Keeping a “reasonably” clean and tidy home doesn’t just happen when you have many kids at home. Despite our chore routines and a 10-minute evening tidy, life happens, kids make messes, and somehow the floors always need a good mopping!
Since becoming a stay-at-home mom, and then homeschooling a few years later, I’ve ebbed and flowed in my efforts to keep up with the never-ending work of cleaning the house (by this I mean regular maintenance like vacuuming, wiping down flat surfaces, and mopping the floors). But along the way, I’ve learned to balance the need for cleanliness with the reality of having five kids at home for many hours of the day.
About a month ago, as we started our homeschool year and settled back into our school-year rhythms, I decided to try a team approach to cleaning. Especially now that a few of my kids are older and much more capable of helping out and carrying bigger responsibilities.
I laid out the rules, set a timer, played some fun music, and a new Friday afternoon habit was born– Power Hour Team Cleaning. Honestly, it’s been one of those game-changing habits that keeps surprising me with how well it works!
The little note I posted on Substack after our first week got hundreds of likes and dozens of comments like…
“This is brilliant!”
“I’ll be stealing this for future reference!”
“Fantastic! Rhythms like this are game changers.”
“Love this idea of getting it done before the weekend begins!”
So in this post, I’m sharing all the details of our Friday afternoon cleaning routine. If you struggle to keep any kind of regular cleaning rhythm and have kids old enough to help, give this a try. It might just change the way your weekend feels, like it did for mine!
How Friday Power Hour Works
Every Friday at 3 p.m., right after afternoon quiet time ends, we kick off Power Hour Team Cleaning. For one hour, my 4 older kids and I work together to clean and reset our home before the weekend begins.
Now this isn’t deep cleaning so we’re not over here scrubbing walls or washing curtains— it’s the regular weekly maintenance that keeps our home at a reasonably clean level, so our weekend can actually feel restful instead of scattered.
Here’s a few key elements to how we make it work…
1. The Power of a Checklist
The key to a successful of Power Hour is a simple laminated checklist and a whiteboard marker— this allows my kids to see everything that we need to get done instead of vaguely dishing out jobs to them.
I made a list of all the weekly tasks that deserve our attention, and as each job gets done, we check it off. My kids love the good old “checking things off a list” routine, so it’s motivating and keeps us moving.
I made sure the list has something they all can contribute to. There are bigger tasks for my 9 and 11-year-olds, and others that are simple enough for my 4 and 6-year-olds to help with too. I assign each child a job based on their age and ability, and as soon as they finish, they come back to me for the next one.
Sticky notes also work great too— simply write each task on a separate note, stick them to the fridge or a space where everyone can see, and have each child tackle the task on that sticky note.
The goal is to make it visible so kids can see the progress and have clarity with what needs to be done.
2. Keep Moving!
Once the timer starts, we keep moving! No breaks to play or rest until our hour is up. It might sound a little strict, but this is truly what makes it work. One focused hour gets so much more done than a whole afternoon of stopping and starting. The kids keep each other accountable and this “gamified” habit quickly becomes more motivating.
3. Set the Timer and Turn Up the Music
We set a timer for one hour and turn on some fun, upbeat music (Forrest Frank is a favorite in our house!). The music keeps us moving, the timer gives everyone a clear finish line, and our checklist visually shows us all what’s left.
4. The Reward That Keeps Everyone Motivated
Here’s the secret behind what makes this rhythm so successful— when our hour is finished and everything on the list is checked off, the kids get a movie.
Screen time isn’t a regular part of our daily rhythm, so this is a big deal. They look forward to it all week long, and they know a good effort is what earns it! And honestly, it’s the perfect way for me to have a little quiet time myself now that the house is clean and the weekend is right around the corner.
5. What’s On Our Power Hour List
When I created my list, I walked through each room and wrote down what jobs deserved to have a place on our regular weekly cleaning rhythm. I don’t worry about really big tasks, like organizing closets or cleaning behind and underneath all furniture, just the main parts that need attention once a week. Here’s a look at what I came up with room-by-room (including our vehicle)…
Give It a Try!
You don’t need a perfect system to start, all you need is a list, a timer, some good music, and a little something to look forward to at the end for a job well done. Our list will look different from yours, and that’s okay! Start with the tasks that matter most in your home, consider the ages and abilities of your kids, and adjust as you go.
What I love most is that our Power Hour Team Cleaning isn’t just about a cleaner house, it’s teaching my kids that we all share in caring for our home and that hard work done together can actually be kind of fun. Plus, being able to sit down Friday evening knowing that I don’t need to spend Saturday morning cleaning by myself is a reward in itself!
If you try it, I’d love to hear how it goes. Let me know in the comments!
As always, thank you so much for being here and following along! If this post was helpful to you, I’d love to hear and if you know a friend who might also enjoy it, send it along to them! Grateful for you being here.
With Love,
Mollie
Keep Reading for More Intentional Ideas…
If getting your kids to actually help around the house is the hard part, start here…
If you’re wondering how to keep kids motivated without always bribing them, this one’s for you…
If your afternoon feels like they unravel before Power Hour Team Cleaning even begins, read this one next…
Ah yes!! We do a 30 minute version of this every evening after dinner that we call the Clean Sweep! It really does lighten the load and reset the home for the next morning
I love this idea! My kids are not super cooperative with helping clean (ages 8, 6 and newly 5 and 1) so the movie would work as great motivation as we are very low screen also. Do you actually get to all these tasks in an hour? That would be amazing, but I feel like even with my kids helping, we’d maybe get half of it done!