The melting of winter into spring is a great time to bring order back into your home after the chaos that hibernation brings. Spring cleaning can be a daunting task, but you can simplify it by enlisting your family to help and make it into a fun activity. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to pull it off.
- Pick a date when you can dedicate the whole day. Be sure to have the supplies you need, including handy snacks and drinks. Work in teams of two or three and then switch halfway through the day. Don’t forget to choose some up-tempo music to keep the energy levels intact.
- Tackle closets first. Tell the kids you’re having a fashion show and let them try on all of their clothes. What doesn’t fit gets handed down to a sibling, or packed into a box for donation.
- Find all the toys. Create a treasure hunt for younger children with an appropriate incentive to find all those extra pieces of Lego and Polly Pocket clothes. When their basket is full, have them pile the toys in the centre of the family room, then sort them into ‘keep’ and ‘part’ piles. For the ‘part’ pile, separate the toys into bins for garbage, donations, and a garage sale. Make sure to deliver these bins to their final destination, so that they do not clutter up your garage, or find their way back into the house!
- Sort through books. Locate all the books and spread them on the floor (parents’ books, too). Donate as many books as possible to a local daycare or charity and toss the ripped and damaged ones.
- Deal with the memorabilia. Keep arts, crafts and papers from school in one large storage bin and then have your kids sort through the bin, keeping only a quarter of the pile. Put a few special items out on display, and store the rest in a folder.
Finally, at the end of a productive day, reward your team with dinner out at a favourite restaurant. You won’t feel like cooking—or worse—cleaning up after the dinner mess!
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