Holiday Cleaning – a Guide!
The holidays are coming! And we know that holiday cleaning can be really tough. Kids love to make an awful lot of mess, but they don’t love to pick it up. To lighten your load at home, check out these ideas for getting your children involved. You have a dancer, singer or speed racer on your hands. However, where there is a will, there’s a way. There is a way to make your kiddo willingly join in on tidying up the house.
Get them to bust a holiday cleaning move
Natural foods chef, author and former co-host of The Chew Daphne Oz says, “If you’ve ever seen my Instagram stories, my kids and I LOVE to dance. I’ve turned ‘cleanup time’ into ‘dance party time’ so that it doesn’t seem like such a chore to pick up their toys. I wouldn’t say they’re the best cleaners (or dancers—they are my kids, after all) in the world, but making the chore fun makes it that much more likely that it won’t be me picking up all of the mess at the end of the day.” See, holiday cleaning can be fun!
Add a soundtrack to the chore
On their People.com blog, actresses Ashley Williams and Alysia Reiner write that their children are training to be sous chefs, but it’s turning out to be one messy journey. Their advice: “During cleanup, most 2-year-olds will love to sing a cleanup song while they pump the all-purpose spray to the beat. Following along behind the trail of sprays with a dishtowel will leave your kitchen cleaner than when you started. Win-win!”
Just add bubbles
According to People.com, actress Ali Larter recommends using bubbles in the sink and other small distractions as a way to infuse the duty with fun.
Belle Casa is your one-stop shop to keeping your home tidy if these techniques don’t work! Want to know more?
Work at the mess piece by piece
If your child’s playroom looks daunting to you, imagine how your child feels. In her Huffington Post column, writer Susan Stiffelman advises breaking down a big job so the task isn’t too overwhelming. She suggests telling your kids, “Start by putting away anything with red on it. Or anything made of plastic. Or whatever is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand.”
Show them how holiday cleaning is done!
If you birthed independent little humans who protest cleanup time, you are about to rock their world. LEad by holiday cleaning example! Angela Chang, a Montessori parenting consultant and a member of the TODAY Parenting Team community, is a strict enforcer of getting kids to pick up after themselves knows kids don’t always listen to even the most gently put demands. “If you are still having a hard time getting your child to clean up her work, stop talking. Take her hand in yours, put it over a piece, pick it up, and guide her hand to the bin. Repeat. Do not talk. After a few repetitions, the child will usually want to continue by herself,” she writes on Today.com. Belle Casa knows the importance of Decluttering.
Help your kids dress the part
They say to dress for the job you want, not the job you have. In an article on Parents.com, writer and editor Madonna Behen says, “Kids 5- and 6-years-old love to role-play, so try encouraging them to start ‘Cara’s Cleaning Company’ or ‘Henry’s Helping Hands.’ Outfit them for the role with a hat, apron and child-size rubber gloves. You get to play the part of the appreciative customer.”
Beat the clock
Kids love contests, but if they don’t have a competitor, have them race against the clock. On B-Inspired Mama, teacher and blogger Deirdre says, “I set a timer when it is cleanup time and things need to be put away by bedtime.” However, holiday cleaning might get quite competitive – be careful!
Summon the Toy Fairy
Carrie, a blogger for Crafty Moms Share, tells B-Inspired Mama, “We have the Toy Fairy visit each night. She is a fairy that loves toys but does not have any of her own. She is not allowed to take toys that are put away. But if they are left out she thinks they are for her. We have yet to take toys away, but there are nights where we ‘contact’ the Toy Fairy. We tell her not to come if our day is spinning out of control.”
Stick to a holiday cleaning chart
Children go wild over stickers, so use this to your advantage. Michael and Carlie Kercheval, co-founders of the site Welcome to the Family Table, write, “Place a sticker on a calendar (or chart) for each day that they successfully kept their things cleaned up. Talk about the number of stickers needed to earn a reward and decide what the reward will be. Once they have earned the needed number of stickers, it’s time to celebrate their hard work (and your clean house)!” You could probably also get away with the reward being a sticker.
Put their toys ‘to bed’
If your kids are young, have a vivid imagination, or just enjoy injecting life into inanimate objects, have them tuck their toys away for the night. Blogger Jennifer tells B-Inspired Mama, “Since my toddler does his cleanup at night, we often say the different toys have to go to sleep too and that they have certain places where they sleep.”
