How to Teach Your Kids to Clean Their Rooms

Disclaimer: This is a pre-written guest post, published on behalf of Empire. All thoughts, opinions, and advice provided are those of the writer.

My kids rooms never seem to be clean, and it’s a topic I often talk about with other parents. Regardless of what age your kids are, there are a couple of things that will help them learn to clean their rooms on their own. And if they’re cleaning their own room, it means you don’t have to! Having a messy child’s bedroom can be bad for their health too. According to pest experts Empire, encouraging dust and allergy causing pests could have a negative impact in the long term.

Less is always more

Toys should be kept to a minimum. Too many toys can seem overwhelming when they need to be tidied up, and too much choice for kids is distracting to them. If you have a lot of toys lying around, consider having a library system. You can keep some things out, whilst others are put away, and then rotate them regularly. This keeps toys and choices fresh, and ensure that the kids will player for longer periods with a smaller amount of toys and choices.

Use the reward system

Logical order always works well with kids. Once their bed is made, and the toys are picked up, they get to choose what to do afterwards. It’s a great way to reinforce good cleaning habits with children. Having a simple daily task list in your child’s bedroom allows them to check off their tasks, so then they can choose to read, play or watch tv after.

Help them to clean their room

It’s more work for you and can be time consuming, but it’s the best way to encourage children to put their things away the way they should be put away. Learning the correct way to do things will alleviate your burden in the future.

They should be making their beds

A made bed helps to give a room a tidier appearance. It’s a simple task that even toddlers can do on a daily basis. Don’t make their beds for them, and definitely don’t go back and remake it. Look past it, even if it’s a mess, because it has to be a job that is completed by them.

Give them clear instructions, with one thing to do at a time

Kids love specific directions. If you tell them to simply go and clean their room, you go and look in an hour and odds are everything will look the same. This is because your directions weren’t very clear. Unless they’ve been taught what a room clean includes, you will most likely be hit with the deer in headlights look, and they’ll be completely overwhelmed by the mess.

Instead, give them clear instructions. Take it one step at a time. For older children, write up a quick checklist and tick off each task as they work through it. For younger children, give them one task at a time. And obviously, keep an eye on them. One thing at a time makes it a lot easier for everyone. Just make sure you are giving your children age-appropriate chores to do, and the right directions for them to carry it out.

Show them good behaviour

If your room is a mess, and if you don’t make your bed, asking your kids to tidy up and make the bed is going to fall on deaf ears. Work with them. If you show them that you are tidying your room, making the bed, picking things, they will want to do the same. Modelling good behaviour is always a great idea, because kids will always be watching and paying attention.

Time the cleaning

I use the timer on my phone about 5 times a day for various tasks, and it’s especially helpful with the kids. We’ll all race to beat the timer, doing a quick declutter before dinner, or just seeing how much we can get done in 5 minutes. Having these quick and simple little bursts keeps kids attention. Don’t overwhelm them with an hour of chores.

Do you need some ideas on what chores your children should be doing? For kids age 6-12, I would recommend:

• Putting clothes away

• Putting toys away

• Stacking books

• Putting books away

• Making the bed

• Double checking to make sure everything is tidy

Do your kids clean their own rooms? Share any tips you have in the comments below.