Toys on the Floor

I sing the clean up song (from Barney) and have my two year old help- we also race to see who can clean up the fastest. If that doesn't work then I would grab a big black garbage bag and tell them that they have five minutes then you start picking up- then follow through and start picking up- if they let you take them away- put them away and keep this up for a week- as their toys disappear they may rethink cleaning up- then once they start cleaning up- give back the toys. The other thought I had was- how cluttered is the room- is it overwhelming to clean it all up- perhaps have them clean up before its such a huge job that they cant get it all done in five minutes or less.

I am a Mom of a 28 year a 23 year old and a 7 year old. I learned this time around that it is much easier if you "help" them, make a game out of it, or now that mine is getting older I like to model giving away some of my things to other people who could use them and she sees how she then can give her things to other children. this time of year makes it easier too. I also learned that younger children really have no concept of what clean is. It really makes no sense to them which explains why they don't clean.

I also have a home daycare and my kids think its really fun to do our "crazy tidy time" I set the timer for 10 seconds and we run around like mad people picking toys up. They like doing it so much that we set the timer again and again :) not to mention how tired they get doing it is a major plus! Good luck, this does not work on my 10 and 6 year old daughters though...really wish it did :)
Good Luck

If getting rid of toys is fine with them, it sounds like they have too many toys and are overwhelmed by them. DECLUTTER! (I love to get rid of stuff and organize. It makes things so much simpler and less chaotic. see www.flylady.net). Now is a great time of year to do that, because you can donate them to a thrift store and help out some family that might not have much money to buy toys. It can turn into a learning opportunity for your kids to learn about giving to those in need.

Also, don't just threaten to get rid of toys when they don't clean up. Follow through and either really get rid of them or hide them and let them earn them back. Once my son realized I was serious, he started cleaning up more. I give him a choice: "Would you rather clean up your toys or have me clean them up and take them away?" Or I say "Kids who clean up their toys when I ask get to keep them. Please clean them up." Since he makes the choice and I implement the consequence in a loving way, I'm not the bad guy and our relationship isn't damaged. But extremely important is be consistent and do what you way you'll do (all the time) so they learn to pay attention and trust what you say. This will carry over into other situations in a wonderful way! One more thing--I have cleaning up toys as part of my son's before bed routine which helps him do it more willingly since it's a habit.

They are still a little young to clean up with out specific direction. Sometimes I will ask my kids to put the dolls in the basket or something specific like that then move on to the next toy. Another thing that really works for me (my kids are 5,3 and 6 mos) is something we saw on Little Bill. We zoopity zoo our toys. here's how it works... say you pick up a truck the child will say "Truck, truck, zoopity Zuck! One, two Zoopity Zoo!(they put it in the basket or whatever as they say zoopity zoo)I know it sounds silly, but it makes it fun to clean up. My kids fight for the last toy. Of course if that fails I actually take the toys they left out and put them into a bin until they earn them back with good behavior(this may be too advanced for your 2 1/2 but your 4 should get it.) I find that even though they say they don't care, later on they will realize they miss the toys. Anyway, hope some of that makes sense and helps!

A.

I do daycare from home and have that problem all the time. There are a few different ways I try to make it easier and less of a fight. One is to give them a number of toys to pick up at one time, that would work for your older one. Another is to ask them to pick up a certain color of toy- all the red toys for one and all the green toys for another. If nothing still works I have resorted to giving toys away. I have gone so far as to have them be the ones that hand over the bag with the toys in it. I try to make it a learning experince with the idea that they must have too many toys and we should and will give them to a child that doesn't have any toys to leave around. After one time of giving toys away all I have to say is "are you sure you want ME to pick the toys up because I will find them a new home where they will be loved and not left around to be broken" and they kids pick up quickly.
The first 2 work quite well though I rarely have to resort to the last.

Take a mini inventory of what stuff needs to be boxed up. Buy screw on lid containers at the Dollar Tree store in different shapes and sizes. Get a bookcase - we have 2 from Ikea. Use square containers from Target or Ikea with or without lids. Also you can get the Rubbermaid file cabinet drawers. Label everything with specific toys. Cars, trains/sets, pretend play (Food, tools, doctor,),etc., figurines (dolls, action figures), etc. Then sort the legos into one container - label it Legos, etc etc.

