My 7 and 6 year old girls share a room. When they are asked to clean their room they constantly fight and say the other is not helping. If your kids share a room, how do you get them to clean together? Any ideas appreciated.
Thanks!
Give them separate jobs. This one picks up all the shoes, that one picks up all the clothes. This one picks up all the dolls and that one picks up all the books. That way you also know exactly who is working and who isn't. The one not doing their job needs to have consequences but don't reward the one who did the work for doing it...that only makes the other one jealous and hate the kid that did the work.
"Go clean your room" makes sense to an adult but can be vague and overwhelming for a kid. On top of that, when you have two kids at once in the same room they are distracted and overly concerned about the action/inaction of the other.
Give them separate and very specific tasks, one thing at a time. For example:
Kid 1 - Pick up all the books and put them neatly on the shelves.
Kid 2 - Pick up all the stuffed animals and put them in the toy box.
Kid 1 - Pick up the Barbie stuff and put it away.
Kid 2 - Pick up the Legos and put them in the bin.
Kid 1 - Make the beds.
Kid 2 - Get the dirty clothes in the hamper/hang up the clean clothes.
You get the idea. Each kid will have their own task and there will be no arguments about "helping" the other.
If they started fighting and saying one was not helping then I went and supervised, no big deal. After a few times they figured out better how to work together.
If the room is split in two (like they each have a nightstand, toy bin etc.) then have them clean their half & make their own beds, picking up their own clothes.
Then together they pick up what is left on the floor with you supervising.
If they share everything & only have their own beds, they each make their
beds & you walk in take notice of what needs to be done then say
"Jane" you need to put all toys away in bins & dust. "Andrea" you need
to pick up & put away all shoes then vacuum etc.
You view the room, determine what needs to be done then allocate the
chores as necessary. Then follow up with a look-see.
Additions and clarification:
They don't need to clean together for the room to be neat.
A) Divvy up the chores, and rotate who does what.
B) If you want the room tidy each night, have them alternate nights. Then, alternate Saturdays for a more thorough straightening.
Try giving them each a specific task list and rotating the tasks.
Suzie picks up the toys and dusts. Sally takes dirty laundry to the laundry room and vaccums.
Next time, Sally picks up the toys and vaccums, Suzie takes the dirty clothes to the laundry room and dusts.
Next time, Suzie picks up toys and vaccums, Sally transports laundry and picks up toys.
I use those tasks just as examples. Break it down as detailed as you need to, and just make sure you rotate tasks so that one doesn't get stuck doing the one chore she hates every time.
Make them clean separately. Do heads or tails on a coin. That child goes in first and picks up all of THEIR stuffed animals and clothing and makes the bed. Then child 2 while child 1 is taking clothes to the laundry. Then go back and look at what is left and task each child. That way if 1 does the tasks assigned and the other doesn't, you know who was helping and who wasn't. My sister and I could not clean a room together. We had to be apart to really get it done.
