Are you tired of your kids acting like royalty around the
house? Making a mess of their rooms as they throw away their clothes and food, expecting you to go
picking after them?
Enough is enough – pull yourself out of the mess by teaching your
toddlers to help. Its time for Operation Clean Up!As a
parent, the following steps will certainly help with the clean up:
- STEP 1: Make an announcement. Let your toddlers know that it’s
time to clean up. Give them a specific place to put the toys – a plastic tub or a toy box will do
fine. Place the container in the middle of the room. - STEP 2: Using a loud voice, say “Look at this huge mess. Is there anyone who can help
me?” as you are setting the container down. A toddler’s attention tends to pick up this tone. You
can also make up and sing a cleanup song to get them into the swing. Remember to be happy and
positive about the task. - STEP 3: By means of
demonstration, pick up some toys on the floor and place them in the container. All the while you can
continue with the singing and coaxing. - STEP 4: Now is the time to ask your children to
(please) pick up a specific toy. Thank them when they start placing toys in your hand or in the
container. - STEP 5: Always keep a back-up plan,
as a consequence for not helping. Give them a timeout or better still, you can threaten to take away
one of their treasured items till they start cleaning up. - STEP 6: Warn the toddlers only once and then follow through with the consequence they
don’t help. - STEP 7: Continue cleaning up the
toys until all of the toys are picked up.