Our front living room is our sons playroom and it has been kept pretty clean ever since. He still has a hard time cleaning but his therapists all know the clean up song and that's all we sing and he'll actually do it too.

Good Luck!

Don't threaten, follow through. My kids have a rule, if they get it out, they put it away. If it isn't put away, it is mine for two days, period. I have also even gone as far as getting a trash bag and heading to the playroom. I have had to stand over them to pick stuff up, yet they still do pick it up so I figure that is a start. At 4 that is old enough to clean up after themselves, at 2 1/2 make it a game and see who can clean up the toys that fastest, my kids LOVE to race to see who wins! My six year old typically does. I babysit here in my home and all the kids know the rule that they have to put back what they are playing with when they are done, otherwise it would be chaos, someone hurt from steppig on something or something broken. Best to instill this sense of it being there job to clean up now, then fight it later.

I agree with following through on your threats. My mom would put them in a black plastic bag and hide them for a week until we earned them back. I second flylady.net it's free and awesome. A friend of hers does the House Fairy which motivates kids to do their chores, you should look into it.

Hi A.,

Pick the toys up, and put them away. Give out 1 toy at a time. Tell them they can put that toy away for another. When they ask for more, just tell them no, not until they put the toys away without you asking them.
The 4 year old should understand, and by him doing as you ask, the others will follow, (hopefully)

Have a Merry Christmas.

C.
mom of 3, grandma of 2

Hi there, What I do is I go through all of the kids toys and find the ones that they really play with. I taylor it down to no more than five toys per child. I then box up the unused toys and put them away or sometimes give them away. My kids are usually gone when I do this or I tell them that it is time for their toys to hibernate. I take the toys out when the five toys they have are not getting used and switch. Or by then they usually have new toys from christmas or birthdays. I then rotate and retire. It saves you from having to pick up hundreds of toys. My kids can manage a couple of toys vrs lots of them. Hope I was some help. Thanks.

Follow thrue with the threats! Take them away and only when they have good behaviour can they take a toy back! The first few times will surely result in endless tantrums, but it won't take long until they get the idea and believe you!

Hi A.
I think the phrase "Feel free to keep all the toys you pick up." works well. It's from the Love and Logic series. Don't get emotional, lecture or make threats. Simply use the phrase, give an adequate amount of time for the kids to pick up the toys (even set a timer for them to be very clear) then take the toys that are not picked up and keep them for a set amount of time. Hope it helps!!!
S.

Our kids are allowed one TV show at 5pm while I make dinner. In order for them to be able to watch their show, they have to clean up all their toys first. Otherwise there is no TV show. It is also a part of their weekly chore chart, cleaning up their toys once a day and doing one or two chores per day earn them an allowance. We made special jars for them to collect their allowance in and they have been very excited. They love going to the dollar store to spend it!

Well I have a 3 yr old daughter and 4 yr old son. My son is pretty good about cleaning. I do turn off tv and we do nothing fun till they clean. This happens when he refuses to clean. My daughter is 3 and with her she is still learning and many times I help her but she must clean and not just be playing. The TV thing works real well with my son. Its also important to get them to do as much as they can so when they are older you are not their personel maid. You are busy with 3 kids I am sure!

What I do with my kids and that works very very well: I asked them to clean up their toys and when they don't, I just grab a plastic bag (Trash can plastic bag) and say, I guess you don't need these toys, I am throwing them away and I start putting them in the bag. As soon as I star doing that, they hurry to pick them up so I don't get to them. Good luck and let me know if that worked for you!

i always used the 1-2-3 method. i ask them to pick up the toys once, then i count 1 2 3 if they didnt pick them up by the time i counted to three p put them in a garbage bag and put them away where they coulndt see them. there were acouple of times that there were no toys to play with. they got the toys back by doing something to help. like folding towels and putting them away, making beds, raking the yard. even though they really didnt do as good a job as i did, it gave them something to do to win the toys back. and iwouldnt give them their choice of toys , it was my choice. it also makes it easier when they have aplace to put everything. i had plasctic tubs of different sizes where each of the toys went. when they got a toy they had to decide which tub it woudl go in before they got to play with it.