Life Skills: Cleaning

• Cleaning is a skill that everyone uses on a daily basis yet is hardly ever ‘taught’.

• When teaching about cleaning include lessons such as how to properly use cleaning supplies, household chemical safety and when to use them, how to break up large cleaning tasks into smaller increments, and how to set up a cleaning schedule.

• Turning cleaning into a game or cleaning up to music will help encourage your child to help with toy pickup or other household chores.

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Why Should you Teach “Cleaning”?

Cleaning is a skill or “chore” that everyone uses on a daily basis. Whether you live alone, have a family, or still live with your parents, there is some sort of cleaning up that you will need to do. I have learned, through my own experiences, that keeping a house clean and tidy does not just come naturally to everyone nor does it mean the same to everyone.

When I was growing up, my mom did all of the cleaning. This included my bedroom along with the rest of the house. In my later teens I was occasionally asked to empty the dish washer or fold a load of laundry but that was the extent of my participation. When I left home to go to college, cleaning was something that I struggled with to do on my own. Eventually I was able to teach myself how to properly clean and to make a cleaning schedule to which I (mostly) stick to it.

Fast forward to me having my own family and children. I realized several years ago that I was doing the same thing with them that my mother had done. I did all of the cleaning including picking up their toys and cleaning their rooms. And I didn’t want them to stuggle later like I did. That’s when I realized that I needed to be teaching them how to clean. How to clean up after themselves, how to keep their rooms tidy, and how to help with house cleaning “chores”.

What to Teach About Cleaning

Learning to clean is not just about putting your stuff away or wiping off a counter. Here are some teachable points to keep in mind:

• Putting Things Back Into Their Proper Places – It is a good idea to start teaching children when they are young to put things back where they belong. Putting things back as needed usually only takes a minute or less and making a game out of it turns this “chore” into fun for children.
• Cleaning Supplies – Brooms, mops, dusters, vacuum cleaners, sponges. When small children see us regularly using these products, many of them will want to imitate us and use them as well. Consider eithe buying them a toy version of the cleaning product or let them help you when you are using them. This will teach them how and where each product is used.
• Household Chemicals – It is important to teach children that the household chemicals used for cleaning are dangerous for our health. Tell them firmly that they are not to use or touch these items without your consent. Make sure that you keep these chemicals out of your children’s reach and sight.
• Making a Cleaning Schedule – If you have a cleaning schedule your kids will pick up on it. Not only that, but they will know what to expect and where to help you out. You may even want to help older children and teens make their own cleaning schedule for their bedroom.
• Breaking Down Large Cleaning Projects – Having a large area to clean or a lot of things to pick up and put away can seem like a daunting task. Teach your children to break up these large tasks into smaller ones. Need to do a deep clean of their room? Have them start with the clothes in their closet, then move on to the shelves in the closet, then start on the dresser drawers. Breaking it down into smaller more manageable areas and timeframes will make cleaning projects less stressful and more productive.

How to Get Everyone Involved

There are many ways to get everyone involved in the cleaning process. One easy way is to task everyone with keeping their own rooms tidy. Another is to “ask” for your child’s help doing everyday cleaning such as dishes and laundry. When getting your child involved in the actual cleaning process, keep in mind their age, ability, and maturity level.

Toddlers:

There are many ways to get your toddler involved in cleaning. The main idea to instill in this age group is to get them to pick up after themselves. I would recommend that you put simple rules in place such as they need to put away the toy they are currently playing with before they get out another or that all toys need to be put away before bedtime. Keep in mind that at this age they may not completely understand the rule and/or they will not remember the rule and you will need to play a large part in encouraging them to do so.

Toddlers are also notorious for testing boundaries and being stubborn. To help encourage your little one, turn clean-up time into a game. Need to pick up legos or other small toys, turn it into a basketball game. Play construction zone where they can choose to be a crane (picking up and putting into the container) or a bulldozer (pushing all of the toys together). For bigger items you can turn it into a timed activitiy or a competition. Set a timer for 1 or 2 minutes and say “let’s see how much we can get picked up in 2 minutes.” or “let’s see who can put away the most items in 1 minute.”. This will encourage your toddlers to clean up while disguising the chore as a fun activity.

