How to Make Keeping House Fun with the Family

For many families, especially those with young children, keeping the house clean can be a constant struggle. Odds and ends accumulate everywhere, and parents can start to feel like they are always running around after the kids, trying to clean up each mess as quickly as it’s made. This can be even more stressful when one parent is the designated stay-at-home parent, and feels responsible for all the upkeep. Turn a stressful chore into a fun, teambuilding activity when you include the whole family in your housekeeping routine with these simple tips!

Keep your expectations realistic and age-appropriate.

Kids as young as toddlers are old enough to play a role in picking up after themselves, but obviously won’t be able to participate in cleaning to the same degree that a teenager can. With any of the tips in this article, remember that they can be tailored to fit pretty much any age and skill level. A child given a too-difficult task will quickly become frustrated and will be resistant to helping out around the house in the future. It’s best to start with simple tasks that don’t need to be executed perfectly – praise the effort without focusing on the result until the child begins to master the task.

Make it a game!

When a task is framed as work or a “chore”, you’re likely to get groans and eye rolls in response, but if you make it into a game, time will fly and the house can be clean before the kids even realize that they’re helping with household chores. With kids of similar ages, you can make it into a competition – assign each child a room to tidy, and see who can clean their room the fastest and the most thoroughly. Another fun game is to pick one color at a time, and then pick everything up that is that color. For young children who enjoy playing “make believe,” turn cleaning the house into a game of pretend by providing an apron or a set of gloves and making a sign for their very own cleaning company!

Setting a time limit can make even cleaning the messiest of rooms seem more manageable: for younger kids, play a song and use the length of the song to clean up as quickly as you can. For older kids, set a timer for 15 minutes or half an hour, and see how much everyone can accomplish before the timer goes off.

Everything in its Place

No matter how many kids you have or how old they are, things tend to accumulate over time, including a lot of odds and ends that don’t necessarily have a place. For a lot of young families, baskets and bins are an absolute lifesaver when it comes to keeping bedrooms and playrooms organized. Labels for different categories like “stuffed animals,” “wooden blocks,” and “toy cars” can make cleaning up simple and stress-free. The key is to make it as easy as possible for kids to pick up after themselves. “Clean your room” can be an overwhelming task, but “put all the dolls back in their bin” is straightforward and manageable. For kids who are younger than reading age, you can label bins and baskets with pictures of what belongs in them for easy organization.

Make sure your family is breathing clean air.

Dirt, dead skin cells, and other debris are constantly collecting in the air and on the surfaces in our homes. Regular dusting and vacuuming can keep them under control, but once in a while, a professional cleaning team like the one at COIT should be brought in to do a deep, thorough cleansing of air ducts, upholstery, and carpets, where daily household maintenance alone is not enough to remove dust. Over time, even the most well-kept home will accumulate debris and recycle it through the ventilation system, affecting the quality of the air you’re breathing and potentially affecting your family’s health. An annual professional cleaning can make sure the air you breathe is safe and clean.

Housekeeping can seem like an overwhelming and never-ending task, but it doesn’t have to be. Make household chores fun when you follow these guidelines for including the entire family.