Spring Cleaning with the Kids

Hoorah!! The nights are getting lighter, the days are getting (a little) brighter and spring is finally on it’s way! It might still be chilly outside, but I am starting to notice that summer is definitely beginning to feel a little more within reach. If you are anything like me, you will have a point in spring that you like to put all the winter coats away in the loft, ban turning the heating on out of pure principle and not mention Christmas for at least the next few months. Maybe your house is getting a bit cluttered or is distinctly lacking in minimalism?

It can be difficult to find time to have a proper spring clean, especially with small children in tow, so if it’s possible to get them involved in the clean-up, you’ve got a win-win situation.

Here are my top tips for getting kids helping with the spring cleaning.

Make it a game

All parents know that you’ll have better success getting kids to do something by making the job as fun as possible. If you’re decluttering, you could try to make a competition – that the first to fill a bin bag of unwanted toys is the winner, or remind them that the faster they can tidy their room, the faster they get to play games afterwards.

If you’ll struggle to hold their attention to see the job through, you might want to let them choose the music you declutter to (perhaps having the Frozen soundtrack on will keep them interested, or something cleaning specific like “Another one bites the dust!?) or ask them what you could do to make it more fun and come to a compromise (within reason!)

Provide an incentive

These can come in all sorts of different guises. An incentive could be letting them choose what the family does on your next free weekend or day out in Birmingham, or you could promise to make their favourite dinner in the evening once all the jobs have been done.

If you’re going to be selling used items at a car boot sale or online, you might want to let them keep their earnings to put towards one of the must have toys for 2018, or put in their savings account for something extra special in the future. You never know, you might make a nice bit of money as well as send old toys and clothes to a loving new home! Selling online via methods such as eBay and Gumtree is easier than you think, and anything large can be listed as ‘collection only’. That way buyers can arrange their own courier who’ll make the deliveries for you to make it super easy.

Give them the facts

You might be decluttering because you HAVE to. For example, the kids might have been given huge presents for Christmas that are hanging around in the hallway without a home, or there might have a wardrobe in their bedroom that’s bursting open because it’s full of baby items they no longer use. You might find a better strategy involves talking to the kids and asking them which toys and clothes they want to keep and what they want to get rid of, knowing that it means their new toys get the pride of place they deserve and will mean they’ve got more space for playing. We often use the one in one out mentality, and I ask Erin to select a toy she no longer plays with to sell on or donate if she wants to get something new.

Whichever tactic you choose to get them to help out is totally up to you. As parents you know them better than anyone after all! What do you do to get the kids involved?

Let me know what works (or doesn’t) in your family!

*This is a collaborative post*