DIY

Cleaning Kits for Kids’ Chores + a Target Giveaway!

We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post. Please see policies for more information.


Cleaning kits for kids' chores
One thing I wasn’t great at was slowly introducing chores to the boys. They would help around the house when they wanted to, but I usually just ran around doing everything quickly. I really want them to know how to do everything themselves: cleaning, cooking, laundry, fixing things around the house or on their cars, etc. They now have daily and weekly chores around the house that they do on their own. Some chores they do together and some are better off a one-person job.
One of the “struggles” I had at first was the excuse that they didn’t know where the cleaning supplies were or what to use for each chore. A new organizational strategy we’re trying is cleaning kits. A kit (all stored in the same place) for each room that needs to be cleaned (or one kit for several rooms). They take it with them when they go in to clean and put it back when they’re done.

Kids' cleaning kits

Since we’re ALWAYS at Target we often use the up & up line of cleaning products. They are just like the name brands (or better) and are priced better too. There’s usually a Cartwheel coupon for the things I’m buying as well, which makes the deals even better! For the bathroom kit we use (among other things) the up & up Disinfecting Wipes as well as the up & up Disinfectant Spray. The bathroom of 2 boys is not the cleanest place in the house and often needs cleaning more than once a week lol!

Kids cleaning kits

Especially during the cold & flu season I want to make sure the bathrooms are getting cleaned well without me having to go back in and clean up after them. They like the wipes for around the toilet (easy disposal). They kill common household bacteria and are safe to use on hard non-porous surfaces. The spray we use for the counter, floors and tub since it’s a good all around deodorizing cleaner for lots of surfaces.

kids cleaning kits

The kits have been working well so far. We haven’t had the “I can’t find the cleaning supplies” excuse and it makes chore time run that much more smoothly!

How do you make chore-time work in your house? Leave an answer in the comments below and you will be entered for a chance to win one $100 Target GiftCard!

 

Sweepstakes Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

1. Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

2. Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

3. Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

4. For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. The notification email will come directly from BlogHer via the sweeps@blogher email address. You will have 72 hours to respond; otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 10/22/2014 – 11/22/2014.

Be sure to visit the Target’s brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!

(Visited 10 times, 3 visits today)

Allison Waken is a wife, mom of boys and Phoenix, AZ native. She has been creating inspiring content for All for the Boys since 2011. Allison loves travel, movies and spending as much time as possible with her family while she can!

140 Comments

  1. We have a 3 year old so we’re just starting with small chores–little bits of sweeping and picking up toys. Love the idea of having wipes in the bathroom though. No one ever told me how dribble-y little boys could be!

  2. Right now we’re still in the “nag until he does it” mode for housecleaning. However, I will say that he seems to enjoy washing dishes (7yr old boy, bubbles, water… of course!) and I love the idea of a cleaning box that could be “his.” It would also mean that I’d have a bit more control over what cleaning supplies he tries out.

  3. Haven’t cracked the code yet on chores…we have one 10 year old boy and I agree with the bathroom statement. Going to institute this method and see if I can get a little more help around the house….and I just got back from Target…excuse to go again?

  4. we don’t really have “chore time” at home but we all clean together as a family on the weekends. 🙂

  5. My kids know they have to do a chore each day (or more on Saturday), as well as homework, piano practicing, etc. before they can have any screen time. Works for us for now!

  6. We aren’t so great at getting the older boy to do chores. He does like to help set the table sometimes and he will clean his room with the right motivation but we don’t have anything formal in place. I think he is ready to start taking some things on regularly, we just need to figure out a system.

  7. Daughter is 5 so we don’t yet have a good system in place. But she loves helping out on big cleanups. I assign out discrete tasks she can do on her own and she gets a quarter when each is fully done. Works for us!

  8. I clean a portion of the house at a time and keep my cleaning supplies in each bathroom to make my work easier. My kids will help with the simpler tasks like dusting.

  9. My oldest is at an age where he thinks helping is fun, so all I have to do is turn on some music, hand him a wipe, and point him in the right direction. I’ll enjoy it for the 5 seconds that this phase will last, haha.

  10. Lisa Brown Reply

    I make it work by doing the cleaning when no one is home; everyone is under foot when I do chores and rather have the house to myself to get things done 🙂

  11. I make chore time fun on our house everyone has thier chore and we play music and then afterwards we have a nice treat.

  12. I delegate! My sons and daughter help me out…the oldest vacuums, my middle son takes out the garbage and dusts, and my daughter sweeps.

  13. tweet–https://twitter.com/mami2jcn/status/525046875767197696

  14. I make chore time work for my household by not letting my kids watch tv or go out with friends until chores are done.

