Party Clean Up With Kids

Young girl drying dinner plate in kitchen.

Party clean up with kids. The party is over. It's time to call it a night. But not quite yet. The guests are gone, but the mess remains. It's late, and all you want to do is get horizontal.

But leaving the stuff as is can make food one with your cookware—only a good thing if you're trying to get your cookware to multiply. Or offer an invitation for a second party with your resident insects. Ick.

Instead, let's give in and do the dirty work of cleaning the house before we retire. Here's how to speed through party clean up with kids so you don't have to wake up to a headache-inducing morning mess.

Party Clean Up With Kids - Delegating Chores

Hint: If you've got kids under 10, they're better off in bed and out of the way. Older kids, however, are fair game for free labor. Take advantage of it while you can.

Start by delegating the following party cleanup jobs among your still-awake family members.

Party Clean Up With Kids - Trash Patrol

Give your youngest non-sleeper a trash bag and instruct him to collect all disposable products. Remind him that your best silverware is not disposable.

Party Clean Up With Kids - Assign Scrap Scrapers

Dish washing is a good party chore for kids.

Have one kid collect dishes, plates, and silverware. Assign another to scrape the leftovers into a trash bag or the garbage disposal.

Party Clean Up With Kids: Leftovers Inspector

Mom can decide what's salvageable. Be careful here; if perishable food has been sitting out too long, you're better off tossing it.

Two hours is the rule for most meats and prepared foods with eggs or cheese. You don't want food poisoning along with a hangover, do you?

Party Clean Up With Kids - Glass Collector

This worker carefully gathers all glasses and deposits them very carefully by the sink.

Laundry Tosser

Assign one child the chore of collecting soiled napkins and towels.

Now that the table is clear, assign a child to hunt and gather tablecloths, napkins, and washable placemats for the laundry.

Treat any stains tonight, not tomorrow. Toss them in the washing machine. Don't forget to turn it on before you retire.

Dish Washers

On the counter by the sink, organize the dishes by type. Glasses together, plates, serving dishes, and pots and pans. Now you have a logical order for rinsing the dishes and loading the dishwasher. This is a two-person job, by the way.

Once the dishwasher is full, run it while you hand-wash the pots and serving dishes, and anything else that didn't fit.

Floor Sweeper

Your little helpers can now wipe counters and sweep floors. Save vacuuming for later. As in tomorrow.

Safety Checker

Someone—preferably a teenager or an adult—needs to perform a thorough home check to make sure all candles are out and the fire is entirely extinguished.

Party Clean Up With Kids Party Prep Chores for Kids by Age

Here's a guide to the home-cleaning chores kids can do to prepare for and clean up after a party. This list is focused on party-specific tasks. It doesn't include the general cleaning you might also wish to do.

Once a child reaches a certain skill or age level, he can generally do the chores for his age group and those for the age groups below, too.