How to get your kids to help with spring cleaning? It’s not as hard as it sounds with these fun spring cleaning games.
Race the Clock!
This is a fantastic way to collect items that belong in another room. Put a Rubbermaid container or cardboard box in the middle of the room and set a kitchen timer for five to ten minutes. Kids and adults must race the timer to find everything that needs to be in another room and put it in the box. It’s really useful for rounding up stray toys, mail, shoes, and clothing.
Mission Spring Clean
Your mission, Mr. Bond, is to clean up! Make up missions for your budding secret agent, focusing on one element of cleaning at a time. Missions include:
- All shoes in the house must be found and matched to save them from the Shoe Thief!
- Dirty clothes must be in the hamper to stop Mr. Stinky from taking over the world with smelly clothes!
- The table must be wiped so Operation Dinnertime can succeed!
Play Let’s Pretend
Suggest kids pretend to be Cinderella, or the maids and butlers of a silly giant. You can take on the role of the wicked step-mother or giant and guide kids with statements like “Oh, I hope Cinderella forgets to put her dirty socks away so she can’t go to the ball” or “If the little humans don’t pick up the toys in the living room I get to eat them from breakfast—Oh boy, I hope they fail!” Express silly outrage when the kids complete their tasks, as they’ve beaten your evil, evil plans.
Make it Easy to Help
Spring cleaning games go best if you remember kids aren’t adults, and their ability to clean house doesn’t match yours. Sometimes you have to lower your expectations and admit that “mostly clean” is better than nothing.
You can make it easier on yourself and kids if you have kid-sized spring-cleaning tools. Your little one may not be able to handle the big vacuum, but can use a dust-buster. Kid-sized brooms are easily available, and you can make a kid-friendly “Swiffer” by removing the middle pieces.
