Clean-up Week!

What a fantastic week we had learning all about Cleaning up! Actually it was so fun and the kids were doing so great with it...I extended it to almost 2 weeks so we could get to all the fun activities we wanted to do. I wanted to take these two weeks to help the kids understand the importance of cleaning up, help them see all the work that goes into keeping up a home, and teach them its OK to make a mess...as long as we clean it up after!

The first activity we did that the kids absolutely LOVED was making homemade bath paint. I found the original idea HERE and couldn't believe how much the kids enjoyed it. The great thing about this is I already had everything I needed on hand to make it and it was ready to go in under minutes.

All you do is take 1 C of white or clear body wash. I used baby wash so it would be tear-free. Then you mix in 4 Tbsp of corn starch and put into small containers. Add one drop of food coloring (seriously, only one, it goes a long way!) and you've got yourself some homemade bath paint!





The kids had SO much fun making a huge "mess" in the tub with all the different colors of paint, and then they had just as much fun cleaning it all up! We used paint brushes and painted letters on the walls and tub, and then the kids painted themselves too ;) I HIGHLY recommend this activity, it is quick and easy, and your kids will think you're the coolest mom around!!







One thing I thought would help involve the kids more in cleaning the house (aside from their basic chores like cleaning up their rooms) was making them their very own Cleaning Kits. I got all the supplies from WalMart for super cheap and I have been really surprised at how much they love them. Every day they ask when its time to clean...I know this will wear off eventually but I am taking advantage of it while I've got it!!







In the buckets I put a mitt duster, travel size Febreeze, Magic Eraser, sponge, travel size Clorox Wipes, and for the older kids little spray bottles with Windex and a small container of paper towels.

Then I quickly scrapbooked their names and taped them to the front. I think it has really helped them take pride in the jobs that they are able to do, and we have all been a little surprised at how many things they actually CAN do.

Like dusting :) Which is especially awesome because I have a huge staircase that gets very dusty and is usually very neglected....no more!! :)

Another really fun "messy" craft that we did was to finger paint with pudding. The kids couldn't quite grasp that they could actually stick their fingers in their pudding! But once they came around to it you can see they didn't hold back much :)

As I was doing some research online I found an article that I really enjoyed that had a lot of great tips on helping your young children clean up in a fun way! HERE is the direct link, it had some really great ideas that I have already been implementing in my home.

Finally our letter of the week was the letter C and if you so choose you can find the tracer pages and letter C template HERE.

Thank you so much for stopping by, I hope you found some fun ideas to inspire your children to help create a clean, organized environment in your home. I have to say though, my favorite thing about this week's theme was what it taught me! So often I don't do things because of the mess it will make, but I threw that all out the window as we did some seriously messy crafts...and I loved every minute of it! The memories created were worth any amount of mess...and as we learned, you can always clean up after ;) Hope you all have a wonderful week!! :)

Linking up at Gluesticks, Craft Goodies