Spring has sprung! The bright days are in bloom. Mr. Sun's rays are peeking through the drapes on your windows. But aside from the soft breeze, the gentle spring rain and fun family times in the outdoors, spring is almost never quite the new season that it is without the bulk of house work that needs to be done!
Runners, drapes, and beddings need to be loaded into the washer. Floors and the carpets need to be vacuumed, steamed and scrubbed. Surfaces need to be dusted, and some need to be polished. The winter clothes need to be washed, folded and tucked away.
While spring cleaning is nothing new, getting this massive chore done for families with little children can be a little bit more challenging. But that's okay - we got you!
Here are a few tips on how you can, with your little ones, ace and embrace spring cleaning.
The littles will always, always, always need you for something - that's a given.
Sometimes, they need to ask if mermaids are real. Other times, they need help with the doodle they are working on. And sometimes, they just feel like it's a great time for a hug.
Whatever they need you for, you know that it is valid.
You don't need to put off the huge task of spring cleaning just because you cannot finish everything at once or at least as scheduled.You can break it down in smaller tasks that you can finish each day.
Take it in stride and think of it as a marathon water stops than a 100-meter dash. Those bouts of "distractions" can be your water stops.
There are so many spring cleaning or general house chores calendars that you can download online. The best calendar or schedule you can adapt is the one that revolves around your family's unique dynamics.
Here are a few things that will be helpful in creating a cleaning schedule that your family can easily follow:
1. Make a list of the tasks that you need to do every day. And then make a list of tasks that you can do every other day or every week.
If you feel like you have too many tasks to do very often, think about ways to alter that. For example, if you need to clean the floors every day, maybe you can keep outdoor footwear outside and just switch to wearing slippers when indoors.
2. Alternate between cleaning sessions and tidying sessions.
Cleaning is when you use tools to remove dust, dirt, and grime throughout your house. Doing the laundry is a cleaning task as well as loading the dirty dishes in the dishwasher.
Tidying, on the other hand, is just putting things where they belong to bring back order in your house. Making one's bed, organizing your work desk, and putting away toys in their bins and racks from your catch-all are examples of tidying.
3. Decide on a regular decluttering schedule. This is most especially for clothes, toys, books and other things that are most likely to pile up.
Here is a home keeping fact: the more stuff you have, the more time you will need to clean and tidy.
Regular decluttering is the secret to actually being able to ace your cleaning and tidying routines.If you need help in decluttering your little ones' toys, here is a helpful post by Abby Lawson - The Easiest Way to Declutter Kids' Toys.
Catch-all baskets are often used to hold keys, loose change, an extra chapstick, and your smaller "et cetera". They give a temporary room for these small stuff so they don't become clutter or so that they don't get lost.
You can also do the same for bigger stuff. A catch-all for bigger stuff allows quick tidying. Getting one stationed in the living room, for example, allows you to quicky sweep through the room and collect things to organize later.This means that even when you don't have the time to tidy-up as or clean up as scheduled, your home will be clutter-free.
Of course, you must remember to empty the catch-all on your next cleaning or tidying session.You don't need to buy that brand new ottoman with secret storage or some matching catch-all bins for your home.
Check out the video below and learn how you can make a DIY storage box using spare cardboad and some sewing supplies.
When children are given the idea that they can do something, and when you give them the opportunity to actually get a task done, it boosts their confidence and sense of responsibility.Here is a children's chore chart from Your Modern Family.
Let your little ones help in the family spring cleaning tasks or even in the regular tidy-up routines by:
1. Setting a good example. In one of the episodes of "Tidying Up with Marie Kondo", Marie shared how her toddler daughters learned how to tidy just by watching her have so much fun tidying up. Children's attitude toward chores is something they adapt from grown up around them.
2. Assigning them age-appropriate chores. Making one's bed with supervision and putting toys in the catch-all basket are "little tasks" a toddler can do that helps a big time in the family's overall list of chores.
3. Reward your little ones for helping you out. While bigger kids may choose to be rewarded money for a new phone they are saving for. For kids who are too young to accept cash rewards, here are a few house chore reward ideas they will love.
Aside from keeping illnesses ccording to happiness expert Tamara Lechner, spring cleaning...
1. ... sharpen's focus. Clutter is a focus-buster. Getting clutter out of the way allows your brain to function better.
2. ... improves happiness. Starting a chore and getting it done rewards you with a sense of fulfillment, pride, and happiness.
3. ... sets the stage. Life, of course, is bigger than your messy kitchen countertop. However, putting kitchen clutter away gives a sense of calm necessary for the family to plan out a hearty picnic or fishing trip. Doesn't it?
4. ... reminds you of good times. A trip down memory lane when you find old photos is always a great feel-good treat. Of course, finding the little one's lost building block piece or her favorite hair clip are equally rewarding.
5. ... limits mess. Knowing where things belong to, creates a "snowball" effect in limiting mess around the house overtime
The perks of getting the home clean, fresh and clutter-free are clear. While the task can be a little more challenging to families with little kids, we're hoping that the tips we have given above will be helpful!
Do you have spring cleaning or routine tidying tips that you can add to our list? Maybe you have a fun spring cleaning story to tell? Let us know in the comments below!
