Play the Cleaning Game

Sweep Your Child off the Couch

By Laura Cone

Household chores are piling up and you wish you could get your child to hold a duster, but the Xbox controller seems glued to his hands. From a dash to the trash to making puppet dusters, creative cleaning games can motivate children to get off the couch and contribute to domestic duties.

Roxanne Shust-Santone of Bensalem, Pa., the president of the Moms Offering Moms Support club of Bensalem, says she always gives her son Nicholas, 3, a high-five after he puts the wet clothes into the dryer. "We usually clean up around bedtime," she says. "He loves milk. When he knows that milk is coming he cleans up fast. We make a game of it."

Shust-Santone says her son mimics her heavy-duty jobs such as lawn mowing and vacuum cleaning by scooting around his play lawn mower and vacuum cleaner. "He has a vacuum cleaner that looks just like mine," she says. "He will clean up. We sing the 'clean up' song: Clean up. Clean up. Everybody, everywhere. Clean up. Clean up. Everybody, do your share. He sings along."

She teaches her son to put his toys in containers. His cars go in one container and his blocks in another. "We do a little race to put away toys," Shust-Santone says. "I say, 'Let's see if we get it done before I count to 20.'"

Patricia Hill of Brandon, Fla., the owner of THE MAIDS Home Services franchise for Hillsborough County, recommends offering children prizes or a special treat for winning games related to cleaning. She suggests the following cleaning games to combat a messy house:

Want to see more?

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• Helping Hands: Chores for Little Helpers
• A Job Well Done! The Art of Delegating Chores to Your Children
• Talk about it!