Kids Getting Out of School Here's Your Home's Summer Prep

The summer months can be packed with memories and adventures. Kids get a break from school and that means they are home more. While this means an opportunity for adventure, it can also mean a mess for your house. Having the kids home without a few plans in place can mean chaos. We want to share our tips for keeping the house clean during the summer months with kids at home.

Tips for Keeping the House Clean During Summer with Kids

Start with a Pre-Summer Deep Clean!

When thinking of keeping the house clean over the summer, many people will start from where the house already is. It can help to do a deep clean of your home before the summer begins or at the very start of summer. Taking the time to do a deep clean gives you the opportunity to reset the house back to what you consider the standard. From here, it will be easier to maintain the clean and set up a summer routine. Here are a few things to consider when doing a deep clean of your home.

• Decluttering is key! - When deep cleaning the house for summer, start with a generous declutter of your home. You will find that the overall cleanliness of the home will be incredible with less clutter. Find a place for things you want to keep and donate those things that are no longer needed. *Pro tip - make sure to declutter the toy room as your children will be spending more time playing with their favorite toys.


• Clean under and behind things - When cleaning the kitchen it can be easy to wipe down things without moving things like the fridge, small appliances, or even removing everything from the refrigerator. Getting under and behind things will allow you to remove the bulk of messes you might be encountering. Use a quality kitchen home degreaser to remove stuck-on messes and give you a better clean!


• Don’t skip the walls and the floors - When doing a deep clean, many people will forget to deep clean the walls and the floors. The 5-minute CleanWalls bundle makes cleaning walls a breeze! Use a product such as a carpet stain remover or a hard floor cleaning product to remove stuck-on messes and freshen up your floors for summer.


• Don’t forget about the laundry! - Laundry is a job that never seems to stop but it’s also one of the most important tasks to include in your summer deep clean. Take the time to use a zero waste laundry pack and clean all of the laundry in the house. This can include things like bedding, towels, and curtains. As you fold and put away laundry, you can also work on removing anything that doesn’t fit or won’t be worn, so that it can be donated.

Set Up a Summer Clean Routine

With more people home, it might be easy to assume that everyone would chip in and the house would stay cleaner. However, most families will say that having the kids home all summer means the house ends up messier than ever. The good news is that there are some simple summer clean routines you can implement to keep the house in order over the busy summer months. The even better news is that many of these routines can be implemented with little stress and are easy to keep going. Here are a few things to consider:

• Assign zones instead of chores - When trying to get kids cleaning it can help to rotate zones they are assigned to. Zones can depend on age and ability. Zones could include options such as floors, dishes/counters/tables, living room, bathroom counters and floors, and toilets/tubs. By assigning zones, you are putting your child in charge of a whole area instead of a list of chores. This can make it easier for them to take ownership.


• Have a timed pickup - Another great way to help kids see how easy it is to keep an area clean is to have a timed pickup. Set a timer for 20-30 minutes and assign everyone a zone. Let them do all they can in that time frame and then let them be finished. If you can make this a daily part of your summer routine, you are sure to have a cleaner home for longer.


• Set up drop zones - Items such as dirty shoes, wet clothes, and muddy play things can get dumped in different areas and quickly lead to big messes. It can help to set up areas where these items can be dropped off safely. Having a shoe tub by the door will allow kids to remove shoes without tracking dirt throughout the home. For wet clothes, it can help to have a laundry bin near where they will change to avoid wet clothes being left throughout the home. For muddy toys, it can help to have a bin outside for these items so they can be cleaned before coming inside.


• If you see it, fix it - One rule that can be helpful for summer is a see it, fix it rule. Messes tend to accumulate when people walk past small messes. Implement a see it, fix it rule. This will mean that if they see laundry on the floor, trash that needs to be taken to the can, or a toy that was left out, they are expected to pick it up as they go. By making this a part of their summer routine, messes will have less of a chance of taking over the house.

Important Tip!

Getting kids involved in summer cleaning is a valuable life skill for them and a time saver for you. It is important to make sure that all of your cleaning products are handled in a safe way. Have a conversation about the proper ways to use cleaning supplies. It can also be highly beneficial to work with kid-safe cleaning products you won’t have to worry about. A few things to teach children are not to consume cleaning products, not to spray them near their faces, and not to mix cleaning supplies with other cleaning supplies.