How to Have a Family Cleaning Night – My Favorite Thing Ever!
Starting a family cleaning night is the BEST thing our family ever did – you teach your kids while keeping your sanity! I’m sharing some tips and tricks you can use on how to delegate tasks, encourage participation, and create a fun environment that the whole family will enjoy. Say goodbye to stress and hello to a clean and organized home.
We’ve done the same thing every Thursday night for almost 20 years. When my kids were home, I’m sure they wished I would be talking about a movie night or pizza night, but Thursdays are all about something I like.
No, something I LOVE – our weekly family cleaning night.
Yep, on Thursdays (or on Wednesdays in some seasons) we clean – ALL of us. We crank up the music, each take a job, and 30-45 minutes later our house is presentable for another week. People can stop by unexpectedly and we don’t need to freak out (which is a total blessing).
Now that it’s just Brian and I, we still have a weekly cleaning night – but now we each pop in our earbuds and listen to podcasts or books and we don’t need ice cream afterwards, lol.
Why Have a Family Cleaning Night
There are a number of reasons why this is a good idea, but these three things are at the top of the list:
- Have basic cleaning done on a consistent basis (of course…).
- Teach the kids how to do said basic cleaning (this is a life skill – everyone needs to know this without being paid for it, just like when they’re living their adult life).
- Save mom’s sanity.
This last point can’t be emphasized enough, lol.
To be honest, before we instituted cleaning night I just felt like I was running around all day trying to get everything done while the rest of the family dirtied everything up. And I don’t think I’m alone in this, right?
So when my sister-in-law said their family had a cleaning night, I grasped the idea like a woman grabbing a lifesaver (oh, how I wish I had thought of it, but I’m so glad she did!).
And guess what? After years of cleaning nights my kids know how to clean – and in college they were in the minority for sure!
How to Have A Family Cleaning Night
1. Choose a night (or day)
Decide which night will work best for your schedule. It may be a Thursday night like us (we wanted to have our weekends free) or a Saturday morning. Any time that works for you is the best time.
2. Divvy up the chores
Have a family meeting to talk about this. Make a rotating list if there are lots of kids or lots of complaints about chores. Make sure, though, that through the years the kids get to learn about cleaning all the basic areas.
For example, our daughter knows all about cleaning bathrooms. She can also dust and vacuum. She started at age five dusting, then started vacuuming the stairs when she got older. Now she and her brother alternate months between cleaning bathrooms and dusting.
3. Start them young
Once a child is 2.5 and older they can help the family. Plus, when they’re young they often thinks it’s cool and fun, so take advantage of that!!
Some ideas on how to start younger kids cleaning include:
- A kid-sized broom and one room they are in charge of (and if you need to ‘fix’ it, do it later when they can’t see so they aren’t discouraged).
- A duster and some easy-to-reach surfaces.
- A basket they can use to collect items that need to go back to rooms.
Our son was eight when we started cleaning as a family. He was in charge of the half-bath the kids used and cleaned the bathroom until his sister was old enough to share that chore. 8-year-olds CAN clean toilets – really!
4. Set the example
I really feel it’s our duty as parents to make sure our kids know what it takes to maintain a home by cleaning, picking up and doing laundry (by middle school-high school my kids were doing their own laundry). Sure, it makes my life easier (amen), but I would be shirking on my job as a mom if I just did everything for them.
5. To pay or not to pay
Here’s another important point about kids and regular cleaning:
- They don’t get paid for this work.
This is something we do as a family, all of us pitching in to make our home life easier and more pleasant all the way around. It’s something normal people do all the time as adults and we all need to get used to doing this without payment.
The kids have other jobs that they can do to earn money each week, but this (and also setting the table and doing dishes) is just a part of being in a family.
6. Everyone participates
Brian vacuums all the living areas and empties all the trash.
For family cleaning night this has been key: we all do it- no one is exempt. If someone has to miss the actual night, then they are on task to get it done the next day when they can.
Of course there are many nights we wish we didn’t have to clean. In fact, we’ve found we tend to sit at the table longer on Thursdays…we just “happen” to find so many things to talk about. But we know if we just push through, it’s over quickly and we all enjoy having a clean house.
7. Make it as fun as you can
Here’s the main thing that’s made it just a little better for our kids: cleaning night is theĀ only night we have ice cream during the week…after we’ve finished cleaning.
It’s nice to have something positive the kids can look forward to each cleaning night.Ā Plus the power of a little bribery, right?
Here’s how we make cleaning nights more fun:
- Make fun music mixes of all your favorite songs and get the kids involved in choosing.
- Play the music loud – it’s the difference that makes it fun!
- Sweeten the deal with ice cream or other special treat. It helps to make this the only night for it, though (other than special occasions, of course), otherwise it’s not special.
Our daughter often tells me that her friends think its weird that she has to clean. I ask her who she’d like to have as a roommate when she’s older- one of her friends who don’t know how to clean, or some “weird” person like her. Guess which she chose?
There’s not much I guarantee on this blog, but if you institute regular cleaning nights, I do guarantee that you will LOVE it!
This is one of our family’s traditions – see more great family tradition ideas here.
This article has been updated – it was originally published in January of 2010.
Being an only child, a whole lot of the cleaning fell to me during my grade school years. I learned to hate chores.
Actually, there were 3 or 4 times a year, when Mama did the “spring cleaning” routine and she and I worked together on it. We worked HARD on those days, but working as a team made it special. Even fun! Somehow Mama never quite figured out the difference.
One of her 6 brothers lived a couple of hours away, and most summers included me spending a couple of weeks with his family. My aunt had a “system” for Saturday mornings. Every task that needed doing was written on a slip of paper and put in a hat/box, and each kid (my 4 cousins, and I) drew a job from the hat and did that task. It was “fun” in a way, but the more important thing was that with everyone doing his part, it all got done quickly, and then we could get on to having fun doing what we wanted. And there was always lots of fun to enjoy. In addition to whatever us kids were “playing” at we also made frequent trips to the library, or the pool, etc.
