I just spent 10 minutes trying to convince a 2-year-old that it was a good idea to clean up her Richard Scary Matching game. I tried singing the clean up song (“Clean up, clean up, clean up your mess”) reminded her how she cleans up at school and how her teacher loves when she cleans up, I cleaned up with her, among other strategies. Finally the if-you-don’t-clean-up-in-the-next-few-seconds-I’ll-be-really-mad countdown finally did the trick. The game is safe in the game cabinet until tomorrow morning.
I know that for me to win the battle against the clutter and mess that threatens my clean house I need help from everyone who lives here. I don’t want to have to rely on threats to motivate my children. Plus, I want to start now building good cleaning habits with Julia so that keeping her room clean won’t be such a struggle in the long run.
So my question is: how do you motivated your kiddos to clean up? What works and what doesn’t?
Stumbled upon you by chance… (hi!)
Advice? Take away what doesn't get cleaned up, box it up in the garage. If she notices it's missing, have her do something to “earn” it back. If she doesn't notice? Well, off to Goodwill then!
*Admittedly, this works better with slightly older kids, 4+, but never to early to start learning I suppose!
Thanks for the idea, ADoC, and Hello to you too! Julia certainly leans toward the dramatic, so something this extreme might be just the thing. Are you advising from experience?
I am! My kids are 7, 9, and 11 now. I still use the same tactic, and it still works. Same applies to laundry at these ages too… if it's on the floor, and it stays there, it goes to charity. I figure, it it's on the floor, they're not wearing it, therefore they don't need it.