Before the grass begins to grow again and the buds begin to form, the first sign of spring is evident by the distinct smells of the outdoors. I love the subtler scents of the changing seasons like fresh morning dew, the smell of rain and the earth warming up under the strong afternoon sun.

Then there is the smell of fresh air, bringing renewed hope and the promise of new life. It’s so exciting when you can finally open the windows, hear the birds chirp and let the fresh air invigorate your home!

While I have admitted to hate cleaning, I know that spring is a good time to purge items no longer being used in the home and the dreaded spring cleaning. If you’re like me and you’re not a fan of cleaning, how can you make cleaning less boring?!

Here are 7 ways to make cleaning somewhat fun.

Get your older kids involved.

Let them take over – yes.  One chore you can pass off to the kids is cleaning the front entrance, front door and porch and doormats. Have the kids soak the door mat in warm water mixed with a scoop of OxiClean™ Versatile Stain Remover for six hours then wash as directed. Let them hose down the front porch and wipe down the front door. You want the entrance to your home to also be clean.

Another great way to purge unused clothes and items is to have your kids go through their closets and toy area, and create two piles – one for broken toys and missing pieces of toys, and one pile to donate.

Set a timer.

Cleaning can feel like a never-ending job. As soon as you’re finished one task, there is always something else to do next. When you start to feel overwhelmed, you end up feeling frustrated and don’t accomplish anything. Instead, set a timer on your phone or oven and clean until it goes off. Only have a half hour? That’s enough time to wipe down the kitchen or fold a few bins of laundry.

As for the kids, get them involved in the race against time. Give your children a challenge task – can you clean up all of your toys in 10 minutes? If you do, we’ll bake cookies later!

Blast the music and dance.

The ONLY way I can manage to clean is by busting out the music and going at it like a workout. Seriously, you’ll burn calories and manage to clean the house at the same time.

Get outside too.

Outside chores are great for the whole family – who can’t use a little sunshine? Head outside and help clean up the backyard and patio area. Remove any large debris such as sticks, branches, and leaves by hand. Next use the sprayer setting on your garden hose to wash away as much of the winter dirt and grime as possible. Tackle stains left on outdoor furniture upholstery with OxiClean™ Versatile Stain Remover – it’s chlorine free and colour safe so you can use it on gutters and unfinished decks, too.

Break it up.

Rather than do one big clean in one shot, break up your to-do list into a crazy detailed list. Instead of cleaning the upstairs, detail it to include “dusting the furniture, change bed sheets, dust photo frames, empty out garbage bins, etc.” Although it may seem ridiculous, breaking tasks down makes it easier to accomplish little jobs and you’ll feel productive!

Plan ahead.

Set aside a morning or afternoon for larger jobs like cleaning windows or carpets and mark it in your calendar. Fabrics that have absorbed a winter’s worth of dirt will need a deep clean to get them ready for another year of wear. Shampooing your carpets is a good start, but for tougher stains, use OxiClean™ Versatile Stain Remover – simply mix a little bit of the stain remover with warm water as per the instructions on the label and blot with a clean towel until the stain disappears. Always rinse thoroughly with clean water.

Chores charts

Create a chart outlining all the cleaning tasks that need to be done with each member of the household. Assign points for each task and then give points for each task completed. At the end of the week, the person with the most points gets to choose a restaurant or movie for the weekend.

How do you make cleaning “fun”?