To get toddlers involved in household cleaning, give them small things to do. They can help you fold clothes by matching socks or folding washcloths. Have them help you hold the broom or vacuum while you work so that they know how to use those tools as they get older. And, you can let them stand on a small stepper next to you at the sink and have them help you rinse or dry dishes. Make sure to give lots of praise and encouragement so that they continue to enjoy helping you clean.

Elementary Aged Children:

This age group is generally in a mind frame where they want to help out and they want to make you happy. They should be continually encouraged to pick up after themselves and praised when they complete cleaning activities.

As they get older they can start to take on bigger cleaning chores. In addition to picking up their toys they can start to keep their room clean by dusting and keeping things put in their place. They can also help with easy activities such as folding laundry, putting away their own clothes, dusting, and wiping off counters and tables.

While these children may be able to complete these activities on their own, you should still be there to guide as needed. You may also want to continue doing games and timers if that was helpful when they were younger. Some ideas include to turn on some music and dance around while picking up and cleaning with them, setting a timer and see who can finish their portion of the laundry/cleaning the fastest, and rewarding them with playing a game or going to the park when the cleaning is completed. This may also be a time when you want to assign daily/weekly chores with either a monetary reward or as just being a helpful part of the family unit. They will also need to be encouraged and thanked when they do their share.

Preteens & High School Aged:

This is the age group where you can really start teaching them how to clean. By this I mean how to properly sweep, vacuum, dust, mop, etc. Different concepts such as how to degrease pots and pans, that there are differnt cleaners for different household items (for example: wood cleaners for wood furniture and bathroom cleaner for the tub and shower), and how to seperate and wash laundry will need to be taught. You may also want to go over how to thoroughly clean a room including wiping down walls and baseboards, dusting fan blades, washing curtains, and going through/getting rid of unwanted items.

However, this is the age where your children can do practically any of the cleaning that you do yet will probably want to do none of it. Even if your child enjoyed cleaning when they were younger, they may have no interest in doing so now. With this being the case, there are several methods to choose from to help encourage your child to do their share of the cleaning. Here are just a few:

Monetary encouragement: Whether this is cash-in-hand or you purchasing them agreed upon items, monetary encouragement may be what your teen responds best to. While some parents think that chores that include household cleaning should be a contribution from the child and not be rewarded with money or items, it can be argued that doing so has its benefits. Mainly, it offers children and teens a way to earn their own money. Whether they save it up to buy a large item or spend it on small things, they learn the value of a dollar and that it takes hard work to earn money. This is (unfortunately) the essence of adulthood where you exchange your time and knowledge for money. With this money you can have your child open up a bank account and teach them how to budget and save.

Closed door policy: This is the your-room-can-look-however-as-long-as-you-keep-the-door-closed policy. Constantly nagging your teen to clean their room is not good for anyone. It adds stress to you and to your teen. You kinda have to trust in the process that they will eventually get tired of trying to find things or constantly stepping on items that are strewn in their floor and will clean it up on their own time. In the meantime, you can keep the rest of your house looking tidy just by keeping their door closed. Now, as far as other household cleaning such as taking out the garbage or emptying the dishwasher, you will need to come to another agreement on that.

Stict expectations and consequences: This will look differently in every household because it depends on how strict you want to be and how heavy you want consequences. Make sure that your child knows what is expected of them and what the consequences will be if these are not met. This may be something like “if your room is not clean by this weekend then you can not go out with your friends”, or “this is the third time I have asked and if you do not take out the trash then I will turn off your internet access.” Make sure that you give gentle reminders and thanks when the chores are completed. Chores can be managed with a chore chart or an online chore management app to make them easier for both you and your teen to remember.

Many families use a combination of these techniques and others. Adding in music. making it a competition, or working together to clean will help encourage teens to participate. And hey, some teens are naturally neat and clean and may even do more than asked. In that case, consider yourself a lucky duck!

Do you have a fun or creative way that you use to get your children involved in the cleaning process? If so, please share with the community in the comments below.