Want a quick and easy way to get your young children to clean up around the house? I tried this with my five-year-old today and I just know that any preschooler will enjoy it as much as she did. It absolutely adds an element of fun to cleaning and even more, gives them a challenge!
All I did was simply tell her, “Let’s see how much you can clean up in one minute! I’m going to count to 60 and you go around and see how much you can put away. Ready? Set? Go!” I then counted 60 seconds as she ran around the house picking up. She was so worried about the time that twice she passed by me and slowed down just enough to hear what number I was on. But, she definitely did more in that one minute than she would have done in five minutes had I just told her to clean up her stuff.
The best thing was that I too had fun. I went around picking up a few items myself, but enjoyed seeing her having fun with something that ordinarily would have been a boring task. She ran, she laughed the whole time, and she completed her task. It was a true win-win for both of us.
After she caught her breath, I suggested that next time we should see how much we could clean up in three minutes. She was all for it!
What games do you play with your children to make chores more fun?
I use the stopwatch my iPhone to do essentially the same thing, and somehow they think it’s a video game! Score 1 for Mama!
Oooh! That’s awesome! It’s funny how quickly they’ll change attitude when
you make it a game.
What a great idea! My four year old loves to make a mess but when I ask him to clean it up “I don’t know how!” that’s what he loves to say when he doesn’t want to do something. Will definitely try this trick next time!
Oh you’ve got to definitely make it a game! Not just the time, but try a
tossing game, or even sorting by color, shapes, etc. Good luck!
great tips for cleaning, I should try that with my two boys, they’re too messy with their toys
Good luck trying it out!