Homemaking Tip o' the Day: Instructions for kids on how to clean a family or living room

Unexpectedly, it seems as though my posts about kids' chores are popular with many readers....so here goes another one.

My kids have lots of chores. In turn, I have often found myself nagging them to get it done and pointing out everything they missed. This became frustrating to both them and me, so recently I developed a plan that would benefit all of us. I wrote a very specific step-by-step, how-to clean list for every room. Picture prompts (such as the ones in this post) help small children, and serve as visual reminders to older children. When they feel like they are finished with a specific chore, they come tell me, I ask them if they have reviewed the list, then I check their work. This has cut WAY down on the nagging and helps them to feel less overwhelmed by the tasks at hand. Here's my checklist of how to thoroughly clean a living or family room. This is one of our Saturday chores. (You may have to alter this list depending on the age of your children)

Step 1: Pick up everything off the floor and carpet and put it in its home. (That means we moms have to teach kids where every object's home is!)

Step 2: Check coffee table, sofa table, end tables, TV console and piano for any objects that need to be put in their proper homes. Put them in their proper homes.


Step 3: Dust all furniture and objects. (It helps to declutter before assigning this chore to children so as not to overwhelm them.) Start from the top and work your way down.

Step 4: If there are spills on any hard furnishings, such as the coffee table, wipe these up with a damp rag.

Step 5: Sweep floor area, including corners and under furniture.

(I have no idea why that broom was so huge.)

Step 6: Vacuum carpet area. When you are finished with the main areas, use the tube attachments to get the corners, under the couches, coffee table, TV console, end tables and sofa table.

Step 7: Mop the floor.

Step 8: Stand in the entrance of the room and look around to make sure you didn't miss anything. Admire your work (so you can stand tall like this man) and come tell me you're finished!

THANK YOU!!