Does the phrase, "it's time to clean up" send your kids heading for the hills? I've found that especially with my three year old son, it's best to have several different strategies to use, because the same trick doesn't work for long. Here are some ideas for encouraging your children to clean up after themselves.
Tell them that if the toys are not picked up, they become yours. Perhaps after a reasonable time, say you'll come through the room with a hungry pillow case monster that likes to eat leftover toys. Follow through on this or it won't be effective! The toys don't have to be gone forever. Use it sparingly though, because it may get to the point where your kids decide that having their toys gone for awhile is okay since it means they get out of cleaning them up.
Say "we can't do ____ until your toys are picked up". If the place you are headed is somewhere the kids want to go, this is quite effective. If the place you are headed isn't, then this doesn't work so well.
Use a Timer. A Timer can be used in many different ways. You can try and beat previous records, or simply see how much can be done in five minutes.
You Pick Up This, I'll Pick Up That. Have your child pick up all the red toys, and you take care of the blue toys. Yes, chances are pretty good you didn't help the kids make the mess, but modeling cleaning up (so long as your children are actually helping) is a good thing.
Be Organized. Having places for everything will make clean up time easier for everyone.
Motivate with stickers. For many young children, this has the potential to work quite well. Create a simple chart and after each clean-up session, the child can add a sticker to the chart. You may not even need to offer a prize when the chart is full, just the chart itself might be a good motivator.
What are your ideas?
photo by mrittenhouse
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My kids loved to race – so I would occasionally set the timer to see if they could set a record time. My grandson likes to count, so I ask him to pick up 10 things and I pick up 4 things. We go back and forth until it's all done. Or if the job is too big, I'll suggest they put everything RED away and we'll take a break to have a RED treat (maybe some M & M's) then we go through each color until it's finished. Sometimes the whole job just looks overwhelming and it helps to do it in smaller increments.
My kids are, 10, 8 and 6 years old. For the 8 and 6 year olds the timer is gold! My son is the oldest and he knows that before he can do anything or go anywhere his room needs to be cleaned. Great ideas! Love it!
http://www.aprildawns.blogspot.com
I think labeling drawers and containers helps too. Label with words and pictures so that small children can still sort items.
Sometimes I'll help my little kids get started by putting at least one item in each container so they know how to sort them.