It’s a scene you can spot in every household on a more-or-less weekly basis: kids toys and other family life paraphernalia is strewn across the house and the children themselves are nowhere to be found. With summer around the corner, try a different strategy to get your kids to be tidy, one that does benefit both parties and brings true results.
The team at Goss Coatings has got plenty of knowledge on how to keep spaces clean and hygienic — we are also parents who had to overcome similar struggles in our own homes.
We’ve pulled together our collective knowledge and came up with 7 ways on how to get your kids to be tidy this summer:
Initially do the tasks together
Supervision from afar doesn’t work — it only alienates the kids and creates a ‘them’ and ‘us’ feeling. Want your kids to help out in the kitchen? Start with small tasks with plenty of step-by-step encouragement and explanation about health and safety whilst cooking. They will master the skills in no time and will acquire valuable food safety knowledge in the process.
Ensure the environment is suited to any potential messes
Are you constantly wiping off hand prints, scrape marks or worry about marker pen drawings on your walls, why not paint your walls in a hygienic coating paint? This will ensure your walls are wipeable, hygienic, damage-resistant and if applied correctly, the protection is long-lasting.
Provide easy-to-access cleaning and storage solutions
Work with the kids on creating a system that is easy to understand and to adhere to, across the whole house. Buy opaque plastic boxes for their toys — there’s an added benefit of being able to see what goes where and whether they need cleaning.
Keep general areas multifunctional
It’s natural for kids to throw their coats/shoes/bags on the floor as soon as the door closes in their effort to run off and play. Create a smaller version of cloakroom or a mudroom for them to use – hooks positioned lower help with hanging up their outdoor clothes and bags, easily accessible shelves can take little shoes.
Make the floors work for you
Kids will eat messily — whatever the age. This doesn’t mean they can’t help with cleanup. Allocate a broom or a mop with a wide head to ensure the floor is swept in fewer motions and more effectively, straight after the meal. It takes no time at all, the food won’t become dry and stuck and you’re left with far less general kitchen clean up to worry about.
Time it right — and make tidying a child’s game
Be very specific with the amount of time the proposed tidying task is going to take. Inspire your kids by challenging them to pick up all their toys in the living room before their favourite song ends. This way, you are appealing to their natural competitive spirit and re-directing the focus from a ‘clean up’ to a ‘fun game’.
Don’t set your expectations too high
At the end of the day, you’re not aiming for a showroom house but a home. The kids will be naturally interested in things you make fun for them, and they like to take part in your tasks because they enjoy spending time with you. Even the little habits you establish will benefit their self-esteem.
These 7 ways to get your kids to be tidy this summer are quick, easy to try out and ensure you’ll still get to enjoy plenty of quality family time. Instilling a sense of order and structure in their own environment provides stability and teaches responsibility to the kids. They will take pride in their work and become more confident in overcoming obstacles — learned on a simple task of conquering a pile of toys to be put away.
One of the ways we keep things looking neat and tidy is our hygienic coatings for the very reason that it is versatile, wipeable, resistant and comes in a variety of colours and coatings. We offer a range of hygienic coatings / GRP but also have extensive experience installing other premium products such as Dulux, Bradite, APML, Acolor, 3M or BEDEC.
