How do you get children to clean up after themselves?

Question

Im looking for inventive ways to get the children to clean up after themselves or be inspired to organize their things. I would like to avoid having to make to many rules. How might i do this.

Answer 1

Make a game out of it! With my 1 and 2 year olds I have them collect toys and put them into 2 colored buckets...with the older kids, I say "ok everyone put away the blue toys"...and go from there by color.

Answer 2

As a parent we have to make rules that WE can stick with. There needs to be consquencses for not doing and for doing it.

With my kids I found it best to write down a plan and all sign it, then they can't say they never heard you say that.

How about a chart with stickers. Make a rule that if they pick up their stuff they get a star. Start them with five stars before they even start. If they pick up they get a star,. If they don't pick up they get a star taken way.

Then make up a reward plan.....for instance7 stars at the end of the week they get to rent a DVD of their choice.

Less than 5 stars they lose privledge to play their vidio games on Saturday. Lower than 3 stars they can't play the vidio game all weekend.

If they get 7 plus stars for four weeks in a row they get to go out for pizza and movie with dad or mom....or some other reward.

You have to set the awards with considering your income. You also can't make the punishment so harsh that the whole family suffers.

Also you need to know each child and what punishment works best for them. For instance my boys never minded being sent to their rooms, they enjoyed the quiet time. But, unlike them, my daughter being a people person hated being sent to her room.
Thus, the room thing worked well with them but not with the boys.

Good luck

Answer 3

Start at a very early age. When you are doing their room, ask them to help you with making their bed, picking up toys and Even tidying toilet/bathroom after finishing the bath. Instill into them the importance of keeping their room tidy. Encourage them by telling your guests in front of your children, how well trained they are. But most importantly, the parents should make sure that the house is always kept tidy - children learn a lot from their parents!

Answer 4

My daughter is 16 months and when she was 6 months I bought her a pretty shelf with different coloured boxes in. Right away I showed her how to put her toys away, I would clap and whoop when I put a toy in the box. She didnt understand then, of course but it became a familiar thing.
As she got older, she realised thats where the toys belong, and started to do it herself. She's young though, so I dont expect her to tidy them all away herself, she helps me so she learns by example. Now, its already boring for her, but she understands it needs to be done before we leave the room. She puts away half the toys, the ones I point out to her and then starts clapping and grinning because she knows she's done a good thing and is being praised. Dont shout, use a low leel-headed voice and then when you get a result, lift your voice, sound really happy. Works wonders.
If your child has a tantrum over it and is young, then compromise, but older children need to understand discipline and rules. I plan to introduce a sticker chart when she's older and 'Being Tidy' is one of the columns I will include on it. For treats, I suggest small toys - stocking filler types. They're cheap, easy to find and they can have a box just for these small toys. Llike a trophy case!
Also with the stickers, get different types, coloured and then shiny stars for 'super' effort. Make them strive to achieve more. Dont reward all behaviour, children get used to it and expect to get something for everything they do. This happened with my nieces/nephews.

Answer 5

Nice colourful boxes with labels/pictures on the outside so they know what belongs where.

Rotate the toys so that there is not so much out at one time - plus it is amazing how much they want to play with something when it hasn't been seen for a couple of weeks and this tends to help them look after it better. Too much chioce just overwhelms them and can lead to the bombsite as they are not really interested in all of it at one time.

Make a game out of it - race them to put away something while you put away something else, which leads to the next point.....

........teach them by example! If you are messy and leave things lying about then they won't see why they have to clear up behind themselves! Helping them to tidy up will encourage them and not leave them feeling overwhelmed and lost in all that needs to be done.

Answer 6

Organize their toys and limit that they can take two activities/toys out at a time. To take out something else they put one back. Kids have so much stuff - you may want to pack awy some of their stuff and rotate the toys they use every couple of months - especially the ones they don't use as often. Sticker charts with a couple of chores on relating to this are great - with a small treat at the end of the week.

Answer 7

Every week my mum would give us £20 (a lot of money for a 14 year old in 1990!). From this she would deduct for services such as cleaning, washing clothes, lifts to friends houses etc and I was usually left with a fiver. It was also a great way of teaching us to budget - now if I understand that if don't do the cleaning myself, I have to pay someone to do it for me, or my house ends up being a mess.

Answer 8

I ask her, as I notice her drop things, to pick them up. And as she picks them up I tell her why I asked her, and then we then go and find the place where whatever the item is, really belongs, sometimes we discuss that, I.e why rubbish goes in the bin, or sometimes I ask her why we put things away in certain places, I.e socks in the laundry basket, toys in the toybox, bit's of breakfast in the dog etc....

I dont enforce this with any punishments, and fairly regularly the place get's in a mess.... She's a child, not a robot, children are messy... if you want a tidy house, dont stop using contrception.

Answer 9

As far as toys go, make it a race. I yell out clean up time and count. each time they try to beat their last time. I expect they'll get tired of the game eventually but I'm hoping by then they'll just be used to picking up. Not sure how old your kids are but even 2 and 3 year olds can pick stuff up. As far as organizing stuff, you should do it the first time and then explain to them that it's easier to find their stuff and enjoy it if they maintain it this way. Make sure they have a place for everything (book case, plastic containers, etc.) and that they put stuff back in it's place at least most of the time. It'll take lots of reminders.

Answer 10

Sometimes life isn't always a game. Train your children early to pick up after themselves. It's a fact of life that we have to do that or live in a mess. Sometimes rules are necessary. Start young and it will become second nature to them. I've seen friends who didn't do it when their kids were young and they consequently don't do it in their teens and twenties and let their mother do (or not do) it all. A terrible scenario.

Answer 11

1.) bribe them. it works quite well. just say 'we can't go out/you can't have this nice packet of sweets until you tidy up. (but this mainly only works with younger kids).
2.) If you go to ikea, or anywhere like that you can get fold down boxes with, say, some cartoon charachter or another on them. I recently brought my niece one, (she's 5) and she puts all her stuff in it when she finishes playing with them.

So, basically, get them a fun system of organising things, whether it means pretty coloured boxes, or a reward for tidying up.Or you could just threaten to bin everything left on the floor if it isn't tidied away NOW. and that if you ever find stuff lying around, that will also go. and wave a bin bag or something around as you say it, just to make the point.