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3 Easy Tips on How to Teach Your Kids Clean Up After Themselves

Posted: 01/03/2013

 

As a mother, getting your kids to clean up after their mess can be a very daunting task. Kids have the tendency to gather a lot of stuff. You’re finding toys scattered everywhere, books everywhere, and clothes everywhere. What are you going to do?

If you are like the majority of the mums, you would just probably clean the clutter yourself. But every now and then, this can be very frustrating.

Here are 3 easy tips on how you can get your kids clean up after themselves.

 

  1. Make cleaning a routine

 

Scheduling is the best way to take the nuisance out of most things. If your children know that they have tasks that they need to do every day, soon enough they will stop complaining.

 

Try to set 3 specific times to clean each day. Try after lunch, before dinner, and before bedtime. With this, your kids will remember to put their things away right after using it. Set a timer. You will be amazed on how quickly they can get it done.

 

The harder part is on how to institute this routine. Ban your kids from doing anything until they are done with cleaning. No games, no TV, no computer, no cell phones. Consider this as privileges to them.

 

Remember that this will only work if you make it a daily routine for your kids.

 

  1. Make it easy to clean

 

Provide your kids with cabinets or boxes that can hold their stuff. Most of the time children don’t know where to place their stuff or there are no appropriate furniture’s to hold it. During the first few days, help them in cleaning and organizing their rooms just so you will know if there are some stuff that needs a place.

 

When children have enough places to store their stuff, it will be easier for them to tidy their things.

 

  1. Make cleaning fun

 

Make cleaning fun by playing games like “beat the clock”. Set a timer for an appropriate time and ask your kids to clean their rooms or whatever room in your house they have been playing in before. Whoever gets their job on time will get a prize. This game can be so fun that you may even find your kids playing it themselves.

 

As you can see, keeping your kids to clean up after themselves is made easier with these tips. But like most things with parenting, it requires hard work and patience to enforce these routines. So get up and get your kids cleaning.