A child should also be responsible for as much of his own room as he is capable of cleaning—basically the floor and the bed, the room’s two largest surfaces. When these are tidy, the room looks clean, even if it’s not magazine perfect.

Here are some more tips that work well with little ones:

     •   For a young child, consider a puffy comforter bedspread that will be more forgiving when wrinkles are left beneath it. The child pulls up the sheet and comforter, plumps the pillows, and he’s done.

     •   Make it easy for him to keep his room tidy. Remove extra toys—the more he has, the more he (and you!) must clean around. Give away or sell unused toys, and store the rest in the attic, the basement, or on a high shelf. They will seem like new when you trade them for the toys he keeps in his room. Note the word trade.

     •   Store toys in easy-to-use containers. He is more likely to place toys on an open shelf or lidless bin than in drawers that require opening and closing for each item he puts away. He will learn valuable lessons about categorizing and sorting as you organize his room together.

     •   Provide a place in each bedroom for dirty clothes. What boy doesn’t enjoy shooting soiled socks into his hamper from across the room?

     •   A low rod in the closet is helpful if your child has many hanging clothes. To paraphrase Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child to put away his clothes as he removes them so when he is old he will not drape them over a chair.”

     •   Set certain times each day to tidy the house. Many families require the children to make their beds before breakfast; they schedule another clean-up session just before Daddy gets home; and then, just before bedtime, everything is tidied up so everyone can start fresh in the morning. Besides, Legos™ left overnight on the floor are a nasty surprise in the dark for bare feet. Ouch!

     •   When he is older, your child will dust and vacuum his own room. But for now, you will do most of it. It is his job to make dusting and vacuuming easy for you by tidying up his room.

     •   However, don’t forget that your little one’s body is perfectly designed to get into the places that are awkward for you to clean. Take advantage of this by having him use a feather duster on the chair rungs, in the knee hole of the desk, and on the lower shelves.