How to Distract a Child While Cleaning a House

The house needs cleaning, whether your little one likes it or not. When you need to do housework and you have a child who wants attention, you may need to devise creative distraction techniques to make it possible to clean. With a happily busy child, you can focus on the cleaning tasks at hand to get them done effectively. Once you finish your work, make sure you take the time to reconnect with your youngster.

Things You'll Need

  • Toy box
  • Engaging toys
  • Kid-size tools

Instructions

    • 1

      Create a chore toy box for your child to use only during cleaning time, filled with special toys. Choose especially engaging and attractive toys that your child enjoys playing with to ensure that he stays busy during chore time. For example, musical instruments, electronic toys or building sets might have a strong appeal to your youngster, so place them in the box.

    • 2

      Get out the chore toy box whenever you need to spend time cleaning. Make the appearance of this box exciting for your child so she can anticipate playing with these enjoyable toys.

    • 3

      Play upbeat and energetic music while you clean and while your youngster plays. The genre of music doesn̵7;t matter ̵1; just make sure your child enjoys the music so everyone feels energized and invigorated.

    • 4

      Engage with your child as you clean and as he plays. You could sing together, dance around the room as you dust or just tell stories to each other. There̵7;s no reason for housework to be filled with drudgery, and approaching it with a positive attitude shows your child that work can be enjoyable.

    • 5

      Enlist your child̵7;s help with chores. Although it can be more time-consuming to have your child help you, children can learn important lessons from chores, according to psychologist Dr. Eileen Kennedy-Moore, writing for the "Psychology Today" website. Your child can learn skills such as sweeping and folding laundry. Your child can also benefit from feeling like he̵7;s part of the family team.

    • 6

      Provide your child with kid-size tools for housework to increase motivation. Your youngster might appreciate and feel motivated by using a child-size broom or a little dust cloth to fit in her hand.

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