It’s time to sweep the cobwebs away and your children might have actually already helped you!

Traditionally, spring cleaning was linked to religious rituals, so those pancakes you and the kids had on Pancake Day already helped you decluttered your “bad” food.

The act of the spring clean was linked to the weather getting better, as they could open the windows and doors to get rid of all the dust as well as clearing out the fireplace as it wouldn’t be needed as much. With modern technology and central heating that part is not as important anymore, but it is known that a good refresh is amazing for the brain.

So, the Spring Clean is a great habit and life skill to get our children involved with.

Let’ start in the Craft cupboard

Get the children to pull everything out- the glitter, the pom poms, the lollipop sticks and the stickers. Not only will you find many Christmas and Halloween related items, you’ll find that they will start to make things there and then. With things they haven’t touched since October!

The dried playdough can go in the bin, and any broken or ‘beyond saving’ cutters or implements can be parted with. For any duplicates, while they are crafting, ask them which they prefer, and donate the rest.

A fun activity that children always love to get involved in is to sharpen the pencils, as an ex-teacher, a battery sharpener literally saves your fingers (and the children want to do it!)

Then get them to check the felt tips by drawing lines on a piece of paper (this ends up quite pretty) and bin the dried ones.

Because everything is out of the cupboard and boxes, give everything a good wipe down and perhaps thing about a more structured or useful solution if the previous ones are not working for you.

The dreaded shed

Do the balls roll out when you open the door? Can you get to the children’s helmets? Where is that frisbee you got on holiday?

While the weather has been chilly, it’s been lovely to be outside in the sunshine. If we want our children to spend time outside, which we do, as it is great for their health, having what they need to hand leads to a more purposeful time, with less “I’m bored”

I think you already know what I am going to suggest. Pull everything out. If your shed also holds gardening equipment, the safety of our children is our biggest concern. Keep dangerous items out of reach.

Go in the shed with them and count how many spiders webs you have!

Give everywhere a good sweep.

Just like the craft cupboard, the children will start to play with things they haven’t even thought about since last summer, and that’s ok! Play a game with the items! With your storage solutions all wiped down, stand at the other end of the garden and take turns to throw the item in the correct boxes.

When they are all full, make sure you store them at child height. The heaviest child-related boxes should be kept on the floor to prevent them from trying to move it when you are busy. Try not to stack boxes that are ‘in-use’ as this means they won’t play with those items until next summer, when you do this all again. Then enjoy your garden come rain or shine. There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad kit!

Sweeping, mopping, dusting!

You guessed it, we are going to play some games.

Play the floor is lava with the brush and mop. Move the chairs around and challenge them to get around the room without touching the floor while you mop and then swap! They will want to mop then! Doing this with them being in the room means the ‘invisible jobs’ are no longer something that the ‘cleaning fairy’ does too.

Give your children a damp duster and challenge them to get it as dirty as possible! Door handles, skirting boards, banister, bookshelves! Pick them up and let them dust the door frame, that’s where they will find the most!

I love a good furniture switcheroony.

Get the children to draw a plan of the room on a piece of paper with doors, windows and radiators.

On another paper, get the children to draw and cut out the furniture.

Play around with where things could go. If the children are older, get the measuring tape out and talk about measurements, dimensions and scale. If not, you create a box for them to draw that item in.

Pull your furniture into the middle of the room (adults work with adults and be careful of your back!) and see what random things have ended up under the sofa and behind the table. See how much dust has ended up on the skirting board and move the room around.

Before you do, make the best den they have ever experienced in their lives!

The most important thing to do when decluttering, tidying or spring cleaning, is to find the fun!