Disclosure: This post has been sponsored by SC Johnson, all thoughts and opinions remain my own.
As a child, my parents always had us help out with cleaning up the house every Saturday. We would help with vacuuming, dusting, cleaning the bathrooms, and other chores throughout the house. At the time I hated having to do these chores, but as an adult, I am glad my parents got us so involved with cleaning as children who have chores tend to become more successful adults.
Getting kids involved with household chores can be incredibly beneficial for everyone, life just gets better for your whole family when you all clean together. Not only can it mean your children becoming more successful as adults, but it can improve quality of life for the whole family as the domestic workload is shared.
Unfortunately, chores probably aren’t high on the list of things your kids want to do, which is why it’s important that you try to make chores more fun and rewarding. Making chores fun and rewarding will help your kids feel more motivated to get them done. Here are a few tips you can use to help motivate your whole family to feel excited about cleaning up.
Reinforce Positivity Towards Cleaning
There’s nothing like a reward to make hard work seem more fun.
My girls get so excited about having a friend come over for a playdate. Playdates are the perfect chance to cultivate a positive association with cleaning amongst your children. Not only do they feel pride about helping to prepare for play time with their friends, but they feel way more positive about cleaning up and put that much more effort into getting the job done.
This is your chance to demonstrate how cleaning together isn’t a chore but rewarding and fun instead.
Reward Them
To help your kids have more fun doing their chores, you can set up a reward system. This could be something simple like an extra treat at the end of the week, a sticker chart or even a small weekly allowance for any teenagers in the home. My favourite reward idea is to create a chart of chores and reward with stickers as chores are completed. The child with the most stickers are the end of the week gets a “Helper of the Week” award.
By setting up a reward system, your children will have something to look forward to, making chores more fun than they would be without a reward!
Blast the Radio
Music is a great way to break up the monotony of chores! The next time you and your kids are taking care of chores, turn on the radio as loud as you can. Sing and dance along to the music as everyone in the family works to get their chores done. Not only will it make your chores more fun, it will also make the time go more quickly.
Play a Little
Don’t be afraid to play a little if you want chores to be more fun for your kids. If your kids are responsible for sweeping the floors, use your imagination and pretend that the dust bunnies under the couch are real bunnies that need to be corralled into their new cage (the trash can). Your kids will have fun playing a little, and the chores will still get done.
Race to the Finish
If your children are competitive, then this is a great way to make chores more fun for them! Let your children know what their chores are and then on the count of 3, they can race to see who can finish their chores (properly) first. You can even have a chore trophy on hand for the quickest person.
Be a Positive Influence
Like with anything, kids emulate their parents when it comes to their attitude about cleaning. You might dislike cleaning, but it is important to be positive about getting household chores done in order to set a good example.
There are some chores that I know my girls love to do, and other chores that they do not. Some jobs they actually beg to do – like putting away the clean utensils from the dishwasher. They might not do the best job at 3 and 5 years old, but they sure do enjoy it!
For more great tips and ideas to get your family cleaning together, check out comecleanwithus.ca!
What are some ways you get your family more motivated to clean? We’d love to hear from you!
Stacie @ Divine Lifestyle says
This is awesome! Cleaning is best done as a family… IF you can get the entire family involved. We’ve had our kids helping with chore since they were big enough to pick up their own toys.
Lynda Cook says
I was left a not every Saturday morning for the chores that I had to do and they had to be done by a certain time before my parents came home from work, I tired doing that with my girls and it didn’t work, I had to make it fun for them crank the music and make a game out of cleaning, but it doesn’t hurt them to do chores and they feel good about themselves as well
Jeanette says
We do a lot of similar things! Our favorite thing to do is to blast the music and we each tackle a room. At least that way we get more done in a quicker time.
Florence Cochrane says
Great way to bond and get the chores all done having fun. It benefits everyone by have free time for other things.
Jacqui Odell says
These are great tips. I like the idea of making it a race and fun. My kids struggle to do chores. In fact we just had a meltdown about it!
Claudia K says
I love cleaning and involving my family, We each have a list of tasks to do and we blast the music and have fun.
Donna B says
Great tips! Getting kids involved in cleaning their living space is important — it helps them be responsible and if you can make it fun, it’s easier for you AND them.
Stacie says
These are all great ways to get the kids excited about cleaning. I find a reward system of some sort tends to work best for me.
Sherry says
Getting my kids to do chores can be a chore in itself. I do enjoy playing music while cleaning. I will have to try some of these methods.
Elizabeth Matthiesen says
My daughter has a list for each child with various chores and ticks are made when chores have been done. Stickers are their reward at the end of the week and they get to choose which sticker they’d like.
Barb Webb says
My teens are very reluctant cleaner-uppers! lol Was a lot easier to get their help when they were younger but blasting the radio while we are working does seem to help quite a bit!
Kelly Hutchinson says
We love to have a race with the chores. The winner get a prize. It makes cleaning up so much more fun!
Chelley Martinka says
I love cleaning with my kids! I tis SO important to teach them life basics like this!
Dawn Lopez says
Making chores fun is really important to getting help in our house. We like to play loud music and sing and dance while we clean. These were all great suggestions you had also. We’ll have to try some of your tips.
Hali says
Many of my favorite cleaning products, I will try some of these tips to get everyone excited about cleaning. : )
Veronica Mitchell says
Now this sounds totally fun and a great way to bond with the whole family too. My girls are old enough to help with light household chores and they love it when we play some lively music. Great tips, will definitely try them out next week.
kathy downey says
Chores don’t have to be work they can be fun times!
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custom essays says
Chores don’t have to be work they can be fun times!Making chores fun is really important to getting help in our house. We like to play loud music and sing and dance while we clean. These were all great suggestions you had also. We’ll have to try some of your tips.