6 Simple Bathroom Skills To Teach Kids

OK you guys, so seriously, EVERYONE uses the bathroom so no one person (meaning, YOU) should be responsible for bathroom management! I will say plainly that I prefer to outsource deep cleaning of the bathroom to the pros, but there are several super simple general maintenance bathroom skills to teach your kids. And if you want more in my life skills series, see my previous posts on how to negotiate, library life skills, public transit life skills, green kitchen life skills, grocery store life skills, home safety skills, home cleaning skills, out-in-the-world life skills, school lunch skills). I order the bathroom tasks below from easiest to hardest, though really, they are all things that can be taught in 5 minutes or less!

1. Replace toilet paper

Isn’t it NUTTY that one of the biggest complaints about family bathroom management is not refilling the toilet paper when refilling it takes about 5 seconds? In my grocery store life skills post I shared how when toilet paper comes home from the store, I immediately have my kids refill the bathrooms. This will prevent the “there’s no toilet paper in the bathroom to refill” argument when it comes to refilling the actual toilet paper holder!

2. Add soap to refillable bottles

One really simple eco-friendly thing you can do in the bathroom is switch to a refillable soap dispenser. You can buy large jugs of refillable soap at the grocery store and we recently upgraded to this pretty Full Circle foamance foaming soap dispenser. Adding soap to refillable bottles is a great job for kids. Have them do this task in the sink or on a counter and if they spill, use that soap to wipe down surfaces!

Have kids refill soap bottles on a counter or at the bathroom sink; if they spill soap, they can use it to clean up the surfaces!

3. Wipe down countertops and mirror

I wrote in my green kitchen skills post that you can make a huge difference letting go of paper towels in the kitchen and the same goes for the bathroom! We have a bathroom drawer full of old rags (e.g., ratty old t-shirts, socks, and towels), and also have a bunch of these Full Circle super absorbent cleaning cloths (also shown in the picture above) which are great for use anywhere!

4. Fix toilet lift chain

I’m no toilet mechanic but I was weirdly excited last year when the opportunity to teach Laurel how to fix the toilet lift chain arose. LOL. It was super easy; my only pointers were to take care lifting the lid off the back of the toilet (since it’s kind of heavy and awkward) and otherwise, hook the chain back on. Easy peasy.

5. Clean the toilet

I get it, no one wants to deal with the toilet but EVERYONE NEEDS TO DEAL WITH THE TOILET. Show your kids how to wipe down the seat elements + use a toilet brush. I love the Full Circle Scrub Queen toilet brush because you can pop off and replace the brush head when it gets really nasty and it will take longer for that brush head to get nasty thanks to the odor and mildew absorbing disk inside the brush base. I just use baking soda (and sometimes lemon if needed) as the cleaning agent in the toilet.

Wait, what? There’s such a thing as a stylish toilet brush and plunger? YUP.

6. Plunge the toilet

OK I am saving the worst for last but listen, if your kid is big and old enough to clog the toilet, they are big and old enough to learn how to plunge it! I recently upgraded to the Full Circle Royal Plunge plunger and I have to say it is pretty awesome. It looks way nicer than typical plungers, yes, but it also has a naturally absorbent disk in the base that prevents odor and mildew, just like the toilet brush. Also, yes, obviously my brush and plunger don’t normally live on top of my toilet but the lighting was better there than in their usual place on the floor in the corner!

Disclosure: This post reflects a compensated editorial partnership with Full Circle, purveyor of amazing eco-friendly home care products. I’m thrilled that sharing about Full Circle worked so beautifully—and dare I say organically!—with my summer of life skills series!

Looking to level up other life skills? Check out these posts: how to negotiate, key library skills, public transit skills, green kitchen skills, grocery store skills, home safety skills, home cleaning skills, out-in-the-world life skills, school lunch skills. And here’s a video version of this post if listening/watching is preferable!