Spring is here! The sun is warmer, the plants are bursting and the kids all seem to have discovered a whole new energy!

Suddenly they’re all super charged and full on into everything. We love seeing our kids finger painting (actually more like full body painting), making mud pies, helping themselves to the pantry (or the jar of Nutella!) and tossing the spoon or fork aside and diving into dinner with their hands!

It’s life with kids … it’s often just one big mess! But with that mess comes so much fun.

The kids are discovering new tastes, textures and activities. They having an absolute blast and you’re getting photos that you’ll treasure forever and bring out at their 21st birthday party. The joy on their faces just stops you in your tracks, and to be honest, all you can do is laugh.

The mess is only temporary but you’ll remember the fun forever. And if we’re being honest, even the biggest messes aren’t that hard to handle.  You could even get your gorgeous, messy kids to help.

Here’s a few easy tips to get your kids helping out when it comes to mess.

1. Give each of your children their own little cleaning kit!

It doesn’t need to be much but kids love the idea of having something just like you.  Get them their own Dustpan and Brush, add a Microfibre Cloth, an easy to handle little scrubbing brush like an Oates Grout Brush and a scourer.  Pop everything into a bucket and the let the kids decorate their bucket with some stickers and then you add their name with a permanent marker.

If you grab a multi pack of Oates Microfibre Cloths, you’ll be able to let the kids pick the colour that they would like to put into their cleaning kit (and then there’s no fighting between siblings either)!

2. Pump up the Tunes

Everyone knows that cleaning is more fun with your favourite music on in the background.  They’ll see you grooving along while you whip through the house and there’s fun all round.  You could even get your older children to help you create a #LaughAtTheMess playlist.  Everyone take turns adding a song until you’ve got a selection that will have you all toe tapping and dust slapping!

3.  Let them choose the Reason to Help Out

Show your children that jumping in and getting the cleaning done means the fun comes faster!  “As soon as we’ve cleaned up this mess, we can … [insert their favourite activity]”  If you’re anything like us and you absolutely love the feeling of a freshly cleaned house, you might like to steer them to activities like going to the park or for a walk around the neighbourhood rather than making cookies or finger painting 😉 But of course it’s totally up to you.

4. Set up a #LaughAtTheMess Jar

Find a big jar in the back of the cupboard and share with the kids that each time they help out with a little tidy or clean, they can add to the jar.  Depending on your preference, it could be that you add a treat (like a chocolate frog, a little packet of Smarties or Cookies or you might like to add some silver coins.  Then once the jar is full, take them to the shop to spend their coins.  Or if you’ve filled it with treats, set up a backyard #LaughAtTheMess party and invite a few of their friends over to share the spoils.

If you’d rather make this strategy work in reverse, you could fill your treat jar and then each time the kids help out, they get to choose something from the #LaughAtTheMess jar.  Your choice as you will know what will work better for your children in terms of keeping them motivated.

Have you got Messy Kids? Here’s a few highlights from the #MessyKids #LaughAtTheMess competition …

So what are you waiting for? Use Spring as the perfect excuse to give your home a Spring Clean … and get those gorgeous little Messy Kids on the job with you.  The mess will be history, you will have had a good laugh dealing with it … and then you can head on out and enjoy this beautiful Spring!

Do you have any other tips for getting the kids to help out around the house when it comes to cleaning? We’d love to hear them in the comments below!