Fun "Clean Up Time"

Cleaning up after a fun day of play probably tops your preschooler’s “Things I Don’t Like to Do List.” Till they are toddlers, they love to clean up, but once they've had enough they try to avoid it totally. However, getting your little one to clean up their play area/room is not only about getting him/her to clean the place & keep everything back in the place it belongs. A simple “Clean-up” time helps children improve their self-esteem. 

When children are constantly being told negatives like “no” or “can’t,” their self-esteem suffers. With the implementation of positive discipline techniques, children’s self-esteem benefits. They’re also learning self-discipline. As children are being taught to clean up, they are learning to put things away if they want to bring something else out. They’re also learning to control their behavior. Children can easily get overwhelmed with activities and the number of items to use. Controlling themselves to not bring out every possible toy is part of learning from positive discipline. By cleaning up, children also get a sense of responsibility, a sense of ownership of the space they are taking care of. 

Here are some handy tips that will make the “Clean-up” session easy & fun for your little one:

Have a special “Clean-up” song that your child can associate with & mentally assign to the session. Something like Super Simple Learning Clean-Up song  or a song especially for Barney fans (Zoe learned the Barney Song in her Rhythm & Rhyme Music class more than a year back, and still her clean up routine is incomplete without the song)

Work together with your child, it will be much more fun for you both, a good bonding time too.

Make it a game - Set an alarm for 10 minutes and challenge your preschooler to “Beat the Clock.” Or ask, “Can you finish putting these puzzle pieces away as I put away the doll clothes? Let's see who finishes first."

Reward a job well done, maintain an appreciation chart. As soon as your preschooler finishes his task, give him a sticker to put on the chart. When a preschooler forgets to put away his/her toys, simply repossess those things. Once you repossess a toy or a book, the child must buy it back by doing an extra chore or by trading stars from their appreciation chart.

Create a kid-friendly storage by placing removable picture labels on drawers and bins to help kids learn where everything goes. You could have your child either draw or cut out of pictures of specific items (blocks, puzzles, games) that go into each drawer/box.

Always remember to thank & praise your child for doing a good job of cleaning up.

These simple tricks will add a lot of fun in something as boring (but extremely important) as a Clean-up session. What do you think?