Try to let go of needing their early work to be productive (or even complete) and think about it as an investment in making a habit of helping. Talk to your toddler about being an important part of your household community. Child development experts consistently say happy children are the ones who are given responsibilities around the house, for which they don’t get a prize or money. You do this because you never know who may show up at your door, or what emergency may ensue and someone will be unexpectedly in your lair. You vacuum, dust, and tidy up every day, all the time. Research shows that children who are exposed early to household work without rewards are more likely to be helpful and involved later in life. You do not leave them in the sink for someone else. They have an innate drive to contribute and find a lot of confidence and joy in having their role and responsibilities. Giving your toddler opportunities to help around the house makes them feel independent and valuable. You may see them putting passion and zest into household work like throwing away rubbish, wiping up spills, and helping with the laundry. And remember, no need to feel guilty – it’s a reward, not a bribe (read my thoughts on why they’re different here).Your toddler is now entering what Montessori calls the “sensitive period” of wanting to help. Remember cleaning is meditative and silent. Each of us has different preferences so go with your gut and make it special for your lifestyle. When all else fails, pull out the rewards and tell them that once it’s cleaned they can watch some TV, use the tablet, get a freezie…whatever small treat you know will motivate them. Hint: Take time to make your space right for you. Let them know it’s a race against the clock and give an enthusiastic on your mark, get set, go! A smart phone is good to use as, in case they’re close to finishing on time but may need another minute, you can discreetly adjust the timing without them noticing so they still win (which, really, means you win as it’s clean). Then act amazed that they got it, and then point to another section and say, “Well, maybe you did that but there’s ABSOLUTELY NO WAY you can make these toys disappear.” You get the idea… Make sure it’s an identifiable grouping (like, say, all the toy cars, or all the food from the toy kitchen) so they can do it within the allotted time. Then tell them you’re going to turn them into magicians so you can see if they can magically make all the toys go back to where they belong. Tell them you know there’s NO WAY they can clean up this section of toys without using magic. Turn them into magicians (aka reverse psychology). Then call out another number and set them off again. Have children line up, then tell them to put away a certain number of toys (say, three) then come back to the starting line. Have the children pick up all the toys with blue on them, then red, then green, etc.Ĭlean by counting. Periodically stop the music and have everyone freeze, then start it up again.Ĭlean by colour. Put on music and have them clean while the music is on, dancing while cleaning is optional. to keep it interesting.ĭo a clean up freeze dance. Challenge them to do it really fast, then reaaaallly slow, then pass it under their legs, over their heads, etc. Some other ideas:īe monkeys and hop around, ooh ooh aah aah-ingīe cars and turn the keys in their engine, then vroom around.īe dinosaurs and pop in your ear plugs while they stomp and roar.īe airplanes and wind up their propellers.īe kitty cats and meow and crawl around and pick things up with paws (or bat it along with paws if your children are realists like my daughter – “kitties can’t CARRY THINGS”).ĭo an old fashioned firefighters’ line-up and have the children pass the toys down the line to the person at the end (maybe the adult) who drops them in the bin/puts them on a shelf. I AM PICKING UP ONE THOUSAND PIECES OF LEGO.” This works for almost anything and it’s fun to switch it up or have them choose. Be sure you also act like a robot and march around and speak in a robot voice describing your actions as you clean, “I AM ROBOT. Tell the children today they will be turning into robots to clean up and go around and press the “button” on each of their backs to get them started. This sets the right tone of respect for their play time and prepares them for what’s coming next (read: avoids an immediate tantrum when clean-up time takes them by surprise). You don’t need an actual timer, it’s more about the warnings that “Clean up will be soon, it will be sooner, it is IMMINENT.” At the one minute warning, tell them it’s time to find their last thing to play with before play time is up and cleaning starts. Give a five minute, two minute, and one minute warning.
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