Teach Your Child How To Clean Their Room

Now that Christmas is over and my kids have even more toys and books than they had before, I decided we needed to reorganize. My daughter is great at keeping her room fairly clean and her items in an orderly fashion. It's my son that is horrendous at this. I'm sure there are some other moms out there with a child like my son, so I thought I'd share some tips. Oh! And if you'd like to win "3 Steps to Organizing Your Child's Room, go to Organizer Sandy, she's giving that and two other organizing books away.

TEACH Your Child How To Clean Their Room - Unfortunately kids aren't born with the natural gift to be able to clean their rooms properly. Nor are they born with the desire to clean their rooms. So we must TEACH them how to do this. For some kids this is a much harder task to do than for others. For my son, it's almost an impossibility. If we take it in small steps, it becomes a great possibility for him,. He is always so proud of his work once the room is clean again.

I have the kids do one task at a time. I have them put all the books away, then put all the legos in a bin, put all the dolls or stuffed animals in their proper place, etc. Break it down into small tasks so your child doesn't feel overwhelmed.

Make Sure They Know What is EXPECTED - My husband will say "Go clean your room.". So my son will go clean his room, which to him means, straighten the covers on the bed so the sheets aren't showing and clear a path from the door to the bed. My son will be so proud of that effort and then dad goes in there and tells him he didn't do a thing! Uh, yes he did. He did what he thought you wanted him to do.

Let your child know what you expect them to do in order for you to think they have actually cleaned their room. As stated above, break it down for them and tell them what you want done. You literally have to spell it out for them. If you don't tell them, they won't know what it is you want done.

It's OK to HELP Them - We all would love it if someone helped us clean the kitchen or living room or especially the bathroom. It's ok to help them. It makes the time go faster for them, and believe it or not, you may actually have a grand time with your child. They will also pick up and learn some of your cleaning habits if they see how you do things.

REWARD Them For Their Effort - I don't believe in paying my kids to do regular stuff around the house they should be doing anyway. But to have a nice treat ready for them after all their hard work is a nice reward.

Fraybaby sent me this link to Getting Kids to Clean Their Rooms. There's more tips in that article for you. Also, don't forget to go over to Organizer Sandy so you can win 3 Steps to Organizing Your Child's Room. Contest ends Dec. 30th.