10 Fun House Cleaning Activities for Kids

by Phil Schmidt, Networx

Kids love to clean — just like they love sharing, eating stringy vegetables and asking only once for something they want. Every parent knows that getting kids to help with household chores easily triples the time it takes to do all of the work yourself, on a good day. But then, you wouldn’t be teaching them important life skills, including self-sufficiency, organization and how to get off their lazy duffs and share some of the load around the house. So how do you get them involved in housework? Yes, bribery, shouting and punishment are all good answers, but today we’re thinking of a more positive approach. If you try all 10 ideas listed here, one or two are bound to work. Good luck.

1. Icky Archeology

Sweep a room thoroughly, collecting all debris into a central pile. Using chopsticks or other “scientific tools,” dig through the pile to find the grossest and most perplexing items. Try to identify the origin of mysterious (often petrified) objects. This encourages kids to get deep into every nook and cranny, where the really weird-looking stuff is found.

2. Dust Gloves

Everyone dons a pair of clean, light-colored cotton or knitted gloves (tube socks work well, too) and dusts the house literally by hand. The very idea is to get the gloves as dirty as possible.

3. Swap Meet

Pick up in a room or, preferably, the entire house. As you work, select 5 to 10 valued items to keep for the swap meet; these should belong to someone else in the game. When the pickup is complete, swap the items one-by-one, taking turns and bargaining up for higher-value items (Mom’s long-lost diamond earring is worth a mint in game pieces, for example).

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Read more: Children, Family, Home, Household Hints, Non-Toxic Cleaning

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Kathy P.

9:57AM PDT on Mar 23, 2012

awesome ideas! reward systems work too!

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Cinderella Maid S.

10:31AM PDT on Oct 2, 2011

Interesting! It makes a lot of sense with me and it was such a big help. I had also fun reading your post. Thank you.

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Emily S.

6:31PM PDT on Jun 3, 2011

These sound like fun - for me as well as the kids! :D

Eternal G.

7:25PM PDT on May 7, 2011

Cleaning & fun?

Franziska B.

10:43PM PDT on Apr 18, 2011

Kids are learning by doing - thanks for your ideas!

Josh B.

12:48PM PDT on Apr 12, 2011

Asking your kids to help with chores at a young age is a great idea. It teaches lessons that will have a positive effect when growing up. One thing I would encourage when cleaning in the presence of children is to use chemical-free cleaning product. Chemicals found in cleaners are the second leading cause of childhood poisons and a recipe for long-term health conditions.

If you're looking for a chemical-free alternative for general-purpose cleaning, might I suggest checking out the Activeion ionator. It uses only water, and is as effective or better than most toxin cleaners. I do work for Activeion, but I hope that won't challenge your choice to clean chemical-free.

Berny P.

2:26PM PDT on Mar 27, 2011

anything to teach kids to take care of their room is a Plus

Christine L.

6:17AM PDT on Mar 20, 2011

Glove game sounds like fun. When it gets too cluttered at Gramma's we play a little game called 'ten things' - a race to see who can put ten things away the fastest! Always ends in a few laughs and a tidier house!

Annick L.

6:45PM PDT on Mar 18, 2011

Thanks for me and my kids x

John W.

9:49AM PDT on Mar 18, 2011

Strongly advise against the sponge on feet. Hyperactive kids will fall, and invariably hurt themselves in some way. Not to mention, you'll have a lot of cleaning to do after their 'cleaning'.
Otherwise, I'm filing a few of these ideas into my head for later.