Speed clean
Create your own Cadoo Find activities to make clearing out the clutter fast and fun. Write down items that everyone should find on index cards (for example, something I've outgrown, something broken, something I could give away, something borrowed, and so on). Who can find the items the fastest? Who can find the most items for each card?

Helping hands
There's no reason cleaning the bathroom has to be a solo job. Turn it into a Turbo Sideshow, where one person moves the other person's arms and legs like a puppet to get the job done. With each new bathroom chore (toilet, tub, sink), take turns being the puppet and the puppeteer. Don't forget to take pictures!

Thanks for the memories
Sometimes it's hard to get rid of those items you no longer need or use but that have a special story. Take pictures of the items before giving them away and keep a scrapbook with a little note about each one. Have each person choose a favorite to share with the rest of the family.

On your mark, get set, dust!
Give everybody a chance to shine by hosting your very own dusting event. Who can make the best time around the baseboards? Who can dust with both hands at the same time? Wear white T-shirts while dusting and see who can get dirtiest. For speed dusting, play Follow the Leader. Take turns being the leader and directing the group around the room. Can you dust while doing the chicken dance or while hopping on one foot?

Sing a song of cleaning
How many cleaning- or chore-related songs can you think of? Turn each one into a Humdinger while you clean. Hum loudly so the other members of your crew can hear you and guess the song! Try Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" or "Whistle While You Work" from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

From the Pugh family
"When trying to get our little kids to help pick up, we pretend that each of the objects are animals and that they escaped from the zoo! We assign an animal to each child, and see who can round up their animal the fastest. For example, one child can round up the elephants (shoes), and another can round up the zebras (books). It keeps the kids busy -- and gets things clean quick!"

From the Chacon family
"We were tired of the kids just playing instead of cleaning their rooms, so now we 'tag-team clean.' While one kid sits on the stairs, the other is in the room either being timed or picking up a certain number of items. When finished, she tags the other one and takes her place. This has worked wonders in our house!"

From the Hopkin family
"Growing up, my sisters hated cleaning the toy room. So we took one of our old cash registers and played store. We would take turns being the cashier and the shoppers. The cashier would have the toy boxes behind her and the rest of us would shop. The cashier would ring things up, making up prices, then put the toy in the right toy box. The shopper would then go shopping again and keep repeating the process until it was time to change places. The toy room got cleaner faster, and we had a lot of fun doing it. We even gained a couple good memories."

From the Daly family
"I used to work at a major retail store, and before every visit from corporate we would have a great contest: Everyone would get a white cotton rag of the same size. We would all meet at the front of the store and all scream together, 'On your mark, get set, GO!' and like a bunch of competitive children, we would try to make our rags as dirty as possible! You have never seen adults have so much fun dusting! The prize? A DVD of our choice. What great fun!!!"

From the Wilson family
"We have a towel-folding relay race. Just break into two teams and put a pile of clean towels for each team at the end of the room. One person on each team starts by racing to the pile, folding their towel, and racing back. They slap the hands of the next team members, and so on. The goal is to be the team that finishes first, but the towels need to be folded nicely and placed in a tidy pile."

From the Hammond-Wyatt family
"You can turn a family cleaning day into a cleaning television program! Everyone can be a host, and whenever a cleaning technique is used, one of the hosts can describe what they're doing to the 'audience.' You can even have a pet be the cameraman!"

From the McConnell family
"We play a 'treasure hunt' game with a time limit. Each of our four kids takes a plastic bag and collects all their belongings from rooms other than their bedroom throughout the house. Extra bags are used for garbage and recyclables with 'letting go' encouraged. When time is up, the items are put away in their proper places, and we all have a fun meal or snack together."