Have you built a fortress using curtains, blankets and empty cardboard boxes? Have you pretended that fallen leaves were dollar bills and flat stones were coins? Have you had a lightsaber combat with a friend using twigs and branches? If you answered “yes” to any of these, or if you have experienced something similar, then you have engaged in pretend play. “Pretend play”, which is also called “make believe play” and “imaginative play”, is a form of play that includes:
1. role playing where children assign to themselves and to their playmates roles to portray.
2. onject substitution which is when a child uses an object as something else; and
3. non-literal behavior where the child and their friends portray non-realistic scenarios.
According to the Encyclopedia of Child Behavior and Development, pretend play helps children develop their social and emotional skills, their language skills, and their problem-solving skills.
When children play pretend, especially with other children, they learn how to cooperate and work with others. They also gain the confidence to express themselves and their ideas. In playing the role of another, whether it be another child or an adult, they learn to identify with the person. Thus, developing empathy.
Children observe and copy adults. This applies not only to the actions and interactions they see, but with words also. Pretend play gives children the opportunity to use words that they would otherwise not use in real life. Also, playing with older kids whose language is more developed, is helpful for younger kids to learn words and context.
Whether it is during construction or dramatic play, playing pretend gives your children a safe space for them to discover what works and what doesn’t. In the process, children develop their problem solving skills.
Pretend play also helps a child’s physical development. Playing pretend superheroes or basketball players surely get kids in action, thus helping them develop their gross motor skills. Using modeling clay to form simple shapes engages the small muscles in their hands, thus developing fine motor skills.
Exploratory play happens when a child engages plays with something out of inquiry or curiosity.
The duo who found daddy's cans of paint and decided to do a surprise paint job after seeing him paint the fence- are but little ones engaging in exploratory play.
Children they don't always need toys to play. They can play with their clothes, their hands or any other body part, or just about anything that catches their attention and piques their curiosity.
Also, as children are naturally curious, it is best to keep them guarded as soon as they start to crawl.
Constructive play is when children uses materials to create something else.The group of little boys building a fort using empty cardboard boxes and blankets, and the little girl who assembled her drum set using buckets and bins - they are doing constructive play.
Aside from engaging the little one's creativity, constructive play also helps younger kids develop their fine-motor and cognitive skills. Thus, this type of pretend play grows with the child in such a way that they are able to make more elaborate creations as they develop.
For example, toddlers use wooden blocks as stacking toys. After a couple of years, the wooden blocks will be painted with different colors and they will have windows and doors doodled on them using Sharpies. At this point, your little ones are no longer just stacking blocks. They are creating skyscrapers and high-rise buildings.
When playing with another child, with you or with a group of other kids, your little one will learn how to cooperate and work with others. Thus, constructive play also helps him build his social skills.
Role-playing is a form of dramatic play. In this type, children take on or assign each other roles that mimic real-life or make-believe settings. It allows children to replicate the world from their perspective.They are able to express how they perceive their interactions between other individuals in their environment, and even their interaction with these individuals.
A child playing pretend classroom with her dolls and stuffed toys, and a group of children pretending as if they are guests and waiters at a diner are all engaging in dramatic play. Dramatic play is encouraged when a child has toys that look and feel real. Such as pretend play makeup, and dress-up toys.
Observing how a child acts out a role while in play, how they treat their playmates, and even how they speak to their dolls gives you an idea of how they see the world they are in.
Puppetry and fantasy play are also forms of dramatic play.
Any toy can be a pretend play toy. That’s the wonderful thing about how a child’s brain works. Anything can be a toy, and any toy can be anything they imagine it to be.
However, in order for your child to get the best experience each time they are at play you need to make sure that their toys…
1. … helps you teach them good values. Pretend food toys help parents introduce healthy eating habits to their little ones by associating fruits and vegetables with fun play times.
Pretend play makeup, on the other hand, helps little ones understand the importance of taking the time to take care of ones’ self so they are neat and presentable.
The big bonus is: mommy gets to keep her makeup intact!
2. …puts their creativity in action. This include open-ended toys such as Playdoh, kinetic sand, magnetic puzzles, and blocks; and even dress-up items such as hats, mermaid tails and trinkets.
3. … supports physical activity. Excessive screen time is an issue that a lot of parents and child caretakers are trying to tackle these days.Toys and materials that encourage kids to head out are a must.
Sports equipment like basketballs are, of course, a given. But do you remember how fun it was to look for bugs, observe insects and “forage”?
Share this childhood experience with your little one by getting them outdoor exploration kits.
4. … encourages them to socialize. Occupational pretend play toys allow children to play with each other and take on roles builds your children’s self-confidence and develops their communication skill.
5. … is age appropriate. “Play is the work of the child,” says Maria Montessori.
Toys that are too simple for a child will not spark interest. While those that are too complicated will likely frustrate them. So it is best to provide toys that interest and empower your kids to do the “work” they need to do at their current level.
Also, choosing age-appropriate toys keep your children safe. For instance, blocks for kids aged 6 and above come with smaller pieces to allow more intricate constructions. While the pieces of building blocks that are for toddlers are big not only to allow simple constructions but also to prevent choking.
You know something good is on its way when you hear your child say “let’s pretend we’re…” As parents, teachers and caretakers, it is our duty to make sure that children have the materials, the toys, the ample time and space to make the good times happen.
Of course, we need to be part of these playtimes when the little ones want us too. You know what they say: “it doesn’t matter how big you think you are. When a child hands you their toy phone, you answer it!”