20 Fun & Engaging Cleaning Games For Girls And Boys
Smart tricks for parents to get their children off their screen and on the chores.
Specialty: Psychiatrist, motivational speaker, writerExperience: 15 yearsDr. Maymunah Yusuf Kadiri, popularly referred to as ‘The Celebrity Shrink,’ is an award-winning neuro-psychiatrist and mental health advocate with over 15 years experience.She is the medical director and psychiatrist-in-chief at Pinnacle Medical Services.
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Cleaning games for girls and boys are an interesting way to teach your child how to clean the house. House cleaning can be a tough task after a busy day at work. Sometimes, your children may leave the house looking like a tornado just hit it, and you cannot escape from an exhausting cleaning session. Requesting help from children or asking them to keep things neatly may sound impossible. However, engaging them in cleaning games may do the trick.
Explain the importance of keeping the house clean and taking responsibility for your actions to your children. Children always love to play; hence, introducing them to some cleaning games may encourage them to approach boring chores positively. For example, a competition on keeping toys on the shelves or discarding waste into the trash may be helpful.
Read on for more ideas on cleaning games for children to get them to help around the house.
1. Clean-up race
Ready, set, go! Set a timer and see how much stuff your children can pick up before the timer goes off. The best part of this cleaning game for kids is that you can set the time according to your convenience. If you have only one child, you can take part in the race as well. Just remember to pick up the bigger toys in the beginning to reduce the chances of your children hurting themselves.
2. Count the toys
If your child is learning to count, this game is perfect. Use the clean-up activity to teach them numbers. Choose a number, say five, and tell your child to pick up those many toys and put them away. Ask them to say each number out loud when picking up the toys. This room cleaning game for kids guarantees that your room becomes tidy in no time.
3. Roll the dice
Grab a sheet of paper and write down chore names corresponding to each number of the dice. Your children can roll the dice and find out what chore they will do for the day. You can use 1–6 or 1–12 numbers to divide the chores among your children. You can also purchase a chore dice online if you are unable to decide the chores to distribute among your children.
4. Escape room cleaning
Give each member of the house a separate room to clean. Set a timer according to the difficulty level of each room. Your family races against the clock to get their room cleaned perfectly. Keep a separate list of fun “punishments” if the task is not completed within the assigned time. This cleaning game for kids is great fun and results in laughter and clean rooms. You just need to ensure the children do not stuff toys behind curtains haphazardly.
5. Musical tasks
Musical chairs, but with rooms! Assign each member of the family a room, to begin with, and play music. When the music turns off, each person goes into the next room to clear up from where the previous member left off. Your children will love this cleaning game for kids because all kids love music, don’t they?
6. Minute to Win It
Based on the popular show, this house cleaning game for kids involves getting your family together to clean up in a fun way within a minute. Make a list of all your household chores and divide it into two lists, each having an equal number of desirable and undesirable chores. Next, divide your family into two teams. Set the timer for a minute and get going! The team that finishes the maximum chores within a minute is the winner. You can cross your legs, lean back in your favorite chair, and keep score.
7. The balloon game
Which kid doesn’t love balloons? Get some balloons, inflate them, and write different cleaning chores on them with a marker. Ask your children to select a balloon. They have to complete the chore written on the balloon. Once it is done, they can burst it.
8. Pile in a box
This cleaning game for kids is especially useful when your child is younger and more curious. Place a box in the room, and ask your child to put all their toys and clothes lying around into the box. Younger children and toddlers love such games, and you can even time it for more fun.
9. Soap hockey
Want to wash the floor? Give each of your children a mop and place a bar of soap on the floor. Wet the floor with a bucket of soapy water and get going! Each child has to get the soap into the opponent team’s “goal.” These goals can be two corners of a room. The team that scores the maximum goals within a set time is the winner. Meanwhile, the floor gets cleaned well! It works like magic, trust us.
10. Guess the secret item
If you have more than one child, this game is the best way to get the house cleaned in a jiffy. All you have to do is select a “secret” item for each child. Ask your children to clean up and keep track of who picks what. The child who picks and puts away the “secret” toy is the winner. If you have only one child, you can ask them to guess what the “secret” item is. You can set a time limit and make it more enjoyable.
11. Play pretend
Children’s imagination knows no bounds. You can dress them up in the costumes of their favorite characters and make them enact those characters while cleaning the room. Watch the room magically get cleaned while they act like dinosaurs or any other jungle animals.
