Kids Bedroom

I always tell them that they need to clean their room and put things away. If I see things out I throw it away or give it away. There have been many times they have come home from their dads and their stuff has been given away. I warned them. Now they put stuff away when I tell them to.
I like my rooms clean where you can't see anything. If I see it that means you have too much stuff and someone else needs to get it now.

My kids are 5 1/2 yo twins and 8 and they clean their own rooms as far as picking up all the toys and stuff and putting all of it where it goes. I dust and vacuum and change the sheets. They have hampers in their rooms to keep the dirty clothes off the floor. I got the fold up kind with fabric covers and a removable mesh bags. To keep their rooms from getting too crazy messy they must have their rooms picked up every night before bed. Usually they get it done earlier. I got tired of tripping on toys when I check on them or help them in the night.

my 4 & 7 yo get my help (mainly because we have all these bins and drawers and they like to get them in the "right" ones) but are responsible for helping and by 'help' do 50 % or more of the picking up and sorting - no playing while we clean and then my 7 yo likes to run the sweeper and dust :)
Obviously 4 yo does a little less, but both are then responsible for keeping it 'clean' for the occassion - LOL!

My kids (ages 4-10) are all responsible for cleaning their own rooms. There is no TV, movies, Video games, or freinds until their rooms are picked up. Sometimes I will have to sit in the room and point out what needs to be done, but I expect them to do it.

My son is 2 and he helps just putting his toys away. He thinks it is a game that he is playing. He will also "help" me dust. I will give him a rag with out dust spray on it and he goes around the house wiping off the chairs, tables ect. I am hoping that by allowing him to "help" me now and make it a game that he will be able to help at least keep his room clean as he gets older.
I know that when I was your kids ages I had cleaning chores besides keeping my room clean. I was expected to help dust the furniture and help put laundry away. I don't think that they are to young to at least put their toys way and maybe even help with some simple house cleaning like dusting.

8 and 11, they clean their room daily or weekly but then once a month, I go in there and just spring clean all the papers and stuff they want to save and it is refreshed. :0)

My daughters are 5 and 7 and have been cleaning their own room for a while. They share a room, so they have each others company while they're cleaning. They pop in some music and knock it out when I ask them to. Granted, it's not the best job (meaning, not how I would do it), but they get it done. They even sweep their own floor. I get in there about 4x per year to show them how it SHOULD be done... which lasts all of 3 days if I'm lucky ;) Sometimes I just have to clean out the clutter. I also have them go through their stuff pretty regularly; they are responsible for getting rid of broken toys, games with missing pieces, clothes that don't fit, and stuff they just don't want anymore. They're good kids :)

Well if the idea of cleaning is putting everything under the bed and into the closet then my daughter does a wonderful job. LOL..She is 8 and still needs my guidance and sometimes lots of encouragement. Can't wait until the day she does it all on her own in the right way!! And to think I get to go through this again with my almost 2 year old son......gasp.....Where is my help when I need to clean my room???

For the most part my daughters (3 and 5) are responsible for cleaning their own rooms. My older daughter does a pretty good job of it. Occasionally I might go in there and do a quick sweep for dirty clothes or something, but other than that - the last time I had company I just shut their doors. lol

My mom (who, in retrospect, was the best mom in the world) took this strategy.
Since she worked full-time, Saturday mornings (after cartoons, of course) was a 1-hour cleaning frenzy time for the kids. At 8 years old, if I didn't have my dirty clothes in the hamper, bed made, and toys organized at the end of the hour, then I'd have to pick up not only my room but also do another dreaded chore (such as wipe around the outside of the toilet bowl with vinegar/water-yuk!)

Of course, we didn't have a lot of toys. The toys we did have had their own labeled places (toy box, bin, etc.) so it was crystal clear where everything belonged. Same with clothes drawers.

When I was a teen, Mom would throw any clothes left lying on the floor after 1 pm Saturday out on the front lawn. Underwear and everything. The horrors! This only happened to me once, believe me!

Bottom line: Mom was always a woman of her word. If she said she was going to do something, she'd do it. So pay attention the first time!

I think at 8 and 6 they should definitely be doing most of it themsleves. My kids are 2 and 4 and the 4 year old does everything but vaccuuming, and the 2 year old does all his own toy pick up - directed by me, of course, but I am not DOING it. They may need some direction stilll - not just you sayinf "go clean your room", but syaing, - please put all your books in your bookshelf now, now put all dirty clothes in the hamper, now put all clean clothes away, now pick up toys.....now here is the duster, here is the vaccuum. Easy way to do this is to make a checklist or a daily chore chart - and have one thing/step to be done each day.

Check out Flylady.com - she has a great system fo the hwole house, but I thinkshe has one for kids rooms too!

Here are some of her tips having to do with kids:
http://www.flylady.net/pages/FlyBaby_Children.asp

http://www.flylady.net/pages/kidstips.asp

http://www.flylady.net/pages/pam.asp

Jess

My kids are 6 and 8 and they clean there own rooms. They don't always "keep" them clean, so when I notice them getting bad, we spend some time Sat morning or something with them cleaning. They are pretty good at it, but I usually go in and check when they say they are done and have to tell them to fix a couple of things. We've been doing it this way for at least the past year and they continue to get better and there is less stuff that they have to "fix" when I check.

6 & 8 are still pretty young - at this age they still needs lots of guidance. My kids really didn't begin to take full responsibility for their rooms until middle school (in terms of dusting, vacuuming, changing sheets). At 6 she has no idea what to keep, what to throw out, where to put stuff. That's when you gentley guide them. 8 is only a little bit better.

Write a checklist for your 8 yr old - to include stuff like -books on shelf - dolls/action heros in bin - shoes in closet - dust window sills, remove sheets, - vacuum areound the edges with teh little brush, - vacuum the rest of the room with the carpet attachment, etc. But I think you're still a few years to go with your 6 yr old.

I think your kids can likely clean most of their room. I'd consider a few things: can they be allowed to keep a messy room if they want? Some people close the door and call it done. This works in some homes and you can consider if it would work for you. Some people tell their kids that any toys/clothes left on the floor at vaccuming time will be removed and donated to other children who need them and will take care of them. I'd bring a box in there right before I vaccumed and put everything that's on the floor into it. Then, get rid of it. Help them to design an organizing system to keep track of their stuff and to have a place to put each item in their bedroom. Label it with words or pictures as appropriate to help with cleaning up.

If I were you, I'd start by helping them go through their room and choose a few things to get rid of, less stuff in the room is less stuff to clean up later. Then, organize and teach them how to clean it. Then, follow through on getting rid of stuff that isn't cleaned up. When you empower them to clean their own room, you're teaching them one important step in being a productive member of society. They can handle this. Help them make it a job they can handle!