Teach Your Kids To Tidy Up In Simple Steps

Yes, it is true. We have the magical secret behind having a tidy room AND adventurous little munchkins. Every mom thinks their kid is the messiest, but the truth is, kids are exploring their surroundings and creating mini-adventures in the house to keep themselves entertained. They are not deliberately making your life harder by throwing everything out of its place, they are rather discovering their toys and keeping them easily accessible for when a new adventure presents itself.

 

This is why you’ll notice that the mess is mainly made up of their toys, with a few clothes – possibly their PJs and the clothes they were wearing the day before. Tidying up a room may vary depending on the age of your child. For example, we noticed that it is best for babies aged 0-2 to remove the toys as soon as they are done playing with them to keep their surroundings clean and clear of any small objects.

 

For kids aged 2-6, try to tidy up when they are sleeping or after play time is over while teaching them to keep tidying after themselves. Finally, kids 6 years and older should be capable of keeping their room clean and tidy and you should supply them with enough storage spaces and guidance. This way they grow up knowing how to clean up and be tidy.

 

Perhaps it could become slightly more difficult to manage when having multiple kids of different ages, however, as a general rule once you’ve nailed down the system with the older one, the younger will follow suit. Here are some mommy techniques you could use in the process of teaching them how to tidy up their room or their playing area:

 

• Keep a dedicated area to play in to minimize the area that gets messy. This is easier to control with the younger children by getting them an Expandable Play Area
• When you notice a toy has been abandoned for a long time, show them that you are keeping it safely back in its place and explain that this is preventing it from getting lost so they can play with it later on.
• Limit their toys selection during playtime to a maximum of 5 toys, this will also teach some self-control and decision-making skills. They will also be able to rotate through the toys on different days ratchet than getting bored of the toys in a shorter span of time.
• Create a fun environment after playtime is over so they can associate cleaning up with positive feelings rather than turning it into a chore. Kids will enjoy doing things with their parents, so tidy up with them and perhaps have a little song to go with the clean-up time to make it more desirable.
•  Incentivize them! Humans by nature respond to incentives, so motivate them to keep their room tidy by promising them a piece of candy, a fun day out, or a surprise gift. This might work wonders.

 

These have all been successful techniques moms have used over the years to help train their kids to become tidy. The important thing is to not turn them against clean-up time as this will have a reversed effect and they will constantly choose to keep the mess around them. Remember that kids will mimic your every move, show them how you tidy up the house and keep your own room clean and tidy and they will simply want to be like mommy and daddy.

 

Support them further by placing easy storage spaces in their room; like clear boxes, bags, and a toys cupboard. Once your kid learns how to read, keeping labels on the toys storage spaces will also be a nice touch for them to know where everything goes. Even before they learn to read, the labels could have pictures that represent the category type, soon enough they will be tidying up before you even ask them to.

 

All you need to do now is supply them with the toys that will keep them entertained and educated and watch them clean up after themselves when they are done. Let us know in the comments your tidying up techniques to help other mommies out. ?