Our 2 year old has his own room. My wife and I are arguing about this....Should he be allowed to put his toys in whatever toy bin he wants to as long as it is in his toy bins ( All the toys mixed up), when we tell him it's time to clean up his room? Or should we the parents, have places for his toys to stay organized? Stuffed animals in this bin, legos in that bin, big cars on the bottom shelf, etc.
2007-10-28 03:50:12 · 17 answers · asked by mrchozen 1 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Toddler & Preschooler
Being only two you should try not to expect too much from him but if you want to teach him good organizing habits try pastine pictures on the bins of what you expect to be in there and play a game to encourage him. Say ok Tommy this is a lego can you find the bin with a lego on it. Or whatever the toy may be. Don't get frustrated if he doesn't do it just keep encouraging him. And praise him on the toys that made it in the correct bins.
2007-10-28 03:57:22 · answer #1 · answered by Crystal B 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm on the fence with this one.
I think that if you expect him to put his toys away in the right places, then things should be clearly labeled for him, so it's a matching thing. Go online to print out a picture of Lego's (or take a picture) and put it on the lego bin, tape pictures of big cars to the bottom shelf, etc.
Otherwise, it may be a little ahead of him developmentally to expect him to just know where everything should go.
If it takes him a while to get it, in the meantime, be grateful that he's cleaning up.
2007-10-28 11:48:40 · answer #2 · answered by berrel 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I would work on teaching him where the toys go properly......you can continue to praise his efforts on how good he is doing cleaning up his room, then build on that by showing him how to keep the cars, legos, etc all together. That is going to make it more fun for him to play with his stuff (having all the parts there for one kind of toy) and help make less of a mess (not having to dump all the toys out to find enough legos to build something). I would say to slowly work on teaching him how to sort toys when he cleans up.......otherwise it will come as a huge shock when the way he has always done it is no longer good enough and he has to learn a whole new way.
2007-10-28 20:47:32 · answer #3 · answered by ShellyLynn 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
At age two, you are lucky if you can get him to put his toys away at all! I don't think he has the sorting skills to understand that certain toys go with certain other toys.
If you want him to do it a certain way, then you need to help him to get organized. Do it with him and show him what you want him to do.
It may help to put picture cues on the different toy bins so that he can match the toy with the picture.
As he gets older, you can show him how putting things in the "proper" place will help him to find the toy he is looking for more quickly.
Don't expect perfection -- a good effort should be rewarded until he is good at doing the job.
2007-10-28 15:43:53 · answer #4 · answered by Marilyn E 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Im sitting here wondering which side your on... but Id have to say as a 2 yr old teacher for quite a few years, its important to teach them to put things back where they got them. Hence, they should go in the correct bins. Unfortunately, you will have to help him with this for awhile until he gets the hang of it. By 2 1/2 my kids knew where everything went.
For the people that say they cannot classify or sort things.... I beg to differ. They may not be able to sort on their own but they sure can match pictures and they are capable of remembering if the idea is repetitious.
If you dont start this now, as a teen or adult, he may just throw everything in a pile and be totally lost. Its better to teach them when they are really young to do the right things. To make it easier for yourself, cut out magazine pictures of each item and place it in the bottom of the bin. Laminate it if you need to. This helps my kids greatly. We also put the words below them so they get some letter/word recognition wether they know it or not haha... Good luck!
2007-10-28 10:54:59 · answer #5 · answered by jms62394 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
In an ideal world there would be a place for everythiing......etc but to get your 2 year old putting his own toys away is an achievement in itself. If you make things like this too strict and structured then the novelty will soon wear off for your son and all the excitement will have gone therefor he wont want to put anything away in the near future.
I suggest you let him put them where he wants (as long as they are away) for the time being and then in a couple of years try to organise things better with him.
The bottom line is does it really matter where he puts them as long as he is tidying after himself?
2007-10-28 10:57:30 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
i have a home day care and i let them put it in whatever bin they want as long as they pick it up. if you want it in specific bins the best way to do is is attach a picture of the object to each bin. for example the lego bin has a picture of legos on it as a visual cue
2007-10-28 11:45:25 · answer #7 · answered by reneaumommy 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I would wait for sorting until he is older, 3 or 4. He's too young. If you are getting him to clean up, in any fashion, that's a great accomplishment in itself and should be applauded!
As for sorting, later when he's older, you can have him sort them, using picture labels on the bins help this, and it's more like a game!
2007-10-28 12:37:00 · answer #8 · answered by Ista 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I do try to teach my son to sort his toys, but I have three categories that are easy for him to understand: Balls, Books, Everything Else. I started getting him to sort this way for two reasons. At night, we were having a hard time finding the books to read at bedtime. Also, when we were going outside, it took a while to find a ball to take with us. However, if he gets it wrong, that's OK with me. I'm really just glad he's picking up his mess.
2007-10-28 11:03:49 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's alot to expectfrom a child who is only 2...being able to organize toys into classifactions ....at that age, they can not classify just yet..so he get's confused what he did wrong!
What differnce is it if a stuffed animal is with a car?..he put his toys away....let him be proud of that!
chill abit..it is only his room...not some super toy store that has to be displayed just so
2007-10-28 10:54:56 · answer #10 · answered by sticky J 5 · 2⤊ 2⤋