Mom shares a fun and easy way to get kids to clean their rooms on their own

With kids comes messiness and teaching them to clean up their mess is a parent’s core responsibility. However, with the developing minds of children, it may be tough to get their attention to something like tidying up. Sara Olsher, mother of two–who goes on TikTok by @mightyandbrightco–shared a fun and simple way to teach your kids how to clean their room. She posted a video on the platform with the text, “We have to teach kids how to clean,” emphasizing the “how.” She then asked a question - “How many of us were ever taught how to clean a room?” Her video captured her daughter learning how to clean her room with her mum’s help.

There were steps mentioned along with the mom voicing out instructions. Step one was, “Get a trash bag,” followed by step two, “Put trash in the bag.” Olsher said, “The truth is keeping a room clean, let alone a whole house, is a skill that involves a lot of little tasks.” She then added, “For kids, being faced with a messy room is overwhelming. They have no idea where to start.” The video came to step three, “Dirty dishes in the sink,” capturing the little girl following the steps. Next was step four, “Get a laundry basket.” As the little girl kept doing each step or chore, she and her mum kept checking them off with the help of a magnetic to-do kind of list.

“When we teach kids how to break down a big task like cleaning a room into manageable chunks, we make this big chore easier to execute and kind of fun. After all, who doesn’t like to check things off a to-list?” said the woman. The chores continued in the video with step five, “Dirty clothes in the laundry basket,” followed by step six, “Clothes in drawers.” Steps 7 to 13 included getting a “No-home box,” putting things away in an organized manner and finding a home for the things in the “No-home box.” In her video, Olsher did the same by putting things away in order of color.

“The first couple of times, we may need to go through the steps with them,” the mom added. She also mentioned that once kids get the hang of the steps, the task can be added to their weekly chores. “Research shows that clutter can have a profound impact on our mental health. So yes, it is awesome that they will be able to clean their room without you nagging.” The mom further added, “The added benefit is that they will learn a skill that will benefit their mental health for a lifetime.”

As the video ended, the mother-daughter duo were seen having a little “dance party” on successfully cleaning up the room. Several fellow moms were appreciative of the idea. Adults even joked about wanting the list for themselves. @j4s_twinning said, “It would appear that just so many of us are learning how to clean our rooms now.” @erinday04 said, “This seems interesting. Might try something like this with the kid. However, the chart is for me, to be honest.”