Invariably, household chores often fall on the shoulders of one or two people. No one enjoys having to do all of the work all of the time, but to put it simply, we teach what we allow.

The earlier you start teaching your kids about the responsibility of keeping clean house, the sooner it will become part of their routine.

Tips to get started:

1. Assign cleaning responsibilities. Gather the troops and assign tasks based on preference. Keep things simple starting out and increase responsibility as the kids grow and mature.
2. Create a chores checklist. Visuals are preferred for this. Assign each member of the family a color so that tasks can be checked off when complete. This gives a sense of satisfaction and reward! We recommend a whiteboard or poster board to make things easy.
3. Create a chores calendar. This will keep everyone on track and responsible for completing their chores on time.
4. Turn on the tunes. Play upbeat music that your kids enjoy to make things more enjoyable. Dancing recommended!
5. Celebrate when complete. When all the chores are complete, reward the family with pizza and a movie for all the hard work.

Break down rooms to divide and conquer.

• Bedroom: Pick up items, vacuum, dust and wipe clean surfaces
• Bathroom: Clean and wipe down surfaces, tub/shower, toilet and mop the floor
• Kitchen: Clean and wipe down surfaces and mop the floor
• Family room: Vacuum, dust and clean surfaces
• Living room: Vacuum, dust and clean surfaces
• Laundry room: Dust and clean surfaces and mop the floor

Kids need to be set up for success, so it’s important to give them tasks that are doable. While cleaning the kitchen or the garage might be too much for a six or seven-year-old, someone this age can certainly dust and clean shelves or furniture or learn to vacuum a floor.