Knowing how to clean your room for kids isn’t as easy as it sounds because kids are changing from the moment they’re born. It may not seem like it, but they look to you for guidance and protection. In addition to maintaining a clean, safe environment, you also have to teach them how to do it for themselves. MaidThis understands! We have solutions for you, from how to clean toys to organizing belongings to understanding teenage independence. Our kids’ room cleaning checklist will get the job done faster.
Gather Your Cleaning Supplies
Staying organized is the secret. It boosts your speed and efficiency. Make sure the room has a place for everything: bins, boxes, baskets, crates, drawers, shelves, and underbed storage containers. Start by gathering your supplies:
- Clean trash can to place right outside the door
- Basket for dirty laundry, bedding, and stuffed toys
- Box for items to remove from the room and sort later
- Microfiber duster with an extension pole
- Microfiber cloths
- Non-toxic all-purpose cleaner
- White vinegar mixed with an equal amount of water for glass, stainless steel, and wood
- Hydrogen peroxide for killing germs on knobs and handles
- Rubbing alcohol for cleaning and disinfecting surfaces of electronic devices
- A broom, dustpan, wet mop, and vacuum cleaner
- Two buckets to wash and rinse the floor
Kids’ Room Cleaning Checklist
Safety First
Clear trip hazards on the floor so you won’t slip or fall. If you want, temporarily sweep everything to the side to create a safe pathway. Open the window to let fresh air in and stale air out. Wear a mask so you don’t breathe in dust.
Throw Away Trash
Getting rid of garbage makes the room safer because you’re not spreading germs. It also makes the room appear cleaner immediately. Put old food, wrappers, broken plastic, string, and anything unusable into the trash container outside the room. Ask about papers before discarding them.
Here’s Why to Make the Bed Next
The room looks nicer with an inviting bed and gives you a temporary work surface. Changing the sheets and pillowcases weekly will help prevent allergy and skin problems. Fluff pillows, straighten the spread, and arrange any stuffed toys.
Control the Chaos
Put all the clothes on the bed. Hang up fresh-smelling clothing to be worn again, and place dirty clothes in the laundry basket. So you don’t have to keep bending over, put scattered items from the floor onto the bed. Any toys that are due for a weekly washing should go into the laundry basket.
Organize Toys, Books, and Games
Put toys and games where they belong. Replace books onto their shelves, wiping them over if necessary. Don’t know where to put something? Create a place for it.
Dust, Wipe, and Sweep
Starting high and working downward, dust ceiling corners, walls, vents, hangings, windows and blinds, fixtures, and furniture. Wipe down desks, dressers, and shelves. Shake, throw rugs outdoors, vacuum upholstery and carpeting after checking for small objects such as coins, then sweep and mop the floor.
How to Deal with Difficult Discoveries
Don’t express horror or anger when you discover unpleasant things. Your job is to keep communication open! Room cleaning is a time to focus on safety and health, and you want to make it a positive experience instead of opening a can of worms. Keep the goal in mind because respecting kids’ property and privacy will teach them to respect others.
How to Get Kids to Clean Their Room
Integrate room cleaning into kids’ daily self-care routines starting young. Also, when you’re demonstrating how to clean your room for kids, do it FAST! It’s proof that the job is easy, quick, and NOT torture or punishment. Make it look fun so they’ll want to join in.
How Children See the World
Their brains are programmed to explore, so kids will get into nooks and crannies you wouldn’t think of — they respond well to structure because a predictable schedule provides a sense of security.
How Children See the World
You know their minds are active, but their understanding of time and the consequences of actions is still developing. Use simple words. Provide specific one-step or two-step directions such as “Let’s clear your floor” or “Trash time!” instead of “Clean the room.” Demonstrate how to do tasks. Emphasize that they deserve to live in a comfortable personal space and that daily self-care feels good.
Very important: remind them that their friends will love hanging out in a cool room.
Teach Instead of Command
You’re their teacher, not their boss. Ask their thoughts about what needs to be done. Provide proof of their successes by using incentives such as a chore check-off sheet or stickers for the wall calendar. Ask for help when you’re cleaning, and offer help when they’re cleaning.
Share the Reward Together
When a room-cleaning job is completed as a team effort, share the reward together: Watch a video, eat something good, play a game, or go on a special outing.
Make It Personal
Kids will feel special when their ideas are included. Encourage them to make decisions about their room’s arrangement and decor. Give them their own cleaning supply bucket to use. You want kids to clean? Let them go for it! The goal is their enthusiasm in doing it, not perfection.
Turn Cleaning into a Game
Make cleaning fun! Experienced dog trainers know a lot about motivation. When a trainer always rewards a dog with food, that’s what the dog expects. On the other hand, when dogs get treats occasionally but loving praise or a play session every time, they’re motivated to have fun. Performance becomes a willing choice instead of a battle of wills.
- Play energetic music.
- Play basketball with an adjustable hoop.
- Race the clock by setting a timer.
- Foot-mop by wearing old thick socks and skating around the room.
- Create teams who choose their team colors and funny names.
- Offer rewards such as a point system for “Special Projects.”
- People love hidden treasures, so hide special things for the kids to find while cleaning.
- Take short health breaks like dancing, deep breathing, or doing stretches together.
- Let kids choose preferred jobs like putting shoes in the closet, folding clean laundry, or cleaning toys.
How to Clean Toys
Here’s how to sanitize toys, tools, and devices:
- Plush or stuffed toys: Read labels for special directions, then launder.
- Hard plastic or metal toys and tools: Let soak several minutes in hot water with dish soap and a cup or two of vinegar. Scrub with a soft brush, then rinse and dry.
- Wooden toys and tools: Clean with a mixture of half vinegar and half water. Let set about 15 minutes, then wipe off with water.
- Electronics: Wipe off grime with a microfiber cloth dampened with alcohol and allow to dry.
Daily Tips to Keep Kids’ Room Clean
Basic essentials that make a big difference:
- Make it routine to straighten the bed as part of getting dressed.
- Do (and teach them to do) “A snip with every trip”: Complete a tiny chore each time you go from one room to another. Examples include picking up a bit of trash, putting something away, or wiping a surface.
- Get in the habit of putting things away after using them and cleaning spills right away.
- Disinfect frequently touched areas daily including knobs, handles, game controls, remotes, and keyboards.
- Clear up trash daily, especially foody trash that attracts insects.
- The nose knows. Sniff around the room to make sure it smells good. Open the window daily for fresh air.
Reward Yourself
Reward yourself so you’ll feel more motivated to do this again. Not that you’re a dog, but you deserve treats, loving praise, and play sessions, too!
How We Can Help You
Even the most efficient, organized caregivers can get overwhelmed sometimes and need a break. MaidThis is a professional cleaning company created by a young businessman who loved his parents. Our job is to lighten your load when you need it most. We offer a variety of cleaning options, ranging from single visits to regularly scheduled appointments, deep cleaning, and *kids’ room cleaning* just the way you want it. Your cleaners are trusted experts in the industry who have been background-checked and bonded.
Got questions? Need to reward yourself? We’re here for you!
How We Can Help You Make Money
What’s more, if you’re a tech-savvy entrepreneur or know someone who is, MaidThis is interested in you joining our team. A nationwide franchise in a growing industry, MaidThis provides essential cleaning services to meet residential and vacation home rental needs. You’ll work remotely from home, make your own hours, and get your life back. Click below to check out our website.
