Schools across the UK have broken up for the summer holiday, signalling the start of 6 weeks of anger and frustration as parents desperately try to keep their increasingly bored kids entertained.<\/p>\n
But what if there was a way to keep the kids entertained and<\/i> get them to do something productive like decluttering your home?<\/p>\n
We got our best child psychologists (read: the people who have kids) to come up with 7 unbeatable ways to get your kids to clean up the house this summer (and maybe even make you a bit of cash too).<\/p>\n
Alright, this is technically bribery but kids aren\u2019t stupid; if you\u2019re making them sift through your DVDs and CDs so you can sell them to us<\/a>, they\u2019re going to want a piece of the action so they can afford sweeties and Pokemon cards (or whatever kids are into these days).<\/p>\n A child\u2019s biggest fear is that Father Christmas won\u2019t pay them a visit this year, so play on your psychological advantage and tell them ol\u2019 Saint Nick won\u2019t have enough space to leave them presents unless they clean up their clutter.<\/p>\n It\u2019s technically a lie, but then again, so is [line redacted for the protection of children everywhere].<\/p>\n Kids love games, so it makes sense to turn a decluttering session into one. It\u2019ll have to be a good one to compete with the allure of video games though, so give it a real incentive: whoever clears the most in a day gets an ice cream, while the other has to sit in their room moping all day. Okay, that\u2019s a bit extreme. They both get ice creams, alright?<\/p>\n Children are naturally inquisitive, which is why most parents instinctively wince a little bit when anyone utters the word \u201d\u02dcwhy\u2019. <\/b><\/p>\n
\nTell them Father Christmas won\u2019t have enough space to leave presents<\/h4>\n
\nTurn decluttering into a game<\/h4>\n
\nGive them reasons to declutter<\/h4>\n