What are some cleaning skills your kids should learn?
Cleaning Skills Your Kids Should
Learn
Kids and a clean home don't always
seem to go together. But in reality, your children can learn some basic skills
that will help keep the house tidier. Here are some recommended chores that
kids should learn.
- 01 Doing Laundry
Kids as
young as 2 years old can begin to learn about sorting. In fact, young kids
often find that sorting items are a game. Older toddlers can learn to help put
away clothes. School-aged kids can learn to fold laundry and begin to learn
about loading and unloading the washer and dryer with supervision. Between the
ages of 8-10, most kids mature enough to have full responsibility of loading the
washing machine and dryer as well as cleaning the washing machine or cleaning
the dryer. If you begin teaching at a young age, by the time your child is
10-11, they will have learned the entire process of laundry from sorting it to
putting it away.
- 02 Washing Dishes
Washing
dishes seems like a never ending chore. Children who are trained properly can
be a big help at getting dishes clean. Whether you are teaching your children
to use a dishwasher or wash dishes by hand, the best way to start is with
scraping and rinsing. Even 5-6 year olds can be taught how to scrape and rinse
their plates. 7-8 year olds can help with drying and putting away dishes. By
age 9 kids are ready to learn how to wash different types of dishes or load a
dishwasher. Be sure to teach safety principles. I still remember my Dad showing
me how to set the knives aside instead of dumping them into hot soapy water
where they would be impossible to see.
- 03 Make a Bed
I know it
is a dying art, but learning how to make a bed is a valuable skill. It doesn't
mean your kids will always do it, but at least they'll know how. Start simply
by showing them how to make their own bed when they are toddlers. Progress to
letting them make a bed themselves. When my kids were little, they liked the
freedom to arrange their pillows and stuffed animals the way they liked. It was
an incentive for them to make their beds each morning. Parents can make it
easier on their kids by choosing less complicated bedding for their children.
Until my kids were school-aged, I never bothered with adding a top sheet to
their beds. Parents might consider eliminating extra sheets, blankets, or
pillows, especially if they are not used by the child.
- 04 Sweep a Floor
It seems
like a simple thing. All you have to do is drag a broom across a floor. But
effective sweeping is not always that simple to do and often takes some
practice. Give a kid a broom, and you are likely to see dirt flipping
everywhere except a pile. Even with all the new gadgets out there, learning to
use a broom is a great skill. By age 7-8 kids can begin to learn to sweep
floors. Younger kids are even able to hold a dustpan for a partner to sweep
into. Older can also learn to use other gadget sweepers in addition to
traditional brooms.
- 05 Mop a Floor
Learning
to mop a floor is a task best suited for older school-aged kids. By the ages of
9-10, most kids will be old enough to learn to mop without much supervision.
Teach kids how to prepare mop water, how to wring out a mop, when to rinse a
mop head, what to do with tough spots, how to rinse out a mop and bucket, and
how to store a mop. Be sure to give them instructions on how to mop different
floor types you may have in your home. I thought I was being quite helpful when
I sloshed water around on unsealed hardwood floors at the age of 9. It was as
my parents frantically dried the floor that I learned that different floors
require different mopping techniques.
- 06 Removing Clutter
One of the
most useful skills we can teach our children is one that can be difficult even
for adults. Teaching children to declutter from a younger age can actually
create a habit for them that they will carry forward in their lives. Let
reluctant kids watch you declutter your own stuff. Share your clutter questions
that you ask as you determine what to keep. Some kids may be motivated to
donate unused items to less fortunate people. Other kids may be more motivated to
sell clutter items in order to save up for something else they really want.
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