6 Ways to Make Clean Up More Fun!

Playing and messes go hand in hand, but getting kids to clean up can be a struggle. When do you include kids in the picking up process? When do you just tidy yourself? I’ve found that teaching my kids to tidy while finding ways to make it fun goes a long way!

Tyler Moore, a father of three who runs the Instagram account @tidydad, agrees.

“From the time our girls were really little, we thought about developmentally-appropriate ways to involve them in what goes into managing a home,” said Moore, who is a New York City-based teacher and writer. For his family, this includes everything from daily tidying of toys before dinner to weekly family laundry folding sessions.

“With all of these household routines, you have to name what’s really important for you and what matters to your family,” Moore said. “And then think about, ‘How are we going to involve our kids in the process?’”

When it comes to cleaning, consider what times of day work well for your family. Also, think about what is a doable chore for your child based on their age, motivations, abilities, and your household needs.

As my kids have gotten older, we’ve expanded from simple tidying of toys to doing regular household chores such as emptying the dishwasher or vacuuming the floor. Making clean-up time a regular part of their visual schedule helps my seven-year-old and five-year-old embrace daily chores.

Taking care of our things and cleaning up is an important job, but it can still be fun! In an episode of “Pinkalicious & Peterrific,” the kids learn this when the cleaning fairy, Tidy Tim, comes to visit. Before they can play with friends, they have to clean their room. (After participating in some cleaning games, they realize they enjoy cleaning almost as much as playing!)

Your family can make clean-up time fun, too! Here are six games to try when cleaning up:

Pinkalicious and Peter are given dice from the cleaning fairy to make it into a game. To play, take turns rolling the dice to find out how many toys to pick up. Having a set number of items to focus on makes the mess feel more manageable. Plus, children can choose what they pick up each time they roll the dice, giving them a sense of decision-making.

Sometimes I help my kids clean up, and sometimes it’s better to let them do it all alone. Before I go, I spread a bit of “magic” by saying, “Abracadabra! When I close these doors, the magic will happen, and all the books will be on the shelf!” while sprinkling some imaginary fairy dust. Then when I come back to check in on them, I ask, “Did it work? Wow! Like magic!”

Motivate your kids by setting a timer for them to race against the clock. Moore suggests using the child’s age as the guideline for how long to clean. So, his eight-year-old gets eight minutes to dedicate to cleaning and his three-year-old gives it her all for three minutes.

My kids love to throw all the pillows and blankets on the floor for an epic game of “floor is lava.” Pinkalicious and Peter turned this fun game around to make it part of the clean-up. Challenge your kids to pick up without touching the floor while hopping across cushions until everything is back in the right place, including the cushions!

Crank some tunes! Everybody gets an extra energy boost when their favorite music kicks into gear. See how much they can put away during each song. Play the clean-up version of musical chairs. Tell your kids to clean up as much as they can when the music is on —and freeze whenever you pause the music.

When it’s time to clean up, sometimes kids resist because they aren’t ready to stop playing. So, keep using your imagination as you clean! When Moore’s daughters are still playing with dolls, but it’s time to clean up, he pretends the baby dolls made a big mess, and as the “babysitters,” they all need to help clean up after those messy babies!

While these games can help engage your kids when cleaning, it’s OK to acknowledge that sometimes, cleaning isn’t as fun as the other things they want to do. (Even grown-ups get tired of cleaning.)

Talk about why being a helper is important. Connect their cleaning efforts to the reason why they need to do it. For example, we need to put clothes away so we can find them in the morning, or we want to put the toys away so we have room on the couch to snuggle and read a book before bed.

For more ways to learn and grow through play, sign up for the PBS KIDS newsletter!