Cleaning Routines for the Classroom

This time of the year is perfect for examining your routines – what worked well this past year? What would you like to change? How can you be more efficient? If you’ve got the summer off you can prepare now to put these new routines in place, and if you are in the classroom all summer long then starting new routines now will mean less stress in the fall!

One type of routine that I’ve always found helpful for myself is a cleaning routine – or more specifically, a schedule of certain things to clean at certain times, or on certain days.  This has always helped me make sure that I’m getting it all done, without stressing about doing it all at once.

Anyone with preschool experience understand the importance of cleaning toys and table tops regularly.  Preschoolers are gross, they get germs everywhere, and these are the things that they tend to touch the most, so of course these are the things that get cleaned the most.  But when you take the time to think about all of the other things that get touched and germy, it can be a bit overwhelming.

When was the last time that you disinfected all of your doorknobs or wiped down your light switches? Have you ever cleaned your faucet handles or chairs? Do you dust your shelves or wipe down your markers? Add all of these things to your cleaning list.

The easiest way that I’ve found to banish the germs and handle all of the cleaning is to focus on one task each day.

• Monday I’ll dust and clean the toys in the block center.  
• Tuesday I’ll use a Magic Eraser on all of the chairs before spraying them with disinfectant and also clean the toys and materials in the science center.  
• Wednesday I wipe down all the knobs, handles, and switches with Clorox wipes, and do the same with any hard cover books.  
• Thursday I clean the dramatic play props and wipe down any art supplies that need cleaned (markers, scissors, pencils, etc.).  
• Friday I gather any items that can be washed in the washing machine – pillow covers and cushions, dramatic play clothes, rags, blankets, etc. and make sure that it all gets washed. 

This strategy isn’t fool proof, things certainly get missed, and we still occasionally get sick but it does help me make sure that I’m doing everything I possibly can, and it breaks down the tasks so that I get a little bit done each day!