How to Teach Children to Keep Their Room Neat

Work with children to teach organizational and cleaning skills.

Keeping bedrooms clean is a classic argument between parents and children, right up there with eating vegetables or completing homework on time. A child's bedroom is a place where he can feel in control, whether playing, studying or hanging out with friends. However, his room also comes with a responsibility. Teaching your children how to keep their bedrooms neat, organized and clean is a skill that will benefit your house and provide your children with lifelong skills.

Instructions

1. Talk with your child. Don't wait for a stressful conflict. When you notice that her room is starting to get messy, approach your child calmly. Explain why it's important for your child to keep her room clean. For instance, explain that she'll be able to find her belongings more easily.

2. Demonstrate. Cleaning is a learned skill, and your child may not understand exactly what you expect. Include your child during your typical housecleaning routine, letting him help and observe as you tidy up the living room, kitchen or your own bedroom. Giving him concrete examples helps avoid frustration later.

3. Observe. After your child has helped you clean, have her clean her bedroom as you observe. Note her quirks and habits and show her better ways of completing tasks. For instance, if she shoves clothes into drawers without folding or sorting, take a moment to show her how to organize and quickly, neatly fold clothes.

4. Write a checklist. Sit down with your child to create a checklist, dividing up the tasks in a way that makes sense for both you and your child or children. For instance, start with making the bed, then move to folding and putting away clothes, then putting toys away and finally vacuuming the floors.

5. Assign teamwork. For a shared bedroom with twice the belongings, cleaning becomes even more important. Divide up tasks in a concrete, balanced way to avoid too many arguments or shirking duties. For instance, place one child in charge of tidying up clothes and toys every day and the other child in charge of cleaning windows, polishing furniture and sweeping the floor.

6. Reward good behavior. Congratulate your child when she's mastered the art of a clean room. After intensive cleaning or several months of a consistently clean room, however, offer a small reward. Instead of new toys to add extra clutter, spend a day at an amusement park, visit the beach or go out for ice cream.

Tips & Warnings

• When creating a checklist, create a draft and then test it for a few months, making adjustments as needed. For instance, gradually create several different checklists, one for weekly tidying, one for monthly cleaning and one for major scrubbing and reorganizing that happens every several months.

• In some cases, your children may struggle to clean their bedrooms because of too many belongings or badly organized space. If your children have too many items and not enough space, purchase shelving or storage bins and get creative in rearranging bedroom space. Donate outgrown clothes and unused toys to charity.

References

• Family Education: Getting Kids to Clean Their Rooms
• Bohemian Revolution: 11 Tips - Teaching Kids to Clean Their Rooms