How to get child to clean his room

Do not go into his room anymore. Don't allow him to leave any of his possessions any place in the house; everything should be in his room. He will sooner or later see that it is impossible to be for any length of time in the room. Sometimes a mother's strike is more effective than incentives.

I agree with Rosie. The best way to get him to clean his room is do nothing for him until it's clean. Taking away tv and computer privileges, taking away his allowance and not allowing him to go out with friends can help "enhance" this punishment until he does do what it is you're requesting. Good luck!

I completely disagree. I think that if your goal is to get the room clean, you need to break it down into small tasks. "Clean your room" is simply too much for a child.

Have the child do one task at a time. No punishments. No screaming, just itty bitty tasks. Just "before you can watch tv today, you need to put all your dirty clothes in the hamper and bring it to the laundry room."

The next time, say "I want you to pick up all your books and put them on the bookshelf"

Wait for the next day and ask "are all the dirty clothes in the hamper? Are all the books on the bookshelf? Great, now put all the board games back in the correct boxes.

Next day "okay, laundry, books, board games, now let's move on to..." 

Break it into tasks that take 5-10 minutes each, and you'll see results without nearly as much screaming, shouting, and frustration.

Think about it - it's just daunting. You don't "clean the house." You wash the dishes, then you clear the floor, then you vacuum, etc. You can break it down for yourself, but your child just can't. 

Instead of making it into a war, make it easy for your child, step by step. And if your child feels overwhelmed, tell them to put on a timer for 5 minutes to make sure the task doesn't take too long.

Help them get started if necessary. Cleaning one's living space is a skill that should be taught, not a punishment. 

triLcat has the right idea...we don't clean the house, we either do a set way or make a To Do list, etc. and check off the list.  I had a reward system on the refrigerator for each child. A star went on each day a specific chore was completed.  Total of stars equalled amount of allowance,trips to the ice cream store, tv shows.  So it wasn't about taking away to them, it was about working toward a goal. Now my children are grown, and they still tease each other about the "winner" for specific times in their lives with their reward system.

I agree with TriLcat having the child do his or her chores should be done in steps. It also depends on the childs age though; I taught that way to my children when they were small but once they reached 14 to 17 It didn't work as well ; so I removed Everything from thier room They soon realized that if they wanted their things back ,they needed to be more responsible ( This included thier clothes and even their beds. )

Otherwise TriLcat has a good idea and it really does work for a while .

Take away all privileges, including allowances. Don't fight him on it either. Don