As some of you know I am a bit strange…I love to clean. Yup, I have always been a cleaner. But, with a houseful of 10 and having years worth of sickness I need help! Teaching our children to work and help around the house is an important thing, especially in a large homeschooling family home.  With ten of us things get messy fast and the chaos that can ensure quickly becomes monumental.  But, having ten of us cleaning also gets things in ship shape as well.  I have done many things over the years to make clean-up fun and enjoyable.

When my 4 oldest were little we created a game called “Soldier House Alert”. My little guys would all line up in front of me raising their hands in salute.  I would in a deep voice say, “Captain Gray” please go over and pick up the legos in that corner.”  They then with their serious voice would say, “Yes, Ma’am” and march over to do the instructions I had given them and then returning with a salute for their next job.  I would get the room clean step by step by giving out these orders. They LOVED it!  And I was teaching them how to follow instructions and clean up a room.

Well, my two bookend little boys have never been introduced to Soldier House Alert. So today was the big day.  They went from frowns to smiles over cleanup when the game started.  And when I told them we were finished M said “I want to play some more!”

What are some of your ways of making clean-up enjoyable at your house?