Bedroom Cleaning for Kids
An important life skill you can teach your child is how to take responsibility for her own space. According to "Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care," "As soon as a child is old enough to make a mess, they're old enough to learn to clean it up." The best way to encourage cleanliness in your child is to begin instituting simple rules when she is young.
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Benefits
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According to "Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care," If your child refuses to clean up his room it may be because he has learned that someone will eventually clean up after him. Often parents clean up after their children because it seems much easier to do the job themselves. If you frequently pick up after your child, you may be teaching him that cleaning up is not his responsibility. On the flip side, if you teach your child from a young age to pick up after himself, he will view cleanliness as his responsibility.
Expert Insight
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When disciplining children, Dr. Phil of DrPhil.com suggests "giving simple directions." Small children are only capable of following a few directions at once. An easy cleaning rule that can even be taught to children aged two or three is: Put away the toys or games that you are playing with before taking out a new toy. It is important to be consistent and firm with any rules that you set. "The fastest way to change behavior is to point out what you want your child to do, and then reinforce it the moment they do it," according to Dr. Borba, as quoted on DrPhil.com. Make cleaning up a positive experience for your child by remembering to praise her when she successfully picks up.
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Time Frame
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As your child grows, so should his list of bedroom cleaning responsibilities. Children aged three or four can learn how to pick up toys and feed pets. At age five or six, your child can be taught to put his clothes into a drawer and how to use a hand-held vacuum. Teenagers can be expected to change their bedsheets and to do their own laundry.
Considerations
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If you have an older child who struggles with keeping her room tidy, this may be because she has not yet developed the necessary cleaning skills to take care of her own space. Similarly, a very messy bedroom is often too big a cleaning project for even a teenager to tackle alone. You can help an overwhelmed child by walking her through the basic cleaning steps. Once you feel confident that she understands how to properly clean and organize, you can help then her to develop good habits by creating a weekly cleaning schedule and checklist for her to follow.
Effects
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Initially, it will take some work to teach your child basic cleaning skills and to discipline him to pick up after himself. The key to success is to be firm, consistent and clear when communicating to your child. If you follow the above simple cleaning guidelines you will eventually enjoy positive results. All your hard work will pay off when someday you discover that your child has successfully made his bed and tidied his room all by himself, with no prompting from you.
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References
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- Photo Credit bedroom image by ann triling from Fotolia.com
