Are you planning to begin your Spring Cleaning soon? Want your kids to help? I’ve got a great list of kid-friendly Spring Cleaning tasks to make that dream become a reality.
It’s almost Spring. And by almost, I mean like two days at the time of publication of this post. I don’t know about you, but when I think about Spring, I immediately think about Spring Cleaning. It’s the Type A in me. If you suffer from a Type A personality, you’re probably thinking about Spring Cleaning too.
As I mentioned in my Mom’s Guide to Spring Cleaning post, I fully endorse a lazy approach to Spring Cleaning, Type A personality and all. Why? Life is too short to waste the brightening days cleaning. But if you take the lazy approach and you follow my advice to get your family involved, you can get your Spring Cleaning done in much less time than you’re probably thinking you will need. And yes, enlisting your family’s help includes your kids, even little kids like toddlers and preschoolers!
Are you skeptical that you can get your kids to actually help with your Spring Cleaning? I get it, I was skeptical too. But I promise, kids can help! You just need to give them age-appropriate, kid-friendly Spring Cleaning tasks if you want their participation to help rather than hinder you.
I have a 5-year-old and an almost 3-year-old, and they can do everything on this list. And it’s surprisingly a lot! So, my list of kid-friendly Spring Cleaning tasks will work for kids of pretty much all ages. If they are mobile and can follow instructions, they can help with Spring Cleaning!
Kid-Friendly Spring Cleaning Tasks
Dust
Not only should dusting be high on your list of kid-friendly Spring Cleaning tasks because it’s something that kids can do easily, it’s also really fun for them! My kids love to dust! Sometimes they do it just for fun. They’ll ask if they can have the duster and that is never a request I say no to. But dusting can be more than just raking a duster over the surfaces in your house, and kids can help with almost all of the dusting!
General dusting
When I say general dusting, I mean raking a duster over the surfaces in your house. Just because this is the obvious form of dusting doesn’t mean it doesn’t need to happen. Especially for small kids, I find that a smaller duster works better. Consider this OXO delicate duster, a gentler duster that has less chance to wreak havoc when in a kid’s hand which has a machine washable head!
Baseboards
When I think Spring Cleaning, I think dust the baseboards because, let’s face it, that’s really the only time I actually remember to do it. Good thing dusting the baseboards is a perfect kid-friendly Spring Cleaning task. The smaller the kid, the better! Just hand your kid a spray bottle full of water (I buy my plastic spray bottles at The Dollar Tree) and a microfiber cloth and let them go to town!
Air vents
If your air vents are in your floor like mine are, dusting them is also a great kid-friendly Spring Cleaning task. When they’re finished with the baseboards, the kids can take their spray bottles full of water and microfiber cloths and get to work on the air vents!
Vacuum
I mentioned in my January Things 2025 post, my stick vacuum Christmas present has truly changed my life. What I didn’t expect when I decided on a stick vacuum for my Christmas present was that I would have to fight my 5-year-old to use it. Seriously, he loves it. He uses it daily and even asks to vacuum when he goes to his aunt’s house. In my house, I’m definitely taking advantage of his newfound love of vacuuming this Spring. And I think you should instill a love of vacuuming in your kids too. Who’s in to give the kids vacuuming as their Spring Cleaning task this year?
Mop
It’s not just vacuuming that my 5-year-old loves. He’s got to be the one to mop too. In fact, he’s so enthusiastic about mopping that he has broken our Swiffer WetJet. Until I get my hands on a new one, he’s stuck with the old-fashioned mop, which still tickles him pink. We have a Libman Wonder Mop, which uses replaceable and washable mopping heads. Just make sure you don’t give your kids too much water in the bucket or you might need an ark.
Wipe
When my son was younger, he loved to wipe things like the walls and the cabinets. If he couldn’t find a microfiber cloth and I wasn’t quick enough to respond to his demand for one, he would go get a sock out of his dad’s dresser and use that. Now he doesn’t get quite the kick out of wiping surfaces that he once did but has passed this pastime on to his sister. She now loves to wipe things. And wiping walls and cabinets makes my list of kid-friendly Spring Cleaning tasks because there is very little harm that kids can do with this task. I mix Dawn dish soap and water in one of my trusty Dollar Tree spray bottles and let her go to town wiping walls and cabinets with a rag.
Clean upholstery
When my 5-year-old isn’t vacuuming or mopping the floors, he’s asking to clean the sofa with our beloved Little Green Machine. With two kids and a dog who literally lives her life on the sofa, it gets a lot of use. And it’s fun to use, which is why it makes a great kid-friendly Spring Cleaning task. Just set your kid up with the machine (fill it with water and cleaner and then plug it in near the upholstery you’d like him to clean) and send him on a mission to destroy the stains. He’ll get to live out his superhero fantasies and I get a sofa that is free of chocolate and boogers. Win, win!
