How to Encourage Kids to Help Clean for Pesach

ByMenucha Citron Ceder Posted on

If you’re looking for ways to encourage your kids to help with Pesach cleaning, you’re in the right place! These tips are an expansion on my Pesach cleaning tips and hacks where I offered some brief advice. This post contains affiliate links.

Sometimes it can feel like we’re on our own, getting our spaces ready for Pesach. It can feel like a heavy weight, especially when there are smaller humans that are perfectly capable of helping… but don’t necessarily step in.

It’s something that I find frustrating myself. I remember almost every single night between Purim and Pesach spent helping my mother clean the house. And while memories can be misleading, I know I helped a lot. So why doesn’t it work the same in my home?

The truth is, my kids are still young. And while there’s a lot they can do, there’s also a lot they can’t. It took some tries, but I learned some tricks and changes-in-approach that make a big differnece.

Nothing is going to be an all-in-one solution. Every kid is different, so different things will work for everyone. The goal is to share multiple ideas, so that hopefully, you’ll find something in here that is worth trying for your kid. You know them best. See which idea resonates most.

Some of these ideas are just changes in mindset. Some will cost a bit. I like to think of any costs incurred as additional cleaning help expenses. We spend the few extra bucks on a few extra hours of cleaning help, better cleaning tools… so if I spend a few on helping my kids help – while learning valuable life skills – it’s a win.

Make Pesach cleaning easier for the kids

One of my favorite approaches to encouraging kids to help clean for Pesach is by figuring out ways to make it doable. Here are some tips for that.

Choosing the right tasks

A lot of Pesach cleaning is about personality. One kid will get overwhelmed when I ask him to clean the stroller. The other will love it. One will move through a toy box quickly. The other will get lost somewhere in Spain in the process.

It can be easy to hand out the next task to the nearest child, but matching them up better goes a long way. There are also some things that the kids will do a better job of than others. The ones they can do independently are always a win. Some examples of things I give my kids to do:

  • The stroller(s)
  • Any smaller single drawer, shelf, or bin that needs a quick empty-and-reload.
  • Anything that we spray down heavily to get most of the cleaning of it done (that is, figuring that the spray ensures that any leftover chametz is rendered definitely inedible) – like dining room chairs, kitchen stools, table, etc
  • Not just cleaning: I also commission kids to cover areas that are being sold, etc.

It’ll take some trial and error to figure out which things work best, but a general rule is that micro tasks work best. When it comes to general picking up toys, I find that giving kids a count rather than an area helps. Meaning “pick up and put away 20 toys” is better than “clean the playroom” – even if you keep adding another ten until it’s clean (as long as you were clear you were going to do that before you started.

Choosing the right times

Another thing to note is timing. How many times have I gotten frustrated with a kid who wouldn’t clean as asked… because he JUST sat down with a book?! Or have them complain that they’re too tired and not really HEARD them?

I like to give my kids a time frame with a little flexibility. I also teach them basic time planning strategies. “You need to get this done before bedtime. You are not going to bed late. The later it is the more tired you might be, the more work it might feel like. Would you like to do it now, read for ten minutes (set a timer) and then do it, or are you pushing it off until the last minute?”

During vacation it’s easy to answer “but I’m too tired” with “okay, that’s your job to get done first thing tomorrow morning. I need it done before I can move on to XYZ.”

I like to think of it this way: I usually get to map out my tasks and have wiggle room with when I do things. In fact, I often get annoyed when I’m given a task that needs to get done NOW despite it having been known in advance. Giving my kids that room to choose their timing (with limitation) does also give them valuable skills for the future.

In general, I give them a lot more to do on the vacation days before Pesach than on evenings before vacation starts. My approach is usually to have them complete certain things before, for example, screen time. It motivates them (more on that soon) AND they tend to emerge from the screens kind of sluggish.

It feels heavy to save so much for those last days before, but there really is more time then. Now, I’m spending those last precious school days working. Then, they’ll have all day, and I won’t be able to get meaningful work done anyway. So it’s a wise strategy, even if it makes me feel a bit anxious.

Visual Aids

Some kids can complete larger (or even smaller) tasks much better with the help of visual aids.

As a paper planner person myself, I understand how much more approachable tasks can be when they’re visually mapped out for you. So, a few years ago, when a reader approached me with this request, I created some visual cleaning guides for kids.

There are two approaches. One focuses on a kid cleaning out their own areas. The other focuses on cleaning other areas around the house. The basic approach is to empty the area, for personal spaces only to sort (keep, donate, toss), clean, and put things back. Kids can color it in as they go along.

It really breaks things down for the kids into an easy-to-understand visual process, with the correct cleaning tool outlined visually on each one. Instead of “help, I need to clean my room” they can think of it as one item at a time. You can create a planner for them, or hand them pages as they need it.

get the personal spaces visual cleaning guide here get the home visual cleaning guide here

Kid-friendly tools

Another trick in my book is the one that many parents take when it comes to things like snow removal: get special tools for the kids!

Whether it’s a fun spray bottle, or a cleaning set like this that I got for my own kids, getting tools that are fun really make a big difference.

For older kids, it’s less kid-size tools and more… gadgety ones. I’m not gonna lie, those can get pricey. But if you have room in the budget for some cleaning aids, it can really help rope in the kids. PLUS it helps with my cleaning too…

Some examples of tools that have gotten the big kids (again, responsible enough to handle these) into helping:

You catch my drift. If it plugs in and makes noise, they’ll want to use it. Teach them how to use it properly and they can be a real help.

For some kids even rubber gloves can help!

