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Is Your Kid's Room Clean?
Simple Tips to Make Cleaning More Fun

Whenever company comes to your house, do you need to close your children’s bedroom doors? Do you need a disaster relief team to come and help you dig through the debris? Do you continue to try to get the cleaning done in their rooms, maybe even resort to bribery?

All parents would love to be able to transfer just a little of their children’s love of playtime to their attitude toward cleaning. The reality is, although some children have learned to find joy in keeping things in order, children are not born knowing how to clean.

One of the most important aspects of motivating your children to keep their bedrooms clean is to be an example for them to follow. If your children see that your bedroom is a wreck, chances are they will think that is how bedrooms should be. When your children are small, let them see how you clean your room. Techniques of cleaning are different for everyone but usually children imitate their parents and will copy their cleaning style... and attitude.

For some, explaining that it is easier to find things in a neat room might not be a wise argument to use. There is a method to the madness and children everywhere will tell you that, even though their rooms are beyond recognition, they know where everything is. That is hard to argue with when it is usually true. Try to remind them that it is more fun to be in a neat and tidy environment. Sometimes a rotten mood is made worse by being surrounded in clutter and disarray.

Getting down and dirty with your children and cleaning their room with them is a big help as well. Sometimes, little children have so many toys and clothes out that they do not remember what goes where. Telling them to simply put things back where they belong is confusing to toddlers and even some preschoolers. Place and order are concepts first taught in preschool. Believe it or not, they are reading and math readiness skills. Yes, helping kids keep order in their rooms actually helps get them ready for success in school!

Organizing similar objects into piles is a good place to start. For example, place all the toys in one pile while all the shoes go in another. Once the piles are made, attack each pile. Allow a five minute break after each pile is completely put away.
This might not come easy at first. It will probably take plenty of cleaning sessions before your child gets the idea.

Above all else, try not to be angry when you clean with your child. A parent’s love should be unconditional and not dependent on or determined by cleanliness. If your child is afraid of being yelled at, the less likely it is that cleaning will be something to look forward to. Having a clean room should be something children should want not because of what other people might think of them but because they like it that way.

Stick with it and keep the hope alive. Maybe the day will come where you can trust your child's room is clean ... because they say it is!

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