After three rounds, the winner gets to choose what the two lowest scorers clean for 10 minutes. The shoe farthest away is 1 point, next closest 2 points, and so on. Set up a stake, and have each person toss a horseshoe three times. Horseshoes I'll be honest: This is inspired by a college drinking game that I consistently lost (but your kids don't need to know that). Those 10 little minutes fly when everyone's working together. Dirty pots and pans are 20 points, serving plates 10 points, plates 5 points, silverware 2 points. The kids clear the table, and whoever gets the winning item-and finishes clearing the table-gets a reward.ĭishwasher Marathon Your kid needs to rack up 100 points to earn something she enjoys. Voilà: Car clean, maintenance check complete.Ĭlear the Table With a dryerase marker, write "Winner!" on the bottom of one cup or plate. Provide a handheld vacuum and glass cleaner, and while they clean the mere 30 square feet of car space, you can pop the hood and check the oil and windshield fluid, then inspect their work. Reach 5 points, and she gets a prize.Ĭar Crazy! When you shriek " Caaar Craaazy!!!", they have 10 minutes to clean their seat in the car. Incentivize Got a kid who responds to rewards? Tell her that for the next week, she'll earn 1 point for every night she goes to bed with her stuff put away. Just make sure they don't donate anything important. This gets competitive-your jaw will drop when they ask to fill more baskets. Toy Purge Place a basket in each child's room, and whoever fills his basket with items to be donated first wins a treat. Have them go by color (whites, then darks, then colors), so the sorting's done for you. Laundry Basketball Install a hoop over the laundry bin, set up 1-, 2- and 3-point lines, and challenge the kids to a shoot-off with their dirty clothes. You've just saved yourself a full 22 minutes of going up and down the stairs-so sit and watch TV or open that book you've been dying to read. Each night one child plays Mailman and delivers items to each member of the house. Mailman Let everyone know that from now on, you'll be putting their homeless items (toys, papers, clothes) in a basket. Call it "Backpack Dump"- once a week, give kids 10 minutes to empty and sort through their bag.) For each minute they finish under 10 minutes, they get a treat. Race Against the Clock Set a timer, and bet the kids they can't clean up an area in under 10 minutes. Get siblings competing against each other so they'll think of it as a fun contest, not cleaning. (Kid Tip! Rather than telling kids to "put toys away," encourage them to put toys "in their homes." This will help prevent a decade of teenagers stuffing items into the wrong drawers and cabinets.) Try, "You are the Princess of Clean, and you rule your kingdom with paper towels and Windex!" Or, "The dirty floor is enemy territory, and you need to expand your clean base so you can set up an organized tent fort!" This works. Make-Believe Never underestimate the powers of fantasy. For example, "What's the first number of our zip code?" "1!" "Let's find one ball each and put it away…What's the next number?" "3!" "Let's get three pieces of clothing and put them in the hamper." And so on. Number Time Choose a number you want your child to remember (say, your phone number or address), and together put away items that correspond to those numbers. I Spy "I spy something blue that's not in its home!" Enough said. They'll think it's fun, and the new system will be easy for them to manage on their own.Īlphabet Have kids spot things that need to be put away, in alphabetical order: Animals! Board games! Chairs! Dolls! Then sit with them and see if they know which bin each toy goes into. Bin It Set up colored bins in children's rooms, one for each category: dolls, books, Legos, etc.
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