Make Cleaning Up Fun For Your Kids

my-cleaning-trolleyFun isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when you ask your kids to help clean up the house. That’s why it’s referred to as a household “chore”. But, there are some things you can do to turn the drudgery of house cleaning into a fun time. Here are some ideas from Joy Kids Universe.

• Make believe – Some imaginative moms dress themselves and their daughters up and pretend they’re playing Cinderella. Or, they pretend they’re filming cleaning TV commercials, and mouth their impromptu lines while they’re cleaning.

• Turn it into a game – Section off areas of the house and challenge the kids to clean up the most sections in the fastest time. Make sure that everyone who did a good job gets a reward.

• Break the job down into simple tasks – Don’t dump an entire cleaning operation on a child. Instead, separate the job into individual tasks and ask the child to do one task at a time. Make sure to match the task to the child’s capabilities.

• Use clean-up time to teach your child generosity – Cleaning up is a good opportunity to segregate stuff you and your child no longer need. You can teach your child about donating the stuff to charity. Casey Rose and the Joybug believe this will teach compassion for others and gratitude for what they have.

• Help kids learn while they clean – Use cleaning time to teach your kids about colors, shapes, and other basic things. For instance, ask them to pick up blue things, or store squares. It’s also a good time to teach them how to use basic tools and cleaning implements. It teaches them to learn freely and joyfully each day.

• Set up a regular cleaning schedule – Explain to your kids why you need the schedule, what you expect, and what the time frames are. Ask for their suggestions. Turn it into a running contest with prizes every month, every semester, and an annual grand prize like a weekend at a beach resort for everyone.

Creating Positive Energy In Your Home

To bring positive energy into your home, you need to get rid of the negative energy that is there. To make room for positive energy, or “Chi”, here are some joyful tips from Joy Kids Universe.

daily_joytip_4

  • Get rid of the clutter to promote positive and happy emotions. Stuff you don’t need, and things made of toxic materials create negative energy. Throw away or donate old newspapers and magazines. Don’t leave dirty clothes and dishes lying around for negative energy to stick to.
  • Clean up to live carefree and harmoniously. Whenever you clean your home, you are bringing positive energy into the space. This includes walls, windows, curtains, carpets and furniture. Organize things and put everything in its proper place.
  • Let the fresh air in to create joyful feelings everyday. Open your windows and let fresh air flow throughout the house. However, if you live in a highly-polluted area, find a way to get good ventilation without letting polluted air into the house.
  • Move furniture around. Rearranging furniture disrupts the flow of negative energy. Keep wide, open spaces between pieces of furniture to disperse negative energy.
  • Practice daily meditation. Set aside a space in your home where you can meditate every day. Meditation, when practiced well and regularly, radiates strong positive energy throughout the home and counters any negative energy present.
  • Liven up the place. Put plants to add life and color to your home. Some Feng Shui practices include putting bowls of sea salt in open spaces, and lighting incense or scented candles in the rooms.

Please, no reprints without permission.
Copyright, Joy Kids Universe, LLC
Follow us on Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest