Spring cleaning chores you can assign to your kids

Sydney Jezik
·3 min read
1
A family mops the floor.
A family mops the floor. | Business Wire via Associated Press

With schools letting out for the summer, the amount of time your kids will spend at home — and the amount of mess they will create — will vastly increase. Getting them involved with spring cleaning might bore them, but it will also prove educational and take care of that growing mess.

Here are some ways you can speed up spring cleaning by getting the kids involved.

Elementary school and younger

Younger children are better suited for simpler tasks that they can manage with ease, enthusiasm and hopefully not too much supervision. However, parents should always exercise caution when letting kids handle tasks that could potentially harm them, someone else or the house itself.

  • Cleaning the baseboards, doors and walls: Give your child a damp cloth or a gentle cleanser to wipe down these areas. This is a straightforward task targeted at areas not too high for your kids to reach. Plus, it will keep the house looking fresh and teach your child to pay attention to the details of the home.

  • Taking care of pets: Odds are your little ones love spending time with the family pet. Assigning them to feed, brush or supervise the puppy, cat or fish channels that love educationally while also helping the pet out.

  • Weeding the garden: Weeding is a manageable task that not only gets your kids outdoors, but also helps them understand the basics of gardening, plant care and, of course, the patience that comes with managing living things!

  • Watering plants: Similarly, help your child understand the time and patience necessary to nurture living things. Give your child a small watering can and explain how much water each needs.

Middle school and up

Kids in middle school and older can handle more complex tasks that contribute significantly to household cleanliness. Here are some chores that suit their age and capabilities.

  • Cleaning the windows: Equip them with a squeegee, glass cleaner and microfiber cloths. Not only is this a highly useful task, but it also might prove to be a pretty fun chore for a teen ... especially if the window is up high and you see fit to let them use a ladder to reach it.

  • Deep cleaning the dishwasher and oven: While not a very fun task, everyone should know how to clean a dishwasher and an oven before they move out of the home. This task includes removing and scrubbing racks, wiping down the interior and running a cleaning cycle. Kids in middle school and up should be able to handle the cleaning chemicals and strength necessary for these tasks.

  • Planting flowers: This task is more fun and more visibly rewarding. Assign your teen to plant and maintain the flower beds, at once beautifying your home and teaching your child about gardening and responsibility.

  • Sort and thrift their clothes: Encourage them to go through their wardrobe and decide what to keep, donate or sell. Not only does this declutter the home, but it goes a long way to teaching your child about organization and even saving money on clothes they won’t wear in the future. Plus, you can always go out and buy them new, better-fitting clothes to celebrate the end of the task!

  • Organize a garage sale: This is a hefty task requiring a teenager to sort items, price them, set them up for visitors and then handle transactions. This task comes with a host of valuable organizational and financial education.