Go through toys
You have too many toys in your house. I have too many toys in my house. Take the Spring Cleaning opportunity to go through them and get some of them out of your house and donate them to kids who don’t have enough toys. But don’t do this alone. Enlist your kids’ help. In addition to knowing exactly what they still play with and what they don’t, going through the toys and deciding which ones to part with is a great opportunity to teach your kids about the importance of being generous.
Once you have decided which toys to keep, and which toys to part with, it’s time to clean them. Throw any stuffed animals that can be washed in the washing machine and spot clean the rest. Dunk any Little People, Legos, or other plastic toys in a bin of warm, soapy water. Wipe down the bigger toys like dollhouses or play kitchens. Don’t go through all the work of sorting the toys and leave them filthy.
Go through clothes
I loathe going through my kids’ clothes, even with my system that makes it easy. If your kids are say preschoolers or older, they can take this task off your list. Ask them to dump everything out of their drawers and sort it into three piles:
- Items with holes or stains
- Items that don’t fit
- Items that fit and are clean
This is one of those rare kid-friendly Spring Cleaning tasks that your kids will actually see the benefit in every day when they go to get dressed in the morning. No one likes to deal with unwearable clothes clogging up their drawers.
Organize books
Hi, my name is Sara and I have a problem buying too many books. I’ve told you before that I’m obsessed with the clearance rack at my local used bookstore. Although my obsession is definitely applicable to books for me, it’s probably worse when it comes to books for my kids. Their bookshelves runneth over. Spring Cleaning is definitely a good time to organize their books, and it’s definitely a task that the kids can handle. They know which books like turn to over and over again and which books they don’t really like. Give them the agency to decide what books deserve a spot on the bookshelf.
Clean trash cans
OK, so your kids might whine about this one, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t belong on the list of kid-friendly Spring Cleaning tasks. There is no reason that kids can’t clean the trash cans. Indoor trash cans, outdoor trash cans, the big trash cans that go to the curb – you name, the kids can clean it. I find the kids to be especially helpful when cleaning the curb trash cans because they can fit inside the bins and really get them clean (do a preliminary rinse before you send them in, though).
Clean sinks
The bathroom is a hard place to find kid-friendly Spring Cleaning tasks because I tend to use harsher cleaners when I’m cleaning the bathrooms in my house. However, you don’t have to kick them out of the bathroom entirely while you’re Spring Cleaning. Kids can definitely clean sinks! In my house, the sinks typically need good old-fashioned elbow grease more than they need cleaner to get them clean. Lucky for use, kids can contact elbow grease safely. Give them a stool and a rag and let them scrub, scrub, scrub!
Unclog dryer lint trap
One of my favorite products I’ve ever bought is a dryer vent cleaner kit. It’s so satisfying to shove the brush into the vent and pull out the big chunks and then go in with the vacuum attachment to get the rest. But even though I get a weird amount of pleasure out of using this product, I’m willing to forego an opportunity to use it because it makes a great kid-friendly Spring Cleaning task. Just make sure you also give your kids a trash bag to collect the lint or else they’ll be doing a lot more dusting.
Deodorize beds
You probably don’t deodorize your beds very often. I know I don’t. But I do when it’s Spring Cleaning time. I know there are hacks and products out there that claim to do the best job at deodorizing mattresses, but I keep it simple, which means it’s a kid-friendly Spring Cleaning task too. I simply strip the beds, have the kids sprinkle baking soda all over the mattresses, and then have them come back after an hour or so to vacuum it up. What other kid-friendly Spring Cleaning tasks involve sprinkling stuff and vacuuming? A kid’s dream!
Sweep garage
And last, but certainly not least, on my list of kid-friendly Spring Cleaning tasks is to sweep the garage. Even if you keep your garage as clean as you can, it still needs to be swept. It’s shocking how much dirt accumulates on the garage floor. And that’s not even considering the leaves and the grass and the Cheerios that find their way to the garage floor. We like to sweep the garage pretty regularly because it just gets so dirty so fast, but it’s definitely included on my Spring Cleaning checklist. Happily, sweeping the garage is definitely a task I can delegate to a kid, my 5-year-old in particular. I just hand him the push broom and the next thing I know, the garage floor is clean again.
Other posts
If you’re looking for other ways to get your kids involved, check out these posts:
Good luck with your Spring Cleaning this year friends, and with getting your kids to help. What are your favorite kid-friendly Spring Cleaning tasks to give your kids? Share them down below or over on Instagram @sarainseason.
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