You know these moments when you go to your kid’s room and find it so perfectly ordered, because your kid just loves keeping it clean…and then the alarm goes off and you wake up.
Facing reality, you have to admit that your kid’s room is actually a place you wouldn’t even want to get nearby.
After trying numerous tactics in teaching your child to order their toys, or cleaning up yourself, you’ve come to the conclusion that all efforts are pointless. You just have to accept that the room would look like a post-apocalyptic wasteland for the years to come.
At least that is what you believed so far.
How to Teach Your Kids to Keep Their Room Clean
No matter what anyone tells you, there are certain ways that truly work in teaching your child to value organization and cleanliness. It’s a matter of using the correct approach and implementing certain proven techniques.
Not all children enjoy the artistic chaos of having everything everywhere at all times. Some actually want to clean up, but lack the skills.
Teaching your children manners and skills does not happen overnight, so brace yourself with high dosage of patience and think about the long term benefits of the mission.
Don’t Order – Motivate Them
Just think how you feel when you clean – it’s probably not your favourite way to spend your time. So why expect your kids to look forward to it?
All children require momentary satisfaction and they need to be rewarded in order to do something. You need to use that to your advantage and create a reward system for when you want your kids to clean their room.
Finding creative ways to motivate your child to do the job is a lot harder than simply ordering and threatening them, but it is the only right way to create good habits.
Praise Them
Rewarding your children does not only mean giving them a physical reward. Actually giving them praise makes them feel more confident and is beneficial for their self-esteem in the long run.
You could go above and beyond and reward them with visual signs of praise like stickers or stamps. That stimulates their desire to collect even more rewards and creates long term habits.
Start Small
Looking at the complete mess of the room might seriously discourage your kids. Make a list of small tasks that are easy to accomplish and would make him feel satisfied from having achieved something.
A good approach is to start helping in the beginning to set a model for your child to look up to. This will also make it value and enjoy the process as it is something you are doing together.
Set a Time
A common mistake some parents make is to interrupt the child while it’s playing or watching cartoons, because they’ve just discovered the mess it has left behind. That approach is detrimental in the long run, because the child stars having negative associations for cleaning.
Instead of saying “Go clean your room now!” while your child is happily playing, ask it to clean in a few minutes, or an hour, or any time frame that is appropriate for the moment.
