My 3-year old son, Max, is obsessed with sweeping the kitchen floor. Besides looking at him fondly as he sweeps away crumbs from under the table (admittedly, he’s more pushing them around rather than truly cleaning them up), I am also taking photographic evidence to show him in his teenage years that say, "Yes, you really did help Mom sweep the floor every day and I expect you to keep it up, buddy!”  
 
Last week I wrote about 5 Ways to Get Kids to Help Clean. One idea that has worked particularly well is to make up "cleaning games." I figure that if I can prolong the belief that "Cleaning is fun!" in my children for as long as possible, I have a better shot at rearing kids who see cleaning as less of a chore. And let’s face it, in addition to building a sense of responsibility to the family household and a sense of personal esteem, kids who help around the house make life a lot easier for me, too!
  
Here are some games that help to keep cleaning entertaining for kids:
 
Ready-Set-GO!

Set a timer for 10 minutes and see how fast they can get their rooms clean. Note that this may work better with some children than others. My husband tried doing this with my daughter, Elle, and instead of feeling motivated, the poor thing practically had a panic attack running around her room cleaning things up. Her room was tidy at the end but she was in tears and my hubs felt really bad afterwards. Parenting Fail. Since then, we’ve had to abandon this approach for this next one …

Make it a Dance Party

Turn on your kid’s favorite music while they clean — and blast it at volumes they may otherwise not be allowed to listen to. They get to choose the song, and we all try to clean up together before the song is over. 

Rub-a-dub-dub

Just before you get your kids out of the bath, ask them to put all their toys on the side and give the bathtub a good scrub with their washcloths. Let them rub down the sides & bottom and wipe off the faucet with the soapy bath water. When they’re out of the tub, YOU follow up with a proper cleaning products, but this routine gets kids in the habit of cleaning up after themselves.

The Cleaning Lottery   

Write all kid-friendly chores (e.g., rake the leaves, help with dishes or unload the dishwasher) on little slips of paper and put them all in a bowl. Have each kid pull out 2—3 chores that they are responsible for that week. This adds variety to the weekly responsibilities. If you want to reward your kids for completing their chores, consider giving them little privileges like getting to choose what’s for dinner one night, the next DVD rental or extra dessert.

I’m not always successful at getting my kids to clean. In fact, I am lucky if their rooms get cleaned without a fuss, but I’m seizing the moment while my 3-year-old thinks wielding a broom is as fun as playing with trucks, and turning cleaning into a game. It's an effort to teach them that keeping a clean home is necessary, important, and depending on how you spin it … fun!

 What Cleaning games do you play with your kids?