I am a Swiffer Fanatic and received compensation and product for this article, but I am a long time Swiffer user and all opinions are my own.
I recently read a tongue in cheek article on keeping the house clean with kids. Strategies included gems like don’t purchase any toys, don’t allow the kids to have crayons, and never feed the children anything crumbly. From my experience, toddlers can be little mess magnets, so I am not sure these strategies will work. I vividly recall my daughter, in a fit of jealousy over her new brother, writing a three foot high circle of the word “NO” on her bedroom wall. Thanks to my slightly OCD tendencies, (read this as huge messes give me eye twitches), I discovered five tips to keep my home clean with toddlers that work. Really.
1. Keep toddler sized storage bins available. I found my children were much more willing to help clean if they had a designated place to store their toys. I purchased several small bins and a wooden storage rack. I left the bins on their level so they could find toys (and put them back) easily.
2. Pick Up Toys Each Night Before Bed. One way I tricked helped my children learn to pick up toys was the “Bedtime Clean Up Game.” Every evening before bed, I told the kids it was time for the clean up game using my most excited voice. The kids had 60 seconds to see how many toys they could pick up and put away. And, of course, I helped. I used a timer, yelled “Go!” and saw how many toys could be put away. The kids always tried to beat me to see how many toys could be put away.
3. Rotate Toys. One way I learned to prevent boredom, keep the kids from asking for new toys, and keep the house cleaner was a toy rotation. If I saw a toy the kids seemed to be bored with, and there were usually several, I placed them in a box in the attic. When the kids seemed bored with toys in their room, I replaced the toys with my attic stash. I often heard them saying, “Hey! I forgot we had this!”
4. Declutter. Have the kids outgrown the toy? Do they no longer seem interested even after the toy has returned from the toy rotation? Donate the toy or sell the toy in a yard sale or a consignment store for some extra cash. Just don’t make the mistake of bringing home more than you donated or sold!
5. Use Swiffer Products. According to the second annual Swiffer Cleaning Index, while the majority (72%) of parents feel that letting kids make a mess helps encourage their creativity, nearly all (95%) have said “no” their kids’ request because of the mess it could make. I’ve been a huge fan of my Swiffer Sweeper and my Swiffer Wet Jet since its inception and still use then at least once a day to clean up after the kids and cats. The Wet Jet is a great tool for helping clean those spot messes the kids used to make with paint, crayons and crumbly food. I’m sharing a Swiffer Surprise box with one of our friends who has 3 children ages seven, five and two. I had to drop them off at work so she got to check out her first Swiffer products there before taking them home. Hopefully, it will make it easier for her to “Say Yes to the Mess” of toddlers.
What are your best tips for keeping a home clean with toddlers and kids?
These are great tips! The cleaning game is one that I have used before.
Rotating the toys is one of the best things you can do with a toddler for sure!
I remember my mom always make clean the house saying it was a game… “the more toys you get.. the more pints you gain”… !
These are great tips. I especially like the put the toys away game!!
The Swifer is certainly a life save in my home. I love that I can quickly spot clean as needed. My house would be a sticky mess otherwise.
Great practical tips. It might sound basic and tiring but when you followed all of this on a routine-basis, you will notice a huge difference in terms of keeping your house clean, neat and tidy.
These are really great tips. And, I absolutely love Swiffer products! We use them daily – because dust comes back so fast, the job is never truly finished.
The bedtime cleanup game is great. It’s so helpful to keep the house clean when you start the day with a clean house.
Swiffers are a life-saver for me! Also, I pick up the kid’s toys every night…or at least set them aside.
I love Swiffer dusters! They really do suck up all the dust – they make cleaning so much faster, and even my youngest likes using them.
My husband is a bit of a Swiffer fanatic himself! He loves to dust the house, especially the book cases with ours.
We do the toy rotation too. It’s a great way to make sure the kids appreciate their toys, and it reduces clutter!
These are great tips for keeping the house clean with a toddler. It is so much easier if you have the kids help pick their toys up and put them in the bin. Swiffer products are great for cleaning and the kids can help use some of them too like the dusters.
These are great ideas! No toddlers here, but yes, we do use Swiffers quite often! Love their products!
I need to start rotating toys that sounds like a really good idea. They have so many and it would help with clean up at the end of the day.
These are great cleaning tips with toddlers. It always feels like they are a tornado in the home.
I was eagerly ready when I read your title. You have some awesome tips. Love that clean up game idea!
There are some great tips here. I once read that cleaning a house with children is like brushing your teeth while eating Oreos.
These are great tips. It is really quite a challenge to keep the house when you have toddlers running around.
I’ve been hearing a lot of great things about the Swiffer products. I really should try this.
Great tips for cleaning when you have young kids! If I ever have a child of my own, I will keep these in mind.
Bins were a lifesaver when my kids were toddlers. We also went through a lot of Swiffer pads, too!
These are great tips for keeping your house clean with toddlers!! It can be a lot of work but little things can make it so much easier to do!
It is so incredibly hard to keep my house clean with two little boys. That’s why I’m so glad I finally hired a cleaning lady! It is a great idea to keep a swiffer on hand, too.
Swiffer definitely makes it easier. I like the toy rotation idea. That’s a really clever one!
My Swiffer Duster is one of my favorite tools for cleaning.
These are great tips. I use a Swiffer Duster and a Swiffer Sweeper to keep the house clean.
These are great tips for any mom of a young one. I remember trying to clean when my kids were toddlers. It was like swimming against an undertow!