 Loving Your Children's Rooms - The Clean Room Challenge
There is nothing like a pile of homework, a couple science fair projects, a change of seasons, and two very hairy dogs to completely make a mess of a child's bedroom. Add some toys, some library books, laundry with legs, a bad cold (or was it the flu, I can never tell), and a wayward lunchbox (how did that get there?) and you have the makings of one very chaotic, un-peaceful, icky room. Poor kid, how is he or she supposed to sleep in there?
Introducing - drum roll please - our very first - Children's Clean Room Challenge! I have to thank my kids for being the testers for this challenge. They were the best and didn't grumble too much LOL (plus they love how their rooms turned out!).
Here's how it works...
- Print out the "Children's Clean Room Challenge" for each child. You can choose either the PDF File or the GIF File. Cut up each of the squares.
- Pop over the corner store and pick up some 5 and dime candy and some other rarely purchased treats. These are not "bribes" to clean up a room, they are "rewards" - a huge difference! I bought 12 five cent candies, one can of soda (because they will get thirsty), one small bag of chips, and one frozen ice treat (for when the room was done).
- Let your kids choose some great music.
- Open the windows in their bedroom to let in some fresh air (unless of course it is too cold outside).
- Now get ready for some spring fling fun with the kids. Remember, they are doing most of the work, but you need to be available to help them out with some of the heavier stuff, the sorting stuff, and the cleaning supply stuff.
- Start with the first card (#1). Once your child has finished a task, they get a reward (one candy, etc.). I never told my kids that there were candies until the first task was done - you should have seen them run to finish the next task LOL.
- By about task 7 or 8, change the reward from a candy to a fresh drink. Your kids will be getting thirsty.
- When all the tasks are done - please celebrate with your children. They have done a wonderful job. Treat them to some family fun - a trip to the park, a game of basketball at the school, a bike ride, whatever - it is up to you and your kids.
A couple more things to keep in mind...
- The whole point of this challenge is to help your children discover a room that they can rest, relax, and sleep in as well as dance, play, and study in. Let your children discover new space in their rooms. If they decide that certain clothes, toys, stuffed animals (YIKES! those are tough to get rid of), and other things don't belong in their rooms anymore, then let your children get rid of them. Donate them, garage sale them, or toss them if they are truly trash. Please don't teach your children to keep things they don't want. Here's an idea - if you (or your child) isn't certain they want to "permanently" get rid of something, then pack it away in a box, out of there room, for a few months. Then they can decide.
- While my kids were tackling their bedrooms, I printed off an extra page and tackled our master bedroom. Although not as cluttered as the children's room, it also needed a "deep clean" - it is amazing where those dust bunnies mate! The kids thought it was neat that we were "playing" this game all at the same time. Even my oldest got in the action. She gave a few hints on what I needed to change on the "clean room challenge" to make it work better for you and your family.
- Last, but not least, please remember, that all 15 tasks DO NOT have to be done in one sitting. It will depend on the age and enthusiasm of your kids. If your kids are really little, swap tasks with them so that they do the easier ones (like gather dirty laundry, pull stuff out from under the bed, etc) and you do the harder ones. Each task is designed so that they can stand alone. By completely just one task, the bedroom is already starting to look better.
- Enjoy! Make this fun.
Take care of you,
Cindy
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