There are many things as parents that are so difficult to figure out. The age old question of the day is….. How to Get your Child to Clean Their room?? So today we are going to be talking about just that. I have raised 2 children that were not my own and now have two beautiful girls…. one is 3 years old and the other is fourteen so I have plenty of experience in this department.
One thing I figured out along time ago is that no child is the same and what works for one may not work for another so being flexible is VERY important. So let’s get down to the nitty gritty and find our how to get your child to clean their room!
How to Get your Child to Clean Their Room
Changing their bedtime – No child likes to go to bed…….at least most of them don’t and you can use that to your advantage. Start a new rule and explain it well before it begins. Let them know for every article of clothing or for every toy that is left out they will have to go to bed 5 minutes earlier. Say what??? Yes you will probably get plenty of pouting or foot stomping on the new rule! The main thing is to stick to the rule and NEVER NEVER NEVER give into it. Don’t let them slide the first night because they are not used to it, this will only mess you up. Stick to the rule and never vary from it.
Take Items Away – Most of the time the toys that are left out are their favorite ones. Those are the ones they play with all the time therefor they are the ones you will find out and about. Let them know that if they do not clean there toys up then the toys will be going to time out. As I said before you MUST stick with the rules you pick and never vary from them. If a toy is left out then they must go to toy jail for the amount of time you said they would. Once the amount of time is over they of course can then play with their toy again. On a side note if you are dealing with a teen you might be better off taking away something of more value….. like their phone. EEEEK!
Have a Toy Jail – This is a lot like the tip above but on a larger scale. Sometimes children just don’t pick anything up at all and can be a little harder to handle than the kids that are just slightly messy. If their room is a total disaster area you may want to go in and help them get it cleaned up. Explain to them that if their room is not kept clean than they must not want the items they are not taking care of anymore. Now get yourself a clear plastic tote…… you may want to make it pretty big. Go into their room the next day and if they have left anything out pick it up and put it in the tote. Now that the item is in the tote they MUST earn it back. You can assign chores to them for earning back their prized possessions. Make the chore be somewhere in the house that is NOT their room, they should after all be keeping that cleaned anyway.
Make a Checklist and Post It – Sometimes children can be a little scatterbrained or maybe their brains just don’t work the same as ours. Have a checklist of what you expect them to do to have their room cleaned. For the ones that are a little older you can even have a dry erase board for them to check off as they go along. It may help to have a morning checklist for things like making their bed and then another check list to include what should be done before bed like: picking up all toys, making sure nothing is laying on the floor, and dirty clothes should be in the laundry hamper.
The most important thing to remember on getting them to clean their room is to be consistent. This takes time and energy on our part and can be a real big hassle in the beginning but over time it will become a habit for them that will help them even into their adult life. Take the time now to teach them.
Do you have any tricks that have worked in your home on the age old question of How to get YOUR Child to Clean their room that has worked well for you??
These are some great ideas. I will definitely have to try some out on my toddler!