Another fun thing about visiting them, was that on church nights we often went to the A&W drive-in, for root beer and maybe ice cream before heading home. Also it was not unusual for us to pass by the hospital, where they had a beautiful fountain decorated from colored lights under the surface, which changed colors and made for a beautiful, enjoyable display.
There was always so much fun when I was visiting them.
Oh, what a lovely memory, Sonny! I really like that idea of pulling chores out of a hat, too – brilliant!
Wow – what a great idea. We have been doing something like this, but I am going to implement this now – at least the house will be clean once a week. Love your page by the way!
Thank you, Nicky – Cleaning Night has seriously been a lifesaver for me! š
Not weird at all! This makes so much sense – a night is assigned, and if things get a little dirty during the week, you’ll know that it’ll get done on Thursday (rather than feeling stressed about when you’ll do it).
I also like that you don’t pay your kids for chores. I remember that my parents gave us an allowance, but not because we helped with chores – that was expected.
What chores do you pay for? My kids are 5 and 8 and want to earn some money, but I have trouble differentiating between chores they have to do without pay and chores they should be paid for.
Our family paid chore list had things on it like helping in the yard (raking leaves, weeding, picking up piles of debris, that kind of thing), mowing, painting (usually the primer coat that we didn’t care what it looked like!), helping wash the car, pick up dog doo, washing windows. Basically things that are sort of “extras” that they aren’t directly involved with.
We kinda evolved to what worked – specifically the dog was supposed to be their responsibility, and while they fed and walked him, the only way we could be sure the poop was picked up was to start paying for it (but pretty minimal amt.). And since I was always the one in the yard stepping on it, the fact that it got done trumped the issue of if they should be doing it for pay or not. š
We took Dave Ramsey’s advice and made up a checklist “timecard” that they filled out and turned in weekly for their “paycheck.” If they didn’t turn it in, they didn’t get paid – making it their responsibility, so I felt better about that. š
Oh yea, Anon.- We all think of what stage we should be at cleaning when U2’s “A Beautiful Day” comes on. Hummm…will A Beautiful Day always make me think of cleaning the toilet? š
wow — I wish I had thought of this . . . we all cleaned various things various days of the week.
But somehow doing it all together and ending with icecream would make it easier for all!
My kids are now out of the house, but we used to have family cleaning times. They tease me to this day that they cannot hear a Diana Ross song without getting the urge to pick up a dust cloth or broom. Diana Ross was the CD of choice for cleaning, because it was upbeat and fast paced.
What a wonderful idea! My girls, ages seven and nine, have their assigned chores and we all work together on Saturday mornings to get the house cleaned up. I’m glad they’re learning at an early age to pitch in and help out, so that they’ll be used to it by the time they’re the age your children are!
Currently we have just a 17yo at home, yet when she arrives in from school each day there is always at least 1 chore awaiting her. I am a full time stay at home mom, but we have always given our kids chores to do daily (usually just a job or two). My husband also pitches in and cleans. His theory was simple “We all live here, we all help make the house dirty, we all get to pitch in and make it clean.” My husband vacuums and does laundry even today and yesterday he hemmed his own pants (with a LOT of help from me,lol) on the sewing machine.
I will own up that my 17yo does far less work than the others did. But with three adults at home, picking up behind themselves, there’s not so much housework to be done either.
Thanks for all the great responses-it’s nice to know maybe we’re not all that weird. š
As for kid and family activities getting in the way of cleaning, my kids love when that happens! Sometimes we do it on Wednesday or quickly on Friday, but sometimes we go two weeks between cleanings (eek!). We change the day if a regular thing starts up on Thursdays, but we always go back when that’s done (like sports). The key is to find a day that works best most of the time.
Fabulous idea! And I love the “ice cream after cleaning” incentive. That is some awesome family teamwork.
My children pitch in and help alot, but not on a schedule. This might just be a new addition to our family routine. I also like that you do it during the week so it doesn’t feel like cleaning eats up your weekend family time.
We have a 15 minute clean up every night, and then once a week clean more thoroughly with everyone helping. My kids are 9, 6, and 4. This will be a great blessing in their lives as they get older!
I used to do this when I had two teenagers in the house, but we did it on Saturday mornings. I like the Weeknight idea better. Does not cut into my precious weekend time. I will be starting this again once my little two are old enough to help. Oh and the ice cream after is brilliant! They will love that. š
You are always so full of great ideas. Thanks!
This is such a great idea! Love it! Our catch is that even though are kiddos are only 4 and 7 we are rarely home on weeknights as it is… We’ll have to carve out some family cleaning time though. THANKS for sharing this.
Growing up we had Friday night house cleaning, and it was intensive. We’d be up till midnight or 1 am sometimes, and no one could go to bed till it was done. My mom was a bit obsessive – I don’t plan on it being that extreme, but DH and I do something similar and I plan to bring our kids up doing it too.
he only thing is Fri. nights stunk especially as us kids got older nad social commitments. I like Thursdays better.
Oh, I love a man that vacuums!!!
I sure wish that I had taught my children to clean! I have 2 boys … 22 and 24. They now own their own homes and I am trying to teach them to clean and cook! A little late …
What a great idea. Question from a mom of busy teenagers: what do you do when someone has a time conflict on a Thursday night? Do they do their part another time? This would be our problem.
I think this is beyond brilliant! I struggle with keeping our house as clean as I want it to be and getting the kids (four – ages 5 to 12) to help. I like this team approach. Builds character, right?! Thanks for sharing.