One way to get your kids involved in doing household chores on a regular basis is to create a tag team cleaning system where you're all completing various tasks around the house at the same time. This allows you to accomplish everything you need to get done, teach your kids valuable life skills, and clean your house in a lot less time than it would normally take you. To get started:
- Decide what household chores need to get done on a weekly basis. For example, those jobs may include:
- Dusting
- Vacuuming
- Cleaning the bathrooms
- Cleaning the mirrors
- Wiping down kitchen counters
- Sweeping
- Mopping the kitchen floor
- Changing sheets on all the beds
- Consider what needs to get done before anyone can do those jobs. For example, in my house, I need to make sure all of the toys, books, and papers are put away before I can vacuum or dust. (Otherwise, I'd have to stop what I was doing and move stuff every few minutes.)
- Make a list of the order that things need to get done. Begin with the basic straightening and then, when it comes to actual cleaning, think from the top down. For example:
- Put away anything that has been left out in each room (toys, books, etc.)
- Dust
- Wipe down surfaces
- Clean mirrors
- Change sheets on all the beds
- Sweep
- Mop
- Vacuum
- Now, go back and assign each person in your family a set of household chores that correspond with the order in which things need to get done. I've created some samples on the next few pages of how this can work for a family of 2, 3, or 4 people.
