Get your family cleaning!

Cleaning Motivation for your Family

Cleaning your home should be a team effort. What do you do when your team mates are slacking? Fine ways to motivate them! It is hard for anyone to keep a home spotless but even harder when the rest of the family isn’t helping out! Here are a few ideas that may stimulate  or inspire your family to help you with the house hold chores:

1. $$ MONEY $$

What is the universal motivator for most children? If you guessed money, then you are most likely correct. What better way to motivate your children than by offering them an allowance for when their chores are complete? Maybe they want a new cell phone, ipod, video game, or book. Chores are a way for your kids to earn money towards the things they wants. It teaches responsibility and helps you out, it’s a win – win situation! It is best to keep the same chore list weekly for children so after a few weeks it becomes more habit than anything else.

2. Time- Out? How about Clean – Up!

Tired of sending your kids to their room? Try this instead: Have a basket full of pieces of paper with chores listed on them. Depending on their crime have them pick 2-5 chores to do around the house instead of sending them to their room or taking privileges away. These would be chores not normally assigned to them during the week such as cleaning out kitchen or bathroom cabinets, or organizing the linen closet. Things that busy parents rarely have the time for.

3. Cleaning Olympics!

Kids love a competition, have a prize for whoever finishes their chore first. This way more household chores can get done in a smaller amount of time. This makes daily chores feel more like a game. The prize doesn’t have to be that big of a prize; something similar to having extra desert or getting to pick the movie for a family movie night. These are just a few ideas, feel free to create your own Cleaning Olympics! Let us know how it goes!

Cleaning Olympics:

Who washes/dries/ and put away dishes faster?

Give a basket of laundry to each child and whoever folds and puts away faster wins!

Who rakes their part of the yard first?

Who can get more chores done during a commercial break for T.V. night?

4.  Quality Family Time:

Ever hear the phrase: Family’s that clean together stay together?

Probably not because I just came up with it but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true! Gather the family together and take 20 minutes to clean up and straighten the house, you will be surprised how much can get done when working together. Give each person a “zone” and switch up zones each time so the same things don’t get done.

5. Did somebody say Dance Party?

Cleaning becomes fun when you add music to the mix! Personally, I create a mix of Oldies, 90’s and Disney songs. Let’s be honest, who doesn’t sing along to Hakuna Matata?  To take cleaning from being a chore to being fun you have to get creative! Create a mix that is 20-30 minutes long and clean throughout one cycle and once it’s done so are you! When singing along and dancing you might be surprised on how much you get done and it didn’t even feel like a chore! We would love to hear what you listen to to get in the mood to clean, leave us a comment below!

If you and your family want a break from cleaning, give us a call. You can also request a free estimate.