Just One Mom Trying: cleaning

Showing posts with label cleaning. Show all posts

Monday, July 31, 2017

13 Cleaning Games for Kids

First off, isn't this drawing just darling? Head on over to Little House Studio and get your free printable! Click HERE.

I think I need to frame this because every night we clean up the house to prepare for the next day and we all dread it. The kids hate to clean and I hate getting them to clean. I'm no Mary Poppins but we try to make it more fun by playing games. We have tried playing "Beat the Timer" but my kids now know that it's not that fun to race against the clock anymore. So, we have gotten a little more creative. Here are a few of the games we have played:

Dump Truck: My kids "drive" around laundry baskets, making truck noises, and put things in their "trucks." When the baskets are full or there is nothing else to pick up, they go to their room and "dump" the baskets. They sort their items and drive them to where they belong.

Santa: I will usually pick up toys and belongings throughout the day and throw them into one box. Then I will gather the kids and play "Santa." I sit a kid on my lap, talk a bit and ask if he/she has been a good boy/girl and then give him/her a "gift" (aka his/her toys/belongings) to put away. My kids think this game is funny. I really try to play up the Santa role (ask the kid's name, ask what he/she wants for Christmas, Ho Ho Ho, etc.)

Chutes and Hoops: This one is a favorite game but it takes a while. We have a Little Tikes slide and I set it on a low table with a toy basket at the bottom of the slide. The kids slide toys down the slide and it goes into the basket. Sometimes we put the basket under our Little Tikes basketball hoop and the kids "shoot" toys into the basket. If you have the time, try this game. If you don't have a slide, make a simple ramp out of a cardboard box or poster board.

"The Lady": This is another game that my kids think is funny. My daughter named this game "The Lady." She wants me to "be the lady!" I knock on their bedroom door and say, in my best British old lady accent, "Hello! I love your house! Can I come in? Oh, it's a wee bit messy in here. Can I help you? I've never been to your house before. Can you tell me where this goes?" I hand the item to my kids and they put it where it belongs. I ask again, "Can you tell me where this one goes?" and we repeat. This is also good to see if THEY know where it belongs. Does it have a place? If my kids don't know where it belongs, we either find a place or we throw it away. Sometimes I pretend that I don't even know what some of the items are. "What on earth is this thing? (Lego piece) It looks like a miniature ice cube tray. Perhaps for a Barbie doll or mouse. Good heavens! I hope you don't have mice living here." They think it's funny and I chill out for a second to have fun with my kids.

Exercise and Clean: I challenge the kids to hop, skip, run, walk backwards, roll, etc. while they put things away.

Numbers in a hat: Write numbers on pieces of paper (usually 1-10). Each kid draws a number and that number determines how many items they have to put away before drawing a new number.

Colors: I pick a color and everything that has that color must be put away first. Then we pick a new color.

Bigger or Smaller: Anything bigger than a _______ (toaster, laundry basket, etc) gets put away first. Anything smaller than a _________ (rabbit, shoe, etc) gets put away next. Choose any item your kids might think is funny and mix it up.

Guessing Game: I close my eyes and each kid puts away 1 or 2 items. I open my eyes and try to guess what they put away. You can make this a challenge with points if your kids are competitive. Or your kids can try to 'stump' you (or trick you) by putting away more items. It's harder for YOU to guess but gets THEM to clean more.

Relay Races: One child has a task and another child has a different task. See who can finish first. The tasks are usually similar like, put all the figurines in the figurine basket and put all the blocks in the block basket.

Dance: Clean and dance to music. This is fun if you can switch the genres of music (ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, etc).

100: First child to put away 100 things (on a really messy day) wins.

Tickets: Reward your kids. For every 20 items, they earn 1 ticket (I get my tickets at Dollar Tree in the party section). When clean up is done, have a raffle or let them "buy" a treat from you.

I hope this helps make cleaning a little more fun in your house for you AND your kids.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

How to Wash Stuffed Animals

Emily 6:47 AM 6 Comments

Have you ever tried to wash your child's stuffed animal in the washer? I have.

The first one never quite made it out the same. My daughter's favorite fluffy little puppy quickly turned to nappy little puppy. It was clean though... (sigh).

Luckily, I bought a backup puppy- I buy a backup of my children's favorite attachment items (blankets, stuffed animal, etc.).

(nappy, sad, little pups)

(New puppy, old ruined puppy)

I figured out how to wash the new puppy without ruining it.

You will need a pillowcase and a hair elastic without metal.

Place the stuffed animal in a pillowcase and tie the pillowcase off with the hair elastic.

Throw the tied pillowcase into the washer and wash in warm or cold water. Use fabric softener.

Put the washed pillowcase/stuffed animal bundle into the dryer to dry. Dry on low.

