Fresh, Fun Approach Gets Kids Into Cleaning

Save time and get the kids to pitch in. Want some ideas to get started?

In this video, owner of Molly Maid of Central Anne Arundel County Donna Reilly appears on WBAL-TV-Baltimore to share tips on how to get the kids into cleaning chores.

How It's Done

Use strategies to make cleaning fun and offer incentives. These include:

  • Music. Cleaning is always more fun with the right music. Help younger kids find something they will like, and consider letting older kids make the selection themselves.
  • Hoops. For younger kids, make a game of basketball out of sorting laundry. Laundry baskets make wide, reachable "hoops" for shooting and slam dunking dirty clothes.
  • Play. Give younger kids intermittent, "play" rewards. After the laundry has been sorted, for example, you could spray a wood floor to make a slippery surface for kids to slide on in their socks.
  • Mark it. Download a chore chart and let younger children place stickers on the completed chores.
  • Incentive. As for motivation, many folks tie the completion of chores to a weekly allowance. Along those lines, consider using a point system. Assign each task a point value and various numbers of points to a reward. When points are accumulated, kids can redeem them for a prize or privilege, such as playing a video game. A points system can also teach kids how to save and the value of hard work.

Molly Maid recently conducted a study that showed 10% of people would rather eat dog food than clean. See other fun facts here!

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