Is your child's room a mess?
When you send your child to clean their room, do they get distracted and start playing instead of cleaning?
This is normal.
Children are often overwhelmed because they simply do not know where to begin. When they look at a messy room, it can be easier to get distracted and play than to figure out how to tackle the mess.
Cleaning a room is actually a complex task. Many adults struggle with it too, because they were never habit-trained or taught how to systematically clean a bedroom.
The organizational area of the brain is one of the last areas to develop, and it continues to develop throughout childhood. Children need to be taught patterns of organization through action. They learn by doing it with you, not just by being told what to do.
This is called patterning or habit training.
It takes time.
So cheerfully do it with them.
One of the best ways to teach a child to clean their room is to work alongside them. Systematically, work through the same steps, in the same order, on a regular basis until they know the pattern and can eventually do it automatically as a habit.
Cleaning a room together can do much more than create a clean bedroom. It can build trust, improve relationships, pass on values, develop a work ethic, and teach your child practical life skills.
Here is an easy-to-follow pattern for cleaning a bedroom.
10 Easy Steps to Clean a Bedroom
This should be done at least once a week. Make it fun! You might say, "Let's be the protector of your things!"
1. Make the bed.
This can actually be several steps on its own.
Clear everything off the fitted sheet. Put the flat sheet in place and tuck it in. Place the blanket or bedspread on the bed. Add the pillows..
Fold pajamas and place them under the pillow.
2. Pick up all the clothes.
Put clean clothes away. Fold them and place them in their drawers, or hang them in the closet on hangers.
Put dirty clothes in the hamper to be laundered.
3. Put away all projects.
Put projects in their storage containers and place the containers on the shelf when they are not being used.
Having a designated place for projects makes it much easier for children to put them away and find them again later.
4. Pick up all the books.
Place books on the shelves with the bindings facing out and the books standing upright so the titles can be seen and easily read.
5. Pick up all the toys.
Put toys where they belong.
If something belongs in another room, make a pile to take with you after everything else in the bedroom has been picked up.
If toys have their own box or container, put them back in their container.
6. Pick up all the trash.
Place all trash in the trash basket.
When the basket is full, take the trash out and empty it into the garbage can outside.
7. Vacuum the floor.
Vacuum the floor and along the edges of the room.
8. Dust.
Dust shelves, the lights, dresser, baseboards and blinds.
This is a good time to teach your child to notice the places that are easy to overlook.
9. Clean mirrors and windows.
Clean the mirrors and windows.
Depending on your child's age, you may do this together or take responsibility for the cleaning solution while your child does the wiping.
10. Wipe fingerprints off the walls.
Look around the room for fingerprints and marks on the walls and wipe them clean.
It is amazing how much better a room can look when those little things are taken care of.
The Big 5: Daily Bedroom Care
The weekly cleaning routine is much easier when your child has five simple daily habits.
Teach your child to:
1. Make their bed as soon as they get up. If you live in a damp climate, let the bedding air until after breakfast.
2. Put clean laundry away neatly as soon as they receive it.
3. Put dirty laundry in the hamper as soon as they take it off.
4. Put trash in the trash can.
5. Put projects, books, and toys away before moving on to another task or going to play.
These five good habits will help keep their room neat during the week and will lessen the work on cleaning day.
Teach the Pattern, Not Just the Task
Your goal is not simply to get a clean room.
Your goal is to teach your child how to keep a room clean.
At first, you may need to do the work together. You may need to remind your child what comes next. You may even need to demonstrate the same steps over and over.
That is okay.
You are building a pattern.
Eventually, the pattern becomes a habit, and the habit becomes something your child can do without you standing over them.
That is the real work of teaching children life skills.
And remember, you do not have to make this a battle. Put on some music, work together, talk, laugh, and teach.
You are not just cleaning a bedroom.
You are teaching your child to care for their things, their space, and the work they have been given to do.
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