How to Teach Your Child to Clean The Room
Children love to stay in messy rooms in spite of telling them repeatedly to keep the rooms neat and tidy. It is sometimes very frustrating, and to avoid this, one must teach the child to clean the room from an early age, but in such a manner that instead of looking at it as an onerous task that should be delayed and avoided, he should look forward to it. Here are a few simple steps which will help you teach your kid to clean up his room in half an hour approx.
1. Make your own bed : This is perhaps the first step as the bed is treated as a play pen, dumping ground, fighting zone, doll house kitchen ( if it's a girl child) to a makeshift study table-all in one. So this has to be cleared first, with the blankets being folded neatly, pillow covers arranged, bed sheet properly tucked in and soft toys kept in proper place. If any books, magazines, soft toys are scattered on the bed, let them be properly arranged. It should not take more than ten minutes and once this is done, automatically the room looks much cleaner.
2. Try to sort out things and put them in proper place : Sorting of things and putting them in proper place is of great importance. For example, if the kid is a pre-schooler, teach him to put his clothes in the clothes basket, the soiled ones in the laundry bag, shoes in the shoe rack, books in the book rack or the study table and toys in the toy basket. It might take quite a bit of time for the kid to understand this, and he might be confused, in fact he may act puzzled and make mistakes purposefully to avoid doing the work. But be firm, and help him initially, even using amusing anecdotes or stories which will make it a chore he can look forward to and eventually get used to it.
3. Praise the effort wholeheartedly and unabashedly : Children are very sensitive and emotional, so if he makes a sincere effort in cleaning the room, go all out and praise him. How soon he can do the work completely on his own depends on his age. If he is too young, try to print a chart or make a colourful " To Do" list and pin it in his room. Give him a time limit of half an hour, and if he manages to do it within the stipulated time frame, take him for a treat or give him a small gift.
4. Organise some fun games and competitions among the peer group : Most parents find it tough to teach the children to clean their rooms, so you can come up with a plan. Make few kids of the same age meet for a play date and plan an activity as in whoever cleans the room first after the games are over will get a surprise gift or a prize! Children love these kind of innovative ideas, and they will all go out of their way to help clean the room after they finish playing. Show them to keep the things in proper places, sort the soft toys, clothes, football, board games etc, put the shoes in the shoe rack and lastly not to mess with the things and never eat inside the room.
5. Practise what you preach : This might sound irrelevant, but actually is very important. You cannot teach the child to keep the room neat and tidy if your own rooms are in a mess. It might not be picture perfect, but the child must see that you give an effort to keep the house clean and tidy every day. He will understand the value and slowly emulate what he sees.
6. Make the storage spaces easy to handle : If you are dealing with a small child, make sure that the storage spaces are child friendly. If the process is cumbersome the child will try and avoid it. On the contrary, if it's simple and easy, he or she will do it quickly and finish the job quickly. Do away with excess stuff also, from time to time. This will make the room clutter free and look much cleaner.
Although children love to keep their rooms messy and feel more comfortable that way, they should be taught from an early age that they should be kind and considerate, be helpful, use good manners and keep their room clean. These are some easy to follow methods which will go a long way in teaching the basic hygiene and other life lessons later.
Children love to stay in messy rooms in spite of telling them repeatedly to keep the rooms neat and tidy. It is sometimes very frustrating, and to avoid this, one must teach the child to clean the room from an early age, but in such a manner that instead of looking at it as an onerous task that should be delayed and avoided, he should look forward to it. Here are a few simple steps which will help you teach your kid to clean up his room in half an hour approx.
1. Make your own bed : This is perhaps the first step as the bed is treated as a play pen, dumping ground, fighting zone, doll house kitchen ( if it's a girl child) to a makeshift study table-all in one. So this has to be cleared first, with the blankets being folded neatly, pillow covers arranged, bed sheet properly tucked in and soft toys kept in proper place. If any books, magazines, soft toys are scattered on the bed, let them be properly arranged. It should not take more than ten minutes and once this is done, automatically the room looks much cleaner.
2. Try to sort out things and put them in proper place : Sorting of things and putting them in proper place is of great importance. For example, if the kid is a pre-schooler, teach him to put his clothes in the clothes basket, the soiled ones in the laundry bag, shoes in the shoe rack, books in the book rack or the study table and toys in the toy basket. It might take quite a bit of time for the kid to understand this, and he might be confused, in fact he may act puzzled and make mistakes purposefully to avoid doing the work. But be firm, and help him initially, even using amusing anecdotes or stories which will make it a chore he can look forward to and eventually get used to it.
3. Praise the effort wholeheartedly and unabashedly : Children are very sensitive and emotional, so if he makes a sincere effort in cleaning the room, go all out and praise him. How soon he can do the work completely on his own depends on his age. If he is too young, try to print a chart or make a colourful " To Do" list and pin it in his room. Give him a time limit of half an hour, and if he manages to do it within the stipulated time frame, take him for a treat or give him a small gift.
4. Organise some fun games and competitions among the peer group : Most parents find it tough to teach the children to clean their rooms, so you can come up with a plan. Make few kids of the same age meet for a play date and plan an activity as in whoever cleans the room first after the games are over will get a surprise gift or a prize! Children love these kind of innovative ideas, and they will all go out of their way to help clean the room after they finish playing. Show them to keep the things in proper places, sort the soft toys, clothes, football, board games etc, put the shoes in the shoe rack and lastly not to mess with the things and never eat inside the room.
5. Practise what you preach : This might sound irrelevant, but actually is very important. You cannot teach the child to keep the room neat and tidy if your own rooms are in a mess. It might not be picture perfect, but the child must see that you give an effort to keep the house clean and tidy every day. He will understand the value and slowly emulate what he sees.
6. Make the storage spaces easy to handle : If you are dealing with a small child, make sure that the storage spaces are child friendly. If the process is cumbersome the child will try and avoid it. On the contrary, if it's simple and easy, he or she will do it quickly and finish the job quickly. Do away with excess stuff also, from time to time. This will make the room clutter free and look much cleaner.
Although children love to keep their rooms messy and feel more comfortable that way, they should be taught from an early age that they should be kind and considerate, be helpful, use good manners and keep their room clean. These are some easy to follow methods which will go a long way in teaching the basic hygiene and other life lessons later.
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