Make Spring Cleaning fun with these easy motivating tips for the whole family!



5 Tricks to Make Spring Cleaning Fun
Yes, you read that right. We've got tips to get the whole family motivated to join in on the seasonal cleaning spree.

By: Kayla Kitts 

Did you know that 54 percent of Americans are completely and utterly overwhelmed by the amount of clutter in their lives? I totally believe it. That's why we're so enamored by Pinterest-inspired cleaning hacks and new ways to make this daunting task seem more...well, not so daunting. And if you've ever had to wrangle your S.O. or family into seasonal cleaning then you know how much of a firestorm that can be.



The experts over at VarageSale, the virtual garage sale for your phone, have shared some tips on how to motivate your family to join your spring cleaning decluttering mission this year (without using food as bribery). Take a look!

Turn Clutter Into a Vacay Fund

Promise the family a fun trip funded only by the money made from selling your items online. The extravagance of their trip will be determined by how much they sell.

Show the Kids What Their Clutter is Worth

Ask your children to pick five to 10 toys in their room or play area that they’ve outgrown to sell. Once sold, show them the money they’ve made, and divide the loot into streams of spending and saving.

Do a Decluttering Scavenger Hunt

Give each family member a mission to find items in their room within a list of categories (i.e. one pair of shoes, two shirts, three books, etc). The family member to finish first is the winner.

Let's Make a Deal: Clutter-Free Edition 

If you buy your child something new, s/he has to find two to five items to part with in exchange. They might start with smaller items, like an old coloring book or just one toy car, and that’s okay. Once the game is established, push them to part with bigger items.

Take the Cake

Start a friendly competition between family members (you can make teams for the little ones) where all sales from their sales go into a communal pot. Whichever team sells the most takes the pot for that contest! Winners get to choose a fun family activity using money from the pot, like going to the movies or getting dinner at their favorite restaurant. The pot starts over the next day or the next time you want to tackle more spring cleaning so kids stay motivated to win.

Dance the Clutter Away

Be realistic and make time for a dance party. Removing the dust and cobwebs of winter can be an overwhelming task. Tackle the job in digestible blocks of time by creating a playlist of four to five of your favorite high-energy songs. Add a sixth song at the end that will inspire you to enjoy a mini dance party break. (Taylor Swift, FTW!)

Location: Raleigh, NC, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Does vacuuming count as carpet cleaning?

Image
Vacuuming Does NOT Count As Carpet Cleaning... Seriously. We like to think we can keep our carpets clean on our own, thank you very much. We just need to vacuum every month or so and blot when there's a stain... right? Wrong. Most carpet cleaning companies recommend you to professionally clean your carpet every 12 to 24 months. Vacuuming is just not enough. Neither is cleaning carpets yourself. Hiring a professional carpet cleaner is the best way to get your carpet in a healthier condition. Indoor air quality can be eight to ten times worse than outdoor air quality, if you don't clean your flooring, clean your drapes and let air inside regularly. When millions of Americans suffer from indoor allergies , air quality is a huge issue. To keep the air in your home clean, it's important to follow a few carpet-cleaning rules. Namely: Call professionals to clean your carpet, more often than you think you should. We would recommend cleaning the ...
Read more

Picking the Perfect Area Rug

Image
Kathy McCleary gets advice from decorating experts on choosing the perfect area rug to complement your home. By: Kathy McCleary When we moved a few months ago from our fairly small, thoroughly carpeted house to our new home, we were thrilled with the lovely old oak floors. We had the floors cleaned and polished before we moved in, and have lived with the rich, warm glow of the bare wood ever since. But now it's starting to get cold, we're all inside more and the kids (and the cats) are skidding crazily through the hallways when they run in the house. Also, it bothers me that my voice echoes even in the relatively small space of my office. It's definitely time to buy some area rugs. I've never purchased a rug in my life and have the feeling that it's like buying a car: The less you know the more you pay. I called three different experts for advice on where to begin. While they disagreed on just a few points (most notably whether or not the rug should...
Read more

Stop Using Harsh Chemicals Cleaning Products in Your Home

Image
Using Household Cleaning Products Can Be as Bad as Smoking a Pack a Day   By Hallie Detrick A 20-year longitudinal study conducted by scientists at the University of Bergen in Norway has found that using cleaning products can be as harmful as smoking 20 cigarettes a day. The European Community Respiratory Health Survey aimed to find out more about the long-term effects of using cleaning products. The study looked at lung function in 6,230 participants in 22 locations around the world. Participants answered questions about how often they used cleaning products and had their lung function measured. The study found that women responsible for cleaning at home or professionally suffered a more rapid decline than women who were not responsible for cleaning. The same trend was not observed in men, however. The authors did not offer a reason for this gender difference, though there were fewer men than women in the study and a smaller percentage of those men ...
Read more