When your stuffed animal is dry, hopefully it will look AND feel like it did when you bought it.

CLEAN! (And still fluffy and soft!)

My daughter loves her new "Snow Puppy"

# cleaning # tips

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Get Your Kids to Clean!

Emily 7:52 PM 3 Comments

We were invited over to a friend's home for dinner a couple of weeks ago. He and his wife have 3 darling children. During our conversation about parenting he asked his son, "Why did mommy and daddy have kids?" His 5-year old son said, "So we can work!" Our friend continued and said, "That's right! We don't have a cow for you to milk or feed so we have you do other things instead to keep our family running."

He has a point.

As a former high school teacher, I was amazed by how little responsibility my students had as members of their family. I performed a little informal survey. Were they required or expected to clean their rooms, make their beds, do their own laundry, do the dishes, etc.? Surprisingly, no! WHAT??!! What happened?? These are grown people who are going to be living on their own in a year or two and don't know how to start a dishwasher?

All I know is that I'm starting my kids early. My 3-year old LOVES to clean. I'm running with it! I got her a tote ($1 at Target) with her own cleaning supplies so that she can help me. It was cheap and easy to put together.

In the tote:

Spray bottle ($1 at Walmart) filled with water
Small broom and dustpan ($2 at the grocery store)
Mini squeegee ($2 at the grocery store)
Extra rag
Sponge
Scouring pad (6 for $1 at the grocery store) which we will NOT use on the dishes.

So, what can your child clean?

Here's a list of things he/she can clean (or should learn how to clean, or know how to clean) at each age:

2-3 Years Old

Pick up toys, books

Clean glass tables

Wipe up messes

Take laundry to laundry room

Put clothes in hamper

Dust with sock on hands

Push in chairs after meals

Sort silverware

4 Years Old

Take dishes to sink after meals

Make bed

Clean room

Put groceries away

5 Years Old

Vacuum

Empty garbage cans

Straighten rooms

Clear table

Clean up after pet

6 Years Old

Dust

Load dishwasher

Empty dishwasher

Clean sinks

Mop floors

Fold and put away laundry

7 Years Old

Wash dishes

Clean toilets

Pull weeds

Rake leaves

8 Years Old

Clean mirrors

Sweep floors and patios

Clean windows

9 Years Old

Vacuum interior of car

Wash car

Straighten/organize drawers

Straighten/organize closets

10 Years Old

Clean stove

Clean oven

Do own laundry completely

11 Years Old

Clean refrigerator

Clean cupboards

12 Years Old

Iron own clothes

Mow lawn

File papers

Other Ideas to Consider:

Teach your child how to do each task. Show them how to do it. You may have to show them more than once. Be patient and accept their efforts, even if the job isn't perfect.
Don't stereotype the chores. (ex. mom cooks, dad mows the lawn, kids clean the bathrooms, etc.) Take turns doing all the chores. It will only empower your child when they get older.
Don't pay your child for every chore they do. Children need to do certain chores because they are part of the family. Children can earn money by doing extra chores or tasks. This helps eliminate the sense of "entitlement."
Hang a chore chart to see what has been done/needs to be done. If your child can't read, draw pictures to represent the chores. Check off the list with stickers.
Before bedtime, do a "15-minute pick-up." Everyone must participate for those full 15 minutes- picking up and putting away things that are out of place and straightening up the rooms. We like to see how much we can do before the timer runs out.
Click HERE to print cleaning cards. Each card is a checklist of things to be cleaned in a room of the house. These are great to pass out to your children to make sure they don't miss anything. I love these cards!

Good Luck!

This post was part of THE SHADY PORCH ROCK 'N SHARE! For other great ideas, visit THE SHADY PORCH!

# cleaning # tips

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Products I Love

Emily 5:24 AM 0 Comments

Here are 3 products that I love. I wish I had them. I've seen them and have interacted with them but do not own them...yet.

Let's start with the Green Marker. These are super cute grass blade sticky book marks. I want! These are popular in Japan and are difficult to obtain right now in the US. They would cost almost $100 just to get a few of these markers from Japan. I'm going to have to wait on these. BUT I JUST LOVE THEM!

Here's something I can afford- bubbles from Family Dollar! I think these were $2. It's not the actual bubbles themselves that I like, but the top! Check out the bubble top. It's a no-spill top, perfect for toddlers. I think all bubbles should come standard with this top. LOVE!

And then there's the gloves. These are absorbent dish drying gloves! One thing that I hate is opening up the dishwasher and the dishes are super hot and they're not even totally dry! Put these bad boys on, dry those dishes, and put them away at the same time. GENIUS! I don't know why I still don't own these but I should. You can find these at Bed Bath and Beyond for $4.99. That's a good deal!