  15. Katie Belson Reply

    We are trying to start with good small habits, like clothes in the laundry. We’re working towards bigger responsibility.

  16. Mine each have 2 chores they must do daily. They are still at the age where they need to be reminded, but they are getting better at remembering to do it themselves.

  17. Everyone in the family has chores so we just all share the workload. Though a kit like that may help with the motivation!

  18. steve weber Reply

    We do all our chores on the weekend.. that way there are no excuses.

  19. Shelbi Owen Reply

    Kits are a great idea! I have 4 boys and I’m still trying to figure out the best way.. I hate to clean so it’s hard to make them do it 🙂 kits are a good idea..

  20. I love the cleaning kits idea! It’s just the two of us and I do most of the cleaning myself. My little guy is expected to help on the weekends, though, before screen time. It still takes a lot of nagging and negotiating so I am going to try the kits!

  21. My kids are 2 & 3 – so their chores are pretty basic right now, cleaning up before they move on to another activity & clearing their plates from the table when they’re done eating.

  22. We keep cleaning supplies for each room in a cabinet or closet in each respective room. We even have 2 vacuums – 1 for each floor. That way, we’re not running around trying to find the supplies for each room to be able to clean. It’s fast, and the cleaning supplies last longer since each one is only cleaning its respective room!

  23. We have a chore jar that helps in a couple of areas! The boys know that if they disobey, they pull an extra chore out of the chore jar. This is, of course, in addition to their regular ones (put away toys, put clothes in hamper, clear their dishes from the table, etc.). Tasks in the chore jar are things like dusting, mopping, cleaning the tub, etc.; the concept behind using it was not to show chores as punishment, but to show them that when parents have to take time out of their day to discipline them, we are not able to take that same time to do some of the things we need to around the home to keep it clean. Thus, the kids get to do them.

  24. Karolyn K. Reply

    We have cleaning day. The cleaning kit is a great idea and would be so helpful. Each child has specific chores to complete. I don’t have a specific approach. Once I show them what is expected, then they are good to go. They know that when we come to inspect if the job has not been done they have to do it again or they lose some of their commissions.

  25. I try to tie chore time to something more enjoyable. “Before we can go do X, we need to finish our work here.” They seem more motivated to get it done when they remember all the fun things we can do once the work is done. And we always put on fun music!

  26. natalie Richardson Reply

    we have a morning chore that they swap off each week. and then they each have an afternoon chore. They see me to find out what it is. Just something I need help with around the house that day. Been working well so far.

  27. my kids are 5 & 3 so we’re still trying to sort out chores! but my 5 year old has recently started asking to help with things – like sweep and vacuum. I’m taking him up on his offer every chance I get!

  28. with three small kids, it is hard. a lot of it just isn’t done consistently! :))

  29. Gail Parker Reply

    My little man loves to help, but most of the time it’s easier and quicker to do it by myself. But I really need to start giving him assigned chores. I’m like you…..I want to make sure he can do it all on his when he moves out!

  30. I have disinfecting wipes in baskets in each bathroom and leave a spray bottle of kitchen cleaner on the counter next to the paper towels. (The kids still complain)

  31. My 3 boys are very motivated by their own cleaning supplies too. We also crank up the tunes!

  32. We have a little trouble keeping to a schedule because of our busy lives, but we have a printable reward chart for my 7 year old. He is motivated by bribery!!! lol He has allowance of $5 each week that is displayed on a chart that is broken down into dimes. He gets dimes for completing chores but can lose them for bad behavior. We are a Christian family so we teach him about tithing at the end of the week. All of this helps him with math/counting/percentage as well. And my 3 year old girl loves to help me, and doesn’t have to be motivated too much. She just sees me doing it and wants to help.

  33. I like being organized and so we have a schedule hanging in the kitchen that has all the activities/appointments/responsibilities mapped out and on it there is a bit of time set aside for cleaning daily since I like to clean a bit each day to avoid ending up with a dirty house and hours of cleaning to do. It’s a daily routine and everyone pitches in with whatever section he/she is assigned to straighten up.

  34. Nobody likes to spend a whole day off cleaning, so we each do small jobs throughout the week.

  35. i do all the chores pretty much except my oldest child does the dishes once in a while, i like the idea of having a container with all my supplies pryfamily5@gmail.com

  36. Erin Ellis Reply

    Core time work in our house because I have taught my kids from birth that cleaning is important and also FUN. They all pitch in every time. Thank you for the wonderful giveaway.
    Erin
    fairyfractal at gmail dot com

Write A Comment