New Research Shows Children are More Creative in a Clean Workspace

OAKLAND, Calif., Aug. 21, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Parents today place an immense amount of importance on the academic success of their children as well as any tools they can provide to improve performance. Inspiring productivity and creativity, though, may start simply by having a clean desk. New research from the Clorox® brand indicates that when workspaces are clean children complete homework faster (50%), are more creative (30%) and better at problem solving (25%)

From the classroom to the kitchen counter, and from the sidelines of the game to a seat on the school bus, kids work and play in countless locations throughout the day. This back-to-school season Clorox is celebrating the varied clean spaces in a child's life where they feel inspired to create by giving away the Ultimate Clean Space Makeover on Clorox.com/CleanSpaces. Clorox is also donating $150,000 to DonorsChoose.org to help teachers create and maintain classroom workspaces and see that everyone has a clean space to create. Since 2016, Clorox has partnered with DonorsChoose.org to help more than 395,000 students and counting.

As a parent, I want to set my child up for success in every way possible, and that includes a clean space where he can create," said Clorox "Back-to-School" partner and actor/producer/podcaster Anna Faris. "Whether I'm cleaning up after finger painting or wiping down the countertops before doing homework, Clorox Disinfecting Wipes are an essential part of the back-to-school routine."

How Do Clean Spaces Serve as a Springboard for Creativity?
To discover the connection between clean spaces, focus and creativity, Clorox conducted a nationwide survey among 1,000 U.S. adults with children currently in K-12 along with a two-day study with school-aged children performing the same tasks in either a clean or messy space.

Survey results* indicated:

• Roughly 8 in 10 parents say their children are more productive and accomplish their homework more efficiently when their desk is clean.
• Over three in four parents agree that when their child's desk or workspace is clean, he or she is more productive (83%), more creative (77%) and less stressed (77%).
• Two-thirds (66%) agree that their child makes better grades when their desk or workspace is clean.
• 52% of children complete their homework at their desk, 22% on the counter, and 8% in their bedroom.

Results from the study** indicated that children are more creative and productive when working in a clean environment. For both activities, children spent more time-on-task and were less distracted in the clean room. Additionally, they maintained better focus on completing their activities in contrast to those in the messy room who consistently stopped mid-activity.

See the research study in action in this video.

"At Clorox we understand the importance of clean when preparing for the back-to-school season. A clean space is proven to set the stage for kids to focus, be creative and thrive," said Magnus Jonsson, Vice President of Cleaning at The Clorox Company. "Teachers trust Clorox to keep their classrooms germ-free, and we are committed to providing a clean space for children to create and thrive across the nation."

Win the Ultimate Clean Space Makeover
This back-to-school season, Clorox is giving away 15 prizes of $1,000 and a Grand Prize of $5,000 to help families create the Ultimate Clean Space Makeover for their kids. To enter, individuals can visit Clorox.com/CleanSpaces to share their clean space story on where their kids are most creative now through September 14, 2019. All entrants will receive a $.75 Clorox Disinfecting Wipes coupon just for participating.

Clean Bus Initiative
After flooding in late May, Webbers Falls Schools in Oklahoma sustained damage to its facilities and two school buses from nearly eight feet of water from the Arkansas River. While no one was hurt, the school has undergone extensive repairs to get it ready for the start of the school year. To ensure that students have a clean space to work and play, Clorox gifted the school with cleaning products, orchestrated a clean-up day and donated $30,000 to help with repairs to the buildings and buses.

Clorox Partners with DonorsChoose.org to Support Clean, Healthy Classrooms
The first day of school is filled with exciting moments and while teachers eagerly anticipate the possibilities of a fresh school year, it can also mean the first of many trips to the store for additional supplies. To ease the financial burden of teachers, many of whom spend their own resources on supplies, Clorox is donating $150,000 to DonorsChoose.org to help teachers create and maintain clean classroom workspaces. DonorsChoose.org makes it easy for anyone to help a classroom in need. Public school teachers from every corner of America create classroom project requests, and you can give any amount to the project that inspires you. To date, more than 600 projects have been fully funded – from supporting a classroom garden to encouraging creativity among budding artists. For more information, please click here.

To join the conversation, follow @Clorox on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. For exclusive tips, tricks, news and more, visit Clorox.com/CleanSpaces.

Research Methodology
*Survey: Ketchum Analytics conducted an online survey among 1,000 U.S. adults with children in grades K-12, nationally representative of age, gender, region, race and income. Statistical testing was done at a 95% confidence level, with a margin of error of +/- 3.1%. The survey was in field between June 11 – 14, 2019.

**Study: Ketchum Analytics conducted 29 "focus-group" experiments among children aged 8-9 and their parent. Children were randomly selected to enter one of two staged rooms (dirty or clean) and instructed to complete two timed creativity tasks. Once the tasks were finished, moderators conducted an in-depth debrief with the child and their parent. Ketchum's research team later analyzed videos from the experiment. After achieving inter-coder reliability, a team of three scorers scored each video for time-on-task. Results were averaged for each activity and each room. 

The Clorox Company
The Clorox Company (NYSE: CLX) is a leading multinational manufacturer and marketer of consumer and professional products with approximately 8,800 employees worldwide and fiscal year 2019 net sales of $6.2 billion. Clorox markets some of the most trusted and recognized consumer brand names, including its namesake bleach and cleaning products; Pine-Sol^® cleaners; Liquid-Plumr^® clog removers; Poett^® home care products; Fresh Step^® cat litter; Glad^® bags, wraps and containers; Kingsford^® charcoal; Hidden Valley^® dressings and sauces; Brita^® water-filtration products; Burt's Bees^® natural personal care products; RenewLife^® digestive health products; and Rainbow Light^®, Natural Vitality™ and NeoCell^® dietary supplements. The company also markets industry-leading products and technologies for professional customers, including those sold under the CloroxPro™ and Clorox Healthcare^® brand names. Nearly 80 percent of the company's sales are generated from brands that hold the No. 1 or No. 2 market share positions in their categories.

Clorox is a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact, a community of global leaders committed to sustainability. The company has been broadly recognized for its corporate responsibility efforts, included on CR Magazine's 2019 100 Best Corporate Citizens list, Barron's 2019 100 Most Sustainable Companies, the Human Rights Campaign's 2019 Corporate Equality Index and the 2019 Bloomberg Gender Equality Index, among others. In support of its communities, The Clorox Company and its foundations contributed about $12 million in combined cash grants, product donations and cause marketing in fiscal year 2019. For more information, visit TheCloroxCompany.com, including the Good Growth blog, and follow the company on Twitter at @CloroxCo.

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SOURCE Clorox

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