Cleaning can be a fun and involving task for kids, but also offers valuable lessons.
You could probably use an extra pair of hands to help with everyday household cleaning tasks. Not involving kids in household cleaning tasks denies them the opportunity to participate in the upkeep of their environment and turn denies them valuable learning opportunities.
Put simply, getting kids in on cleaning the house will help their future development, and is a fantastic bonding opportunity for them.
Kids participating in the cleaning process has many benefits for them (and for you). Kids are treated as active, valuable members of the household and in turn of the community as a whole. They not only learn basic but necessary cleaning lessons but more importantly they develop a sense of participation. Involving children in cleaning also develops their sense of responsibility and giving them a simple task they can accomplish means they feel fulfilled.
Some may feel that the cleaning process may not be entirely safe for children, which is true for some aspects of domestic cleaning, as they tend to require the use of chemicals. However, you can involve kids in certain cleaning tasks without hesitation and worry.
We will present 10 Cleaning Tasks for kids that are safe and fun for them and are a perfect bonding opportunity.
Allowing children to pitch in with the everyday cleaning tasks allows them to feel like valuable members of the family and also builds a strong work ethic and a successful mindset. However, if you delegate inappropriate tasks to your children you can discourage them from participating and reverse the process. There are certain cleaning tasks that your kids should not be a part of because they either use chemicals not suitable for children or are too hard, you may end up having to do more work yourself and more importantly, put off your child from wanting to be part of the cleaning routine if you give them an assignment that is too hard for them it may feel like a chore, not a challenge they can successfully overcome.
Here are 10 cleaning tasks you can delegate to your children safely and responsibly.
1. Folding Laundry.
Doing the laundry and putting the clean clothes away is unavoidable. You can teach children how to do the laundry, they will see it as a fun and engaging activity. You can teach older children how to fold laundry and put it away. Doing and folding the laundry is a fun challenging game for children. Older children, between the ages of 8 and 10 are more than capable of separating laundry, loading the washer and dryer, and sorting the laundry and folding it. You can get in on the task too. See doing the laundry as an opportunity to spend valuable time with your child, time seems to be a luxury not many of us have these days.
2. Cleaning The Floors.
You can safely and easily teach your child how to mop hard floors with virtually no risk involved. All you need to prepare mop water is well water. You can teach your child how to prepare the mop, how to clean different types of hardwood floor coverings in your home and why it is important for them to be kept clean. Spend some time with your child at first, older children can quite easily and safely mop floors on their own.
3. Sweeping The Floors.
Kids as young as 2 can be involved in this task. It is entirely safe. While we definitely would not suggest introducing your child to the vacuum cleaner at that age, teaching them how to hold a broom properly is completely safe. While you may not get the same results if you were to hoover the entire house yourself, your child feels accomplished and involved with you. They are doing a task with mom and dad, they are a valuable and trusted member of the family.
4. Making the beds.
Make your bed first thing in the morning. Teach your children to make their bed as soon as they get up, not for the reasons you think. Making your bed is a simple task, however, one you have to do daily. It builds responsibility and if your child starts their day with accomplishing a simple challenge they will feel fulfilled. When you are cleaning the house tell your child it is their responsibility to make the beds because they are good at it. Encourage them positively they now possess a skill that they are good at. This will build many positive attributes in their future. Make your bed, every morning.
5. Let your children clean cupboard handles.
Fill a small spray bottle with nothing but water, give your child a cleaning cloth and allow them to go over all the cupboard handles in the kitchen. They may not be perfectly polished but this one is more of a development opportunity for your child than anything else.
6. Doing the dishes.
They can't sit in the sink forever, right? Make doing the dishes after dinner a family activity and involve your child in it. Going back to being short on time doing the dishes is a bonding opportunity. The entire family is involved, parents and children do the same thing together. Doing the dishes is completely safe and while it may be a chore to you it will be a fun experience for your child and will give them time to spend with you.
7. Cleaning and tidying their bedroom.
Children and a tidy house do not always go hand in hand. Much like making their bed keeping their room clutter-free is an important (and safe) task you can delegate to your child. Their room is their world and their responsibility. They are responsible for keeping it tidy and the only way they can do that is to develop personal responsibility. It will not take you much time or effort to put their toys away yourself but that is not the point. You may be surprised how many adults struggle with this lesson. Every item in your room has a place to go and it is your job to put it back in its place after you have used it. This is a valuable instinct you should develop in your child from a younger age because they will carry that instinct further in life. It builds responsibility and discipline and you build that discipline in a loving and caring way. Children require positive encouragement and you can also build through leading by example. Declutter your room or the living room, keep it tidy this is how your child will know that they have to do the same.
9. Clean the skirting boards.
Slightly dampen a microfiber cloth with nothing but water and have your child go around the room and dust the skirting boards as much as possible. This is not something you do often, but doing it regularly actually is more important than you think, if left unattended the skirting boards will accumulate a lot of dust. Older and school-aged children can easily clean the skirting boards. It will be like a game to them, like a maze they have to traverse, just make it fun. There is always also the added bonus of you not having to kneel down to clean the skirting boards.
10. Cleaning the windows.
Children 10 and up can easily wash the windows. You can make an all-natural eco-friendly cleaning window cleaning solution yourself and have them use that instead of commercially available cleaning chemicals. If you are sure that the window cleaning detergent your child will use is safe window cleaning is an engaging, challenging, but not too challenging, activity for school-aged children. In fact, if you whip up your surface cleaners you can involve children in all kinds of cleaning tasks around the home. Have them wipe and polish surfaces with you, give the fridge a good wipe from the outside.
It is important to involve children in a safe and thought out way in cleaning activities around the home. It builds a strong bond between parent and child and positively encourages their development.
Parenting is the most important and difficult "job" any of us will have, it can tend to feel overwhelming at times. Creating fun and meaningful activities that also positively encourage your child's development can be challenging. However, certain cleaning aspects are one of the tasks you can delegate to your child and help their future development.
We believe that cleaning can be a fulfilling and fun activity for parents and children, get the whole family involved, spend some time together cleaning your home.
Some cleaning tasks are too big, or not appropriate for children, or even for you. You can always schedule a reliable cleaning company to take care of those tasks and leave the really hard work to us. The rest, smaller cleaning chores around the house, you can safely get the kids involved in. Book a professional cleaning company and choose a cleaning service that will tackle the tough cleaning tasks around the home dealt with. We will send out fully supplied, professional cleaners that can handle even the biggest cleaning challenges.
