When you hear “Clean Up Time” you probably think of picking up toys. Well today we actually mean “Cleaning Time” as in grabbing the broom and mop! One of my one and half year old’s favorite things to do is clean. Literally. He will walk around the house with the broom pushing and pulling it everywhere he goes. My older son loves the new mop and often asks to mop the floor. He mostly likes squirting the cleaner on the floor! But I don’t mind because the solution is natural and won’t harm him. (Check out my natural favorite household cleaner here.)
My kids also love squirt bottles and love cleaning the windows. I don’t mind letting them draw all over the slider with these window markers because I know they will have just as much fun cleaning the glass when they are all done. At first I gave my younger son just an empty squirt bottle to pretend. However, he quickly realized that it wasn’t squirting anything out and fussed. Now I just put water in it. If I’m not careful he will wander all over the house squirting water everywhere! My older son uses the same cleaner we use for everything: Thieves Household Cleaner. Its made with essential oils and smells amazing! (Want to know how you can get Thieves Cleaner? Just comment or email me!)
Of course we do sing the “Clean Up” song as we get our supplies out.
Clean up! Clean up!
Everybody, everywhere.
Clean up! Clean up!
Do your part and do your share.
What’s so amazing is that they think this is fun! Its PLAY for them! They are learning and exploring while playing. Bonus for me: I get clean (or at least cleaner) windows and floors.
Now if I could just train them to clean the bathrooms…..