We’re having an all-out cleaning day (well, really, tidying day) around here.  The house was trashed as of this morning, so we’re dedicating today (primarily) to tidying up.  Since my girls really aren’t good about tidying (and who really enjoys that, anyway?), we made a game of the whole thing.  I assigned points to certain tasks, etc. throughout the day, and they will get a reward based on how many points they earn.

Cleaning Games: Points for Speed

For instance, the living room was a total disaster.  It looked like a toybox blew up in there or something.  But the girls tend to drag their feet, saying it’s “too much” to clean up.  So I told them they’d get 25 points for having it done in an hour, 50 points for having it done in 45 minutes, 75 points for having it done in half an hour, or 100 points for having it done in 15 minutes (which I thought was probably not likely, given the size of the mess).

The incentive to move quickly really worked, and it took them about 35 minutes.  The added advantage is that I was able to point out to Ariel how quickly they had finished tidying up something that she assumed would take all day.

Cleaning Games: Points for Items

Another example is hair things (clips, ponytail holders, etc.).  They seem to have nearly all disappeared.  It’s almost as if they’re absorbed into the walls or floors or something; they go away and they never come back!  So I told the girls they will get one point for every hair thing they gather.  I think they have about twenty or thirty, so far, although I haven’t actually counted them.

I’m Working in the Background

Meanwhile, Mama is working on things like catching up dishes and gathering all of the paperwork into one place again.

All in all, I’m thrilled that this seems to be working!  I’m sure we won’t have everything perfect by the end of the day, but it’s looking much better already. 🙂