Does your toddler help to clean up their toys?

[Craig&Kel]

...because mine flatly refuses, and it's driving me mad.

She will happily help unpack the dishwasher, clean the windows, she has even put on a load of washing (measured the soap and everything...yeah, c'mon I know you're all jealous now!) Obviously these chores are a novelty for her, but toy-packing-away isn't...
It wouldn't bother me so much, except that she has to empty the entire toybox and then spread pieces all around the house.

Does anyone have any ideas on how I can make it appealing for her? Or am I just being anal, and will she follow suit in her own time?

[Dorasmum]

Hmm mixed answer, yes she does scatter the entire toy basket over the games room too, but at the moment is better at agreeing and volunteering to pick stuff up than her 5 yr old sister. I think it's since I organised their play room properly and I now have most of their toys put in boxes and bags and they can only have one out at a time. If they want another one they have to pack it up and give it to me to put back up on the shelf.

I now have a picking up nutter! She is very anal about picking up the game/box of toys, even before her sister is finished -a squabble ensues-and if I say 'thankyou, leave it there I'll put it up in a minute I have wet hands" she gets very upset and insists that i put it away now.

So result of all this is? It's great, but causing a few problems.. and I'm not expecting it to last. I think they can start to help, but need the right motivation. I continue to encourage her even if her intentions get a bit skewed at times..she is only 2!

When I ask her sister to pick up toys I get either of these.."but I'm tired" "I can't hear you, my ears don't work" or 'but I didn't leave it there" or "that's not my toy" or "what do I get if I do?".

I find a box of toys confiscated works a treat with that age group. Then you just threaten to "clean up if they won't" and they know it means it'll disappear for a while, or sometimes for good.

Sorry about the ramble, hope something helps..

Em

[alzarex]

we have sorted the kids playroom with everything having a set home and using a lot of the Ikea Trofast range and open bookshelves to store things on has made a huge difference
if there's a box with lots of "stuff" in it it tends to not be put back as well as say all lego into the lego bucket, playmobil back into the playmobil box etc - basic collections such as all lego into the one area rather than keeping the different sets apart etc has made it easier too
we talk about why we need to clean up, every so often DH and I will help the three of them do a massive clean up so they can start fresh and it stays tidier then too, whereas if it gets messier and messier then clean up becomes so huge they can't see where to start
sometimes i do a "ok everybody pick up 5 toys that are blue/round/flat" and we race around putting things back, music helps too, i know at kindy they have a set clean up song that is played so it kind of sets it in their mind that it is clean up time...
again leaving things out and having them broken as a result sometimes works, sometimes doesn't

[Marguerite]

I am not sure how old your DD is, but I included mine in the packing up from a very young age.

I have a couple of strategies. Firstly just starting to pack myself then putting something to go away into DD's hand seems to be enough usually to get her going. I don't have to say anything. When I first read that I was quite dubious but I have seen it work every time with my own children as well as nieces and nephews.

Another thing we do is set a timer and say let's see how much cleaning we can do in x minutes and we sing a packing up song.

If I am in a negative place about the work to be done then DD is more likely to not want to help.

[Mocha Mumma]

Yes they all help out or the house would be over run by toys

[sweetchili]

sorry with limited time i only skimmed through the replies, so these might have been suggested...

here are some fun things i have done in child care..toddlers room...

SING!! sing a tidy-up song...to any tune you want and any words you want "Put the toys away....the dolls go one the top shelf....i found a sock...what a shock....lets put it in the wash basket" etc etc...make sure you dance too!!!

Get some nice baskets or boxes than print out some cartoon pixs or photos then stick that to the front, and turn tidying up into a matching game..matching toys to the pictures then put them in.

Play 'I spy'..."i spy a toy thats red and round" or "..a toy that has wheels and goes beep beep" (depending on what she can understand, and what you might like to teach her about colours shapes and sizes) when she guesses it goes away, she can do it for you and you can take turns...might be quicker if you also put the toys that are a wrong guess away too if she guesses wrong.
OR make it tricky..(if you think she can understand this concept)....if she guesses wrong she has to put it away..if she gets it right YOU put it away.

Play 'can you find....' "can you find THREE(or any number)...blocks(toy items)" once she has found them then they go away.(similar to i spy...just naming the object outright instread of charactoristics)

IF all else fails...Hee hee...get the broom and start sweeping up toys..."OH ON the BIG HUNGRY BROOM is coming to sweep the toys away .....better save them quick and put them where they go!!"

[Craig&Kel]

Thanks for the help everyone

I will definately try the singing, I can't believe I never thought of that. She loves singing (as I type this she is jumping around the room singing and dancing to some weird french dance music she pulled out of the back of the cd pile).

I have used the confiscate/throw out technique before with no success. Once I told her if she didn't help tidy them up, they were going in the bin. So she picked up a handful, and put them in the bin. Wait, that is some success isn't it... at least they got picked up!

I think I will re organise the area again so that some of the messier things are out of reach. Then we can make a compromise eg 'lets clean these ones up first, then we can play with those ones'. Having everything within her reach probably isn't helping.

[Dorasmum]

Oh don't you love it when they call your bluff?

Em

[Natural Mommy]

I have gotten some great suggestions here, thanks!

[sallyn]

I have been reading a bit about montessori education and a major part of this method of childplay/learning is this:

You set up your childs toys/educational activities in labelled boxes/jars/etc. all within easy reach of your child, in a low bookcase or something similar (not in a large messy toybox!) they are only allowed to get out one toy/activity at a time, when they have finished with it they pack it up and put it in its place, then get another game etc. it teaches them organisation, the value of finishing what you start and care for your things. I know this sounds good in theory and your probably thinking does it really work. well I think it will take a bit of time on your part getting her used to the idea, apparently it works in montessori schools.

I myself have a large messy toybox and a kid that spreads it all around the room too, lucky she likes to pack up at the end of the day. I really like the montessori method tho and I am going to get organised to start this soon, cos i'm sick of the mess during the day in my small house.