Less Mess, Less Stress...

It's been a while since I've published a guest post but this one spoke to me when I read it. I LOVE it when my kids get messy, we equate mess with fun to some degree, but I am always looking for hacks to make cleaning up faster and easier.

Alex Farley is a full time working Mum of two children, aged two and five years old.  She is a writer and co-owner of a small business, Superb Cleaning Services based in London and has collated some of her cleanup tips to share with you all.

Minimise the Cleanup after Crafting with Kids

- A guest post by Alex Farley -

Are you looking for ways to occupy your little ones but at the same time you don't want to spend a whole day cleaning up after them? I know that many parents are concerned about the degree of messiness that goes hand in hand with some craft projects, but there's no need to panic! Inevitably, there are some activities which can turn into a messy disaster no matter how many times you tell your children to be a little bit more careful, but this post will share with you, a number of tips to help you minimise the clean up after crafting with your children.

Always cover the playground

One of the easiest ways to minimise the clean up is to cover the area where your kids play. For example, you can use a table cloth, a blanket or even a shower curtain. Trust me, each and every of these works really well! The best part is that after your kids are done with their craft project, you can give the cover a good wipe or throw it in the washing machine!

Better messy outside than messy inside

If the weather allows, move the messy activities outside. After your kids are done playing or crafting, the cleaning up will be a lot easier. Of course, it depends on what they played with, but the messy situation will be further under control in contrast to what would have been if they played inside.

Use the bath for messy crafting or playing

When it is cold outside, my kids know that they do all their fun activities… in the bath. To be frank, a friend of mine told me about this tip. Formerly, I let my kids play in their room which was my biggest mistake as a mother. Yes, my kids were having a hell of a fun but they did not see the situation as I did (a gigantic mess to clean after their play). Ever since that friend told me that her children played in the bath, using it as a vessel, I took advantage, too. It is a fantastic way to contain all the mess and it is extremely easy to clean the surface. Once your kids are done crafting, run the water and all the mess will be completely gone in an instant.

Replace your art supplies with washable ones

You will thank me later. To keep your children's clothes from getting heavily stained during their craft projects, use washable art supplies! I replaced all previous ‘risky’ supplies with washable watercolours and washing the clothes has never been easier!

Limit the materials to prevent a massive mess

Give your kids materials in small amounts during their craft process. If they are into painting, give them a small amount of paint and if necessary, add to their supply. Believe me, this does minimise the clean up because kids only use what they actually need as opposed to overloading their paper or ending up with a surplus at the end of their project.

Keep their fun simple

There are many simple tips on how to prevent a massive mess. The place where children play makes a great difference. For example, if you seat your kids at the table and give them crayons to draw with will not be as messy as giving them the opportunity to choose where to draw because they will instantly see the walls as their canvas. If you are worried about the table getting drawn on, cover it with paper.

If no matter how hard you try, things are getting messy anyway, keep calm and try to have fun. If you are concerned about the mess you have to deal with after you are done playing or crafting with your child, you deprive yourself of all the fun. Enjoy your time with your little ones and make the best of it.

Keeping it clean...

This is a little bit different for me, a lady called Nicole got in touch via the blog and asked if I'd consider publishing a guest post. As you know, I'm a huge fan of fostering independence and a sense of responsibility in children so when I read her article, the obvious answer was yes! Nicole just loves cleaning. She loves it so much that she turned her passion into a business  and now runs N3 EOT cleaning team. She is a firm believer that kids should be taught about cleaning chores and what better way to do that than by turning the cleaning into a game? 

Kids Can Help You With The Cleaning 

Tips and Tricks to Turn Cleaning into A Game

- A guest post by Nicole Gardiner - 

Let's be honest, have you tried to involve your kids in doing some chores around your home? Often, this attempt can lead you down a blind alley, which is no surprise at all, since most people do not find cleaning enjoyable. However, there is still hope! In order to  encourage your kids to help you more with household duties, you may need to attract their attention by turn everything into a game.

I strongly believe that kids should be taught to clean up after themselves. From an early age, they need to know that everybody at home has duties and these duties have to be carried out. Of course, the younger the child is, the easier the chores will need to be, but you may be surprised by how much kids are capable of doing to help when it comes to cleaning!

As we all know, every child is unique and feels motivated and encouraged by different strategies. Some kids prefer to follow a task list when cleaning and others prefer the cleaning to be turned into a fun game. Some kids need silence to perform at their best and others cannot be productive without listening to music. As I said, every child is unique and you know your child best. 

I am here to make everything a little bit easier for you and for your kids as well and will share some ideas to help children get more willingly involved in the cleaning process. Hopefully you will find these strategies helpful and you will be pleased with the results.

Let's try this. Grab a laundry hamper and walk around your home. Everything which is not where it should be, you put it inside. You may ask what kind of trick this is? Pay attention. When the children come back home from school, ask them to separate their own belongings from the hamper and put them back where they belong before they can watch TV, for example. Some may call it bribery, but it really does work. Try it!

Here we are for another trick, this one's called the colour game. Can you guess what it's all about? Tell your kids to look for everything black in their room. As they locate a black item, they have to put it in the place where it is usually kept. Continue the game by telling them to look for everything yellow, pick it up and again put it where it belongs. See? This can be very funny for little ones and it will also help them learn about colours. 

Every time your children are about to clean their rooms, set a time limit. If they are done before the timer goes off, you can give a reward to your little champions. They love to be appreciated and feel helpful. This will also motivate them to work more efficiently and quickly, without wasting precious time or getting distracted.

You do not expect your kids to be born taught, do you? You have to explain them what their duties are and how they are supposed to get them done. You know that they cannot clean a room in the same way as you so a good idea is to clean with them in the beginning so that they can get used to it and will know how you expect something to be done. 

Following these simple tricks and ideas will help your children learn about responsibility and you will have a cleaner home. There's no need for tears or screaming, cleaning can be fun!