Clean-up has, so far, been a challenge for us. I find that the kids will begin cleaning up and then start playing – ending in a worse mess than before we had started. I also felt like clean-up took forever. Frustrating. I was given advice to make it fun. It’s so obvious, and I had tried to an extent, but I hadn’t put as much effort in it as I should have. I have very recently accepted that they’re not going to know how to pick up automatically, but it’s going to take a lot of involved training. One of the fun tricks is to set a time we are trying to beat. Sometimes, there is a reward if we are able to pick up before the timer goes off. You can also do a timer in the opposite direction. You hit start and see how much time it takes. You save that time and next clean up time try and beat it. Another trick I’ve found is the plastic bag. I don’t know why it works, but the kids love having a bag to put things in while cleaning. So, I may give them a small grocery bag and tell them to go around the house and pick up everything that needs to go upstairs. Maybe it’s like a treasure hunt for them. I have also taught them to pick up categories….pick up all the balls, or blocks, or doll stuff, etc. The bags help with category cleaning. I’ll also tell them to pick up a certain number of items. I have found the more I am involved, the more capable they are becoming of doing it on their own. Today was a major victory in that I sent them upstairs to pick up their room and the play area. They successfully did it by themselves – a first. I try to have a couple pick up times. We try and pick up the living room before nap. Sometimes I will have them pick up before they have a bit of t.v. time or before doing a special project– a big motivator. I had good advice from the to have a “one toy out at a time” rule. I really need to begin to implement that one. Things are definitely improving in this area, but I know I have a lot to continue doing with them.
I love this idea. Clean up is a struggle around here as I also take care of other kids during the day of varying ages. We do one clean up at the end of the day or else we would NEVER stop picking up. I love the grocery bag idea. They will try and see who can put more in the bag. I think I’ll get them their own personal canvas bags and we could decorate them. Thanks! I’m going to tweet this idea because I LOVE IT!!!
ps. following you!
Hardest moment of my day… clean up time! Ugh! Same issues you were having, taking forever because they would start cleaning and end up playing or do the wonderful task of putting ONE toy away at a time. LoL Never thought of giving them bags, great idea! I too, have them clean up throughout the day and the one right before bedtime is the hardest. Looks like tomorrow we will be trying the grocery sacks. I am officially following you and have read several of your parenting tips tonight, since finding your blog around 4pm… we’re also going to start “After you play, put it away” technique and your tip about taking toys away that are in the floor, as my kids tend to get ALL of their toys out at once. Looking forward to reading more! Thanks!
I hope it works for you. It is definitely a process that we’re still working on too. I’ve heard the quote, “Cleaning the house while kids are still growing is like shoveling snow while it is still snowing.” Feels like that sometimes, huh? Glad to have you following along. I know that others giving me some of these tips has changed our lives, which is why I’ve wanted to pass them along.