Cleaning with Kids: Turn Cleaning into a Family Affair

A family that cleans together has more free time to do other activities together. Get your kids to help around the house by making daily, weekly and monthly chores part of a reward system, one that awards special prizes for their regular completion.

The Chores

The type of chores you assign your children will depend on their age. A younger kid can tidy his or her room before school each weekday, making the bed and picking any toys up off the floor. An older child can clear the breakfast table and/or load the dishwasher. Older kids also can take responsibility for feeding a family pet twice a day. For weekly chores, look for tasks that have a fun factor, such as hosing down the patio or washing the car. Such chores could be done as a family, cooling everyone off on a hot summer day. Gardening also makes an excellent weekly chore, from weeding to helping with the harvesting of fruits, veggies and herbs. Monthly chores also can be done by teams. For example, a younger child can climb atop the shoulders of an older teen or adult to dust ceiling fans, light fixtures and air vents. Kids of all ages can get down on their hands and knees and search for spots on carpet that need to be treated. You could even give extra credit to the family member that finds the most spots, which if you have a pet in the family might not be that difficult of a challenge. To help keep straight which member of your family has responsibility for what chores, create chore charts. Molly Maid has printable chore charts available for download, which you can print out weekly.

The Prizes

Just as you have daily, weekly and monthly chores, offer daily, weekly and monthly rewards. You need not award a prize daily, but doing a chore each day should contribute to a weekly reward. For example, doing assigned chores every day of the week should result in a much better prize than doing chores sporadically. Don’t make it an all-or-nothing situation, though, as if your child doesn’t do chores on Monday, he or she may want to skip the rest of the week if no reward exists at the end. One way to get everyone excited about the reward system involves posting a rewards chart right alongside the chores chart. The posting of the charts can be something your kids look forward to each week, as they will want to see what prizes await them at the end of the week or month. Prizes could range from sticker sets and toys for younger kids to small amounts of cash for those older.

Also take suggestions for prizes. For example, if the kids want a new video game title, make it a goal for everyone. That way, your kids can help keep each other on track and share in such a cool prize. Rewarding your kids for contributions to daily, weekly and monthly household maintenance not only teaches them to be responsible, it also shows them the value of work. You also might consider saving the chore charts each week for a final tally at the end of the year. The child who went above and beyond the others would get an extra-special reward.

Need more ideas? Check out the Molly Maid video on this page for inspiration.

For your home cleaning needs, contact the professionals at Molly Maid. Each maid services team comprises insured, licensed and uniformed housekeepers who are regularly supervised. Click here to request service in your area.