Ways to motivate kids to clean for Pesach

Sometimes we just need a little motivation… That’s how we operate. Think about how efficiently we clean the house when guests are on the way, right? That’s our motivation right there. Personally, I’m super motivated Pesach time, both by the deadline, and because I absolutely LOVE that feeling that once-a-year when I know in my bones that the house is truly deep-down clean.

For kids, different things will motivate. Let’s explore some of them…

Share the benefit to THEM – but in a non-preachy way

You CAN try to transfer some of your excitement and enthusiasm to them. Think about how awesome that clean car is. Or how thrilling it is that their room is SO CLEAN. This obviously works better with older kids.

Showcase it. After an area is clean, show them your own joy, show them how fun it is. I also like to highlight how much easier it is to find what they want to play with, how much easier post-play cleanup is when the area started out clean.

Daily Prizes and Rewards

Personally, I lean heavily on the whole prize thing… We give the kids each a prize and an edible treat for each day that they clean. In addition, they get a bigger new toy, a book, etc at the end.

Our parents hooked us up with personal chocolate stashes to thank us for our help back in the day. I’m talking good chocolate, a few bars, just for us, to last us through the holiday. It was the ultimate treat. And they did it in a tasteful way: they snuck an extra bar to those of us who helped more (or maybe they privately told each of us that, who knows?!)

Here are some more ideas for rewards, snuck from the Pesach cleaning tips post:

Prizes are usually small tchachkes (as close to a dollar each as I can get it, besides for a few exceptions that are really worth it). They live in prize boxes (one for the younger kids, one for the older). Kids can choose – and they LOVE going through it and choosing. It’s part of the prize. Bigger cleaning days do often get slightly bigger prizes (small toys more than actual prizes).

And ideas for the bigger/end-of-clean toys for Pesach:

  • Keva planks – good for a huge range of age groups. This is what we gave them last year. It’s a timeless, “keep for the grandkids” quality toy.
  • New LEGO sets (some people don’t use LEGO on Shabbat and holidays, so ask your Rabbi. We do, so this is a great choice for us).
  • Plus Plus is another fun, open-ended building toy
  • Clixo is a Jewish-owned magnetic building toy that my kids love
  • New games. Some recent (non-muktzah) favorites include Tummple, Floats McGoats, Smart Games single-player puzzle games, and Quirkle
  • An experience: gift them a super cool Chol Hamo’ed trip as a reward! This only works if you’re not doing the same for Sukkot
  • We usually also give the kids a couple of new Jewish books as a reward for their help.

Outings, parent/kid dates, and similar incentives have even more value, if they are truly helpful and you can swing it.

Special Pesach Incentives for those who help make it happen

Beyond toys, there are small (and not-so-small) ways to make the holiday extra special for those who helped bring it in.

I’m thinking new jewelry (yes, it can be cheap and fake but still pretty), new clothing or shoes for the holiday, a new tie, or anything for direct holiday use. It’s great for those who like to give incentives with intention, in a way that feels more like a direct result of the action.

For kids who care more, giving them leeway with how the table is set, choosing table decor, or in general providing a table decorating budget can be a great way to reward them for being an active part of making Pesach happen. This works best for the kids who ask to help decorate the table – let it be a natural extension of their help cleaning. That is, if you help with the chores of keeping house, you get to be part of the fun parts too.

Do certain tasks before receiving certain privileges

On an everyday basis, my kids know that they have to complete all obligations before screen time. If there’s homework, chores, or even cleaning the toy they were playing with, that must be done first. If they need a little break, that’s fine, but screen time waits until they’ve done what they need to.

Beyond that, Pesach time is ripe with opportunity for more privileges – and again, it’ll depend on age, which privileges they get regardless of earning it, and what feels special. Some more ideas:

  • Grocery shopping with parents past bedtime
  • Getting to help choose Pesach treats (combined with the above)
  • Staying up later than usual in general
  • Staying up for full meals if they’d normally only stay for Kiddush and Matzah (great incentive for younger kids)
  • Choosing menu items or desserts

Again, the idea is: they’re helping with the grown-up things, so they get to participate in some of the grown stuff.

More tips to encourage kids to help clean for Pesach

Here are a few more tips and tricks for roping in the kids- without adding to your own stress levels.

Be cognizant of their energy levels

It’s something that I noticed – not all kids have the high energy that they’re reputed to have. Having a bit of a mental list of low-energy jobs can help your lower energy kids help more, without adding stress.

Include them in the planning process

Edit and print out this big Pesach cleaning checklist to use as a family. Let kids check off the checklist, choose items from the checklist, and in general take part in the planning angle of Pesach cleaning, and not just be told to do things.

Make it fun

Here’s a trick that works for adults too: make it fun. Turn on that music. Play cleaning games. In fact, I have a free printable I Spy Pesach Cleaning game here, and a Bingo game as well. The idea is that when kids do an action/find a Chametz item/ clean an item they color it in. It can be a little competition, a glorified reward chart, or a self-motivating factor.

Race through bins in the playroom, have a “who can find the most chametz” challenge… get creative!

Do it Together

And a final note: almost all of the help my kids give is alongside me, and often my husband as well. The big exceptions: while I’m cooking they sometimes will clean the dining chairs in the next room, and their backpacks are their own challenges.

I’m not telling them to clean things themselves for the most part. We’re working together. And that helps to make it an actual enjoyable together-time that they sometimes even look forward to.

Got any other tips for how to encourage kids to help clean for Pesach? Comment below!

Menucha is a crafting mom of four kids: a 12 year old boy, 9 year old boy, 5 year old girl, and a 2 year old boy. Her main blog is momsandcrafters.com, where she shares fun crafty ideas, printables, and parenting articles. The Jewish section is her passion, sharing the life behind the Jewish holidays and raising an Orthodox family with joy.

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