Kids are masters at creating a clutter zone as it’s their nature. That’s why many moms question the point of tidying their homes when their children will only come along and dirty the area up again. But while making crazy and wild messes is what kids do, cleaning up should still be a priority.
Motivating Children To Clean Up
The good news? Children can be taught or be encouraged to tidy the disaster zone they tend to leave. Although it doesn’t happen overnight, several strategies can help you develop the desire to clean among your little ones over time. Are you interested to learn more? If yes, read on!
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Make The Environment Orderly And Beautiful
To begin with, make sure your children aren’t overwhelmed with clutter before they start playing, so it’s crucial to provide them with an orderly playing area. You can do this by keeping the area neat and disposing of clutter with the help of samedayrubbishremoval.com.au and others. Any hope that they’ll clean up their own mess like putting away toys goes down the drain if they don’t see the value of doing it.
When you make the environment in your home orderly and beautiful, it’ll be obvious to them where their toys should go or where to put them after playing. Parents can think of this strategy as a way of setting their children up for success. So, when it’s time to clean up, they know what to do or what’s expected of them.
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Be A Good Role Model
If your children don’t see you clean up, you can’t expect them to do it themselves. That’s why being a good role model to your little ones is essential. The best way to do it is simple to accomplish the chores in front of them. In this way, they’ll understand your home doesn’t have magic and that it’s impossible for it to clean itself on its own.
Being a good role model doesn’t stop with showing your kids how to put away their toys. Let them watch as you do the following:
- Fold laundry
- Wash dishes
- Take out trash
- Scrub toilets
Make your little ones realize your family’s culture places much importance on tidying up. Establishing this on your children’s minds would make them willing to help whenever and wherever possible.
Don’t ever act like you despise cleaning in front of your kids. Whatever attitude you model is likely what they’ll follow, and they might also end up hating tidying up, too—something you wouldn’t want to happen.
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Change Your Methods
Are you still using most parents’ traditional methods for getting their kids to clean up the mess at home? It’s time to make some changes and be a modern parent if you’re still shouting and waving your hands as your way of telling your children what to do.
One way of changing your methods is enforcing new rules and making them clear to your little ones. Here are some ideas:
- One out, one away: Containing the mess is an effective way of encouraging your kids to declutter. The best way to do it is by following the ‘one out, one away’ concept. It means your little ones are only allowed to move on to another toy if they’re done putting away the first one they took out from the box.
- Designate a place for everything: Children must know where things should go. Toys, dirty clothes, and books should have a place where they should be kept when not in use. Basically, everything you want your kids to be responsible for should have a designated location. Your little ones can be as organized as you want them to be when you eliminate their confusion.
- State your expectations and be consistent with them: Kids can’t meet your expectations if they don’t know the specifics. For instance, is cleaning up at the end of the day okay to you, or do they need to declutter after each activity? Talk to them and state your expectations of what needs to be done.
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Make Cleaning Fun
When cleaning time is enjoyable, kids will more likely cooperate. To add some fun, consider adding some of these elements:
- Music: Inject cleaning time with some energy by playing music.
- Competition: Making tidying up a game is a no-brainer if you have at least two kids. How about getting them to compete against each other and see who can put away the most toys? They’ll love it for sure! A race (who can finish doing something first) will also be a good idea.
By adding some fun, kids won’t only enjoy cleaning but they’d also learn new things and obtain new skills at home.
Final Thoughts
When any or all of the strategies mentioned above work for you and your children, don’t forget to give them a pat on their backs for every job well done. That way, they’ll know you appreciate their cooperation and help. Show them you’re happy so they’ll get more excited about continuing to do their responsibility.
