WOW! I can’t believe it was THREE years ago we had Camp Cleanup. (I honestly thought it was only two, but there’s the 2007 date in print.)
Any way, the conversation of summer camp came up with my neighbor/friend the other day, so I told her all about the Camp Cleanup we held a few years ago. She thought it was a good idea. Oddly enough, my kids liked it too. The house could definitely use it. And we still have the camp t-shirts from 3 years ago. (The shirts were so big then that they still fit now.)
The idea behind Camp Cleanup is to give your kids something to do during one week of their school vacation and get your house clean at the same time. While everyone else’s kids go off to camp, we stay home and clean. (My daughter just said “we have fun”.) We spend the mornings cleaning together and then do something fun (or even more fun) together as a family in the afternoon as a reward. Make camp t-shirts, go to the park, get ice cream, etc.
Going back to read my old post, I remembered that we designated an area of the house for each day and drew from a cup every morning to see what it would be. Sounds cheezy, but it really did add to the excitement. We worked our way from ceiling to floor in each area, trying to make it as fun as possible. You know, throw water all over the kitchen floor and skate around in it with wash cloths under our feet. Stuff like that. You’ve really gotta get creative! (Which is hard for me to do… Not sure what I was taking when I came up with the idea.)
We are thinking about repeating Camp Cleanup this year. I need some inspiration!!! Do you have any fun ways to clean that you can share? How about some great inexpensive rewards to fit the theme?