Guest post by Alex Farley
Sooner or later every parent takes the plunge to make their kids part of the family cleaning crew. This involves a lot of patience and persistence. Some children easily get used to cleaning and others simply refuse to be involved in this boring domestic duty. It may be challenging to make a child help around the house but it is certainly beneficial for them. Cleaning is a great educational activity, which helps your children to acquire valuable skills and become responsible adults. There are numerous ways to teach a child clean and most of them are linked with giving orders, shouting and bribing. Unsurprisingly, they are not as efficient as the parents expect. If you are searching for a more positive approach, try the following ideas.
I advise you to start with several outdoor cleaning activities. Kids adore being in the garden and as you know they play with various objects and tools. Let’s take advantage of this fact.
Skating with sponges
Here is how you can have the alley in front of your front door perfectly clean and keep your kids amused as well. Bring outside a bucket with soapy water and several sponges. Use removable hot glue and attach the sponges to your kids’ shoes. Let them dip their feet into the water, set the timer on and see who will make more rounds for 2 or more minutes. Don’t forget to reward the winner.
Outdoor furniture crafting
This game is suitable for all members of your family. Clean precisely the furniture in the garden, inspecting for debris and bigger particles under, around and in it. Let everyone gather the collected items in a separate bag. In the end, create several artworks, using the found items, paper and glue. Let your fancy roam and add funny labels or identify the objects with arrows. If you want to really stimulate your kids, let them keep any coins they find.
Beat the song
Here is how you can disguise an unpleasant cleaning duty. Provide some music in the yard, playing your children’s favourite songs. Give everyone a specific duty and let them work while the music is on. The idea is to complete the task before the song ends. You can play this game several times. Music will help you to create a pleasant atmosphere and show your kids that cleaning can be great fun.
Scientific discovery
Take the initiative and form a team of young archaeologists. Provide your kids with chopsticks and other scientific tools. Sweep all areas of your yard and collect the dust into one big pile. Let your kids dig and separate any gross or bizarre items. Encourage them to examine every nook and cranny and identify the origin of the mysterious objects. This amusing game will help your children to improve their attention skills.
Colour the dust gloves
Distribute pairs of clean light-coloured gloves to all of your children (old socks will do as well). Wet the gloves a little bit and let your kids dust by hand all outdoor surfaces, tables, doors, frames, etc. The purpose of this game is to change completely the colour of the gloves, making them as dirty as possible. Reward the child, who has managed to accomplish the mission.
It is surely not easy to teach a child clean. However, being patient and using the right approach is a guarantee for success. Every child is able to perform cleaning chores, however, they need some time as well as directions. In the beginning don’t count on quality, just be happy with every small progress your child makes.
Thank you to Alex for sending over this post for my readers, cleaning is a task that every household encounters and being able to engage with children with fun ideas to make cleaning fun!
Adventures of the Allum family 
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