12. Color match
This is a great game for toddlers to learn colors. Fun fact: you can use this cleaning game for kids to get a breather as well! Name a color, and ask your child to pick up all items of that color. Once that is done, name the next color. Play on until the clutter is cleared.
13. The throwing game
This cleaning game for kids is fun and can help improve your children’s gross motor skills. All you need is some tape or chalk and baskets or drawers to put the toys. Line up the baskets on one end of the room. At the other end, draw a line with colored chalk or stick a tape. This is the line behind which your children must stand. Each child should pick up a toy, stand behind the line, and throw the toy into the baskets across the room. Remember to set up a safe landing for toys that miss the basket to avoid breaking them. The child who throws the most number of toys into the baskets within a set time is the winner.
14. Find the chocolate
This game is similar to the “guess the secret item” game, the only difference being that the secret item is replaced with chocolates. As children love chocolates, you will find them more than willing to finish the task. You have to hide small chocolate bars in their room. The child who cleans their room will be able to find the chocolate and eat it. This activity is for slightly older children, and you can do it only a couple of times a month. When you do, be ready to be dazzled by a magazine-worthy clean room!
15. Connect four: The family cleaning game
All members of the family can participate in this cleaning game. You have to write different chores on sticky notes and keep a board ready. Each member picks a note, finishes the task, and sticks the note on the board. The first member to finish four tasks is the winner. The winner gets to decide what to eat for dinner on the weekend.
16. Make an advertisement
There are innumerable cleaning ads on TV. You and your children have to act as though you are shooting for an ad while cleaning. You can shoot different videos for cleaning products or show how cleaning is done at your place. Since you are the “director,” you can select any theme and make the game fun.
17. Dress up and clean
This game is a lot of fun for younger children because they all love dressing up. Make your child a garbage collector, a tea plantation worker, or even a superhero. They could be the good fairy who zaps out all the “garbage” with the wave of a wand. Your child’s imagination is the limit for this game. The house gets cleaned, and your child enjoys the whole process.
18. Cleaning relay race
If you have more than one child, this game is great fun. All you have to do is divide the family members into two teams. Set a timer for three minutes and assign a chore for each team. The first player starts the chore and completes as much as they can before the timer goes off. Then they go to the next player and give them a high five. The next player resumes the chore and completes as much as they can in the next three minutes. You can decide the winner as per your chosen parameter — the fastest team to complete the chore, most efficient work done, etc.
19. Chore popsicle game
Kids love popsicles, don’t they? All you have to do is get some popsicle sticks, write the chores on them, and place them in a jar. Ask each child to close their eyes and pick a popsicle stick from the jar. They need to finish the chore that is written on their stick. It is a very simple and ingenious way to get your children to do chores. You could reward them with a real popsicle once it is done.
20. The cleaning robot
Image: Shutterstock
This is a game that requires your involvement as well. Talk in a robot voice and say things like, “I am going to put this teddy in this box. Beep Beep.” Your child will fall over laughing and then start imitating you. Next, both of you end up cleaning the home together. Trust us; it’sfun.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How does cleaning help a child’s development?
Participating in age-appropriate cleaning activities, such as folding clothes and cleaning dishes, can help a child’s motor development. Following rules, such as making bed after waking up and putting things back in their original place, makes children organized and managed. Above all, appreciation from parents after doing an activity boosts their self-esteem and confidence (1).
2. How do you make cleaning less boring?
Daily cleaning tasks can become monotonous and boring for children. So, turn them into exciting tasks, such as a cleaning relay. Alternatively, you can play music and dance with your children to enjoy cleaning. Planning cleaning competitions and assigning a task your child wants to do that day are a few more ways to detach boredom from cleaning.
Most children perceive doing chores and cleaning up the mess as boring. But, it is a lesson and a life skill that they need to learn. Cleaning games for girls and boys can come to the rescue when you want them to participate in the chores actively. Counting the toys, cleaning up race, guessing the secret item, etc., are some fun games that will make cleaning happen in no time and without any complaints.
Key Pointers
- Cleaning games such as clean-up races or toy counting are the most effective ways to motivate your kids to do chores without throwing a tantrum.
- Make it competitive by assigning each child a room to clean within a specific time and imposing a penalty on the loser.
- Sneakily get them to mop the floor by introducing “soap hockey.” The goal is to get the soap inside the opponent’s room.
- Guess the secret item, dress up and clean, and many more fun games to try as you scroll down.
References
- 5 Ways Cleaning Can Help Your Child’s Development.
https://pathways.org/spring-cleaning/
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Read full bio of Dr. Maymunah Yusuf Kadiri
