are a proud parent of few children you probably know that cleaning and sanitation are two very important tasks that you have to deal with in your home. A healthy environment and clean interior are must have conditions for children, as their immune system is far from capable of fighting allergens 100% of the time. This is why you should try to maintain all of the rooms in your home clean and fresh.
Well that is the theory, but putting this into practice may prove more difficult than you imagine. When it comes to children, you know they have a talent for making a mess, not only of their own rooms, but also all around the house. You should not stress over this, as it is in their nature. In order to remedy the problem, you will have to think of ways to deal with the big list of domestic cleaning tasks that never seems to end.
A good way to get the problem solved is to make your children’s part of the solution. While this may sound absurd to you, it is in fact a practice that experts suggest to parents, because it holds certain merits. Your children may not be professional cleaners with all of the expertise and skills that go with this occupation, but they can truly benefit from the work you involve them in, as well as offer valuable assistance in various house clean tasks. If you want to give the idea a shot, here is what you need to consider:
– Cleaning with children has many benefits – apart from teaching the importance of cleaning, which is no insignificant thing, involving your children in this activity has other clear benefits. It will help them develop time management and organizational skills, as they try to finish with the cleaning chores as fast as possible. While they restore order to their room, you can be sure that their discipline will better, which is a valuable asset for their character.
– Set realistic goals and timeframes – before you include your children in any domestic cleaning task, you should be aware that their interest can quickly fade. Sure, they can be pretty enthusiastic about cleaning and eagerly join, but you cannot expect them to stay on the task for too long. One to two hours is a realistic time that should be optimal for children. Also do consider what cleaning tasks you include your children in. Depending on their age, you can keep them occupied with tidying up their own room, making beds, peg out and bring washing in, washing dishes, helping with setting the table. You cannot possibly expect them to deal with carpet cleaning, upholstery cleaning or other tasks of such caliber.
– Make sure cleaning with your children is a positive experience – your children will be much more inclined to clean, if the experience is a positive one for them. This is the only way to go about this as just forcing the issue on them will usually lead to poor results and is not advisable. There are many to make cleaning fun – for example you can play music and have a dance contest while you clean with your little ones, or you can roleplay mad scientists as you prepare cleaning solutions for the job, or you can have a beauty contest with your cleaning aprons and so on.
– Turn cleaning into a fun game – although it may sound hard to imagine, cleaning can indeed be a lot of fun. In fact, this is a must if you are planning on getting the children involved. It should be fairly easy to turn domestic cleaning into a game by implementing music or turning it into a contest – whoever cleans faster is declared a winner and gets a price. Children usually like contests like this, so it should not be hard to get them involved in one.
– Keep promises and offer treats for a job well done – do not lie to your children about cleaning. Explain to them it is something they have to do and award them when the job is done. That way they will understand the full importance of cleaning and be more willing to participate.
Cleaning with children can be not only a pleasurable experience, but also offers quite valuable lessons that you should make sure your little ones learn.