Recently, I was given the opportunity to review the Clean N' Flip books, brought to us by the great ladies at Trigger Memory Systems (creators of Times Tales). Let me just say that THESE THINGS ARE GREAT! If you've never seen them, allow me to tell you a bit about them.
First off, we have the Zone Cleaning for Kids book. This little flip-chart style book is a step-by-step guide to show kids how to clean the 3 main rooms in your house - the living room, kitchen, and bathroom. It is divided into different sections - one section for each room. Each section includes a page of blank lines for Mom to fill in various responsibilities, a "day of the week" job list (which is also a fill-in-the-blank style page), and step-by-step job responsibilities (including pictures). The best thing about this book is that the pages are laminated, so that you can use the book with dry-erase markers. Kids always love checking things off, so there are check-boxes built right into the book that they can check off as they complete tasks. The book is reusable, over and over again. Oh, and it even comes with the dry-erase marker; so as soon as you receive this one, you can get right to work assigning chores to your children that they will easily understand.
Next is the Bedroom Cleaing for Kids flip book. This book, though it doesn't have the same dry-erase feature as the Zone Cleaning book, is every bit as fun and effective, if not more so. This book takes a child through a step-by-step process of cleaning their bedroom. Now, I don't know about your house, but at my house, cleaning the bedroom is an overwhelming and daunting task - one that even I tend to put off until absolutely necessary. This book definitely follows the premise "a place for everything and everything in its place". The steps are easy, systematic, and actually make cleaning the bedroom seem much less like a chore and more like fun. There is even a page at the end of the book for Mom to fill in personal, day-of-the-week bedroom cleaning tasks; which, if performed daily, should make cleaning the bedroom a snap!
Lastly, we have the Laundry for Kids flip chart book. I'm not sure, but this one might be my favorite! It's not the laminated, dry-erase book like the Zone Cleaning, and the illustrations are in simple black & white; but the steps are so simple and straightforward that I think I could hand this book to my 8-year-old-never-done-laundry-before-daughter and expect her to do the laundry and do it well. My favorite step is #7 - the step that my kids seem to have the most problem with - actually putting the laundry away! I'm glad they included that last step in the book.
Heidi says: I must say that I was very excited to receive these books! My 14-year-old daughter was not so excited! I showed them to her and immediately her nose turned up. You know why that is, don't you? It's because she knew that Mom meant business, and her life wasn't going to be so easy anymore! Let me tell you that, since receiving these books, she has really stepped up the plate as far as helping out around the house. She's done several loads of laundry now, and does it without complaining. She helps in the "zone areas" also. We have yet to tackle the bedroom cleaning booklet - but I just know we're going to have a HUGE success with that one also.
If you struggle to get your kids to do chores, I would highly encourage the purchase of these little flip-chart books. By clicking on the banner at the top of my blog, you can read more about them, read what others have said about them, and purchase them (individually, or as a complete set of 3). I'm sure you won't be disappointed! Not only will these books help your children to complete these tasks; but, in the long run, you'll see a boost in their self-esteem and their organizational skills. Here at my house, these books aren't going to get too far out of our sight!
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