9 How to teach children to clean up the room after playing & bull; hello healthy

Children are masters of messing around. Unfortunately, they weren't very good at cleaning up the mess.

As a parent, it is "itchy" to see a child's room so messy that you can't walk past without stepping on a Lego or a toy car, putting dirty laundry and clean clothes together, and trash scattered all over the room. Amazingly, your little one can not feel disturbed at all by the condition of the room like this broken ship.

There's only one reason why it can be hard to persuade your little one to clean up after he's played: he just doesn't want to. Children live from moment to moment; as soon as they get tired of one thing, they will quickly do another. Why should I tidy up my own room, when there is something more interesting to do - especially if someone else (you) will do it for me?

Sometimes refusal to clean up a room is a big part of breaking out of power - a condition in which your child is not only motivated to avoid the clean-up itself, but is also motivated to reject and fight you as the more powerful. The more you try to control your little one and encourage them to comply with what you say, the more likely they will react to rejecting you. Unsurprisingly, the topic of tidying up your room can often leave you feeling frustrated and tired.

Here are 9 tips you can do to help your kids learn responsibility for the mess they make:

1. Start by creating a new rule

Explain to your child that you have come up with some new rules about cleaning your own room, and that you want everyone in the house to know about this so that everyone understands what they have to do and expect.

For example, “After you finish playing, I want you to clean up all your toys when you are done playing before you watch TV. If you forget, I remind you again. But if you keep forgetting, Mom will put your toys in the warehouse for a month. " Decide how harsh the "punishments" you want, such as not being able to go out on the weekends - some parents decide to throw away the toys - but make sure you follow your own rules. If only you give blank warnings when angry, your child will belittle you.

2. Give an example

Children who are too young can be confused by commands, such as, "Clean up your room now." This was a concept that he had to learn before he really understood what the sentence meant. Parenting recommends parents show their toddlers what you mean by tidying up toys, eg “Deck, now is the time to put your doll back in place. Let's help mom? " or “Dek, look at mama, the messy dolls are put back on the bed. Now, mom needs your help."

3. Divide large jobs into small tasks

If your child's room is already in chaos like a broken ship, and the children's motor skills are still not trained enough to lift or pick things up, it is helpful for you to try to map and divide the room into four smaller areas and ask your little one to do one. parts of the room at one time. Or, ask him to clean up one type of item first - tidy up dolls first, trash after, and toy cars last.

Breaking down large tasks into simple tasks is helpful for kids. Allow the child to try cleaning the room this way for five minutes, then give it a short break before starting over.

4. Choose the toy that was played that day

Before playing time for children, it's a good idea to select what they will play for the whole day, so that there won't be too many "prints" that have to be cleared up later. Children are more able to take advantage of what is there and really play it, rather than being preoccupied with various choices that end up not being played and just being tossed around.

5. Create a child-friendly play environment

Place toys and all play equipment on a small shelf at the height of the child's body. This will give them the freedom to play and make it easier for them to return their toys to their original places. Labeling each toy box can also help the child to distinguish which toys should be placed in a particular place, rather than spilling all the toys in one large basket.

In addition, if your children regularly hear you complaining when you clean the house, such as washing the dishes or sweeping the floor, they will naturally associate tidying up as unpleasant and should be avoided altogether.

6. Make a game

In order for the activity of tidying up a room to be a fun activity for children, why not make it a game as well? For example, challenge your little one to collect as many items as possible and put them in the box until one song is finished. Or, you can give your little one instructions to collect 3 items for the first half, 5 items for the second half, and so on, within 10 seconds.

7. Ensure that new toys are not removed until those that have been used are put back in place

Remind your little one, if he forgets, and don't give up too quickly so that you will clean the room yourself. Do this, then you will teach your little one if he whines or delays too long, he will not have to take responsibility for the action. When your little one shows signs that she won't want to give up the doll, or this is taking too much time, give her a chance. By letting her understand that she is heard and understood by her parents, her whining will end more quickly - and help her to accept that everything has to be done to the end.

8. Give a helping hand

Especially children who are too young, they may need a little help from you to get started tidying up their room. It's okay to spend 15-30 minutes with your little one (depending on her age) tidying up toys and trash, where you show her the steps needed to complete the task.

For example, teach children to separate dirty and clean laundry by checking every piece of clothing that is scattered on the floor, then put them in the laundry box or fold them and put them back in the wardrobe. It is important for your child to know what your expectations are of him. Often times we parents think that kids know how to do things, but they really don't know anything until you teach them until they really understand. This help 'facility' allows you to be their role model, as well as a way to convey what you want without causing you to end up tidying up the nursery for him.

9. However, don't help if the child is old enough

If your child is old enough to do everything on their own, don't volunteer to clean the room. If you do this, you show him that you don't trust him to complete the task on his own and if he puts it off or refuses, someone else will step in. In fact, it can teach your child not to obey you, as the parent. Cleaning a child's room with your own two hands sounds like the easiest solution, but the long-term effect will result in a lack of motivation for children to organize themselves as adults.

As a rule of thumb, once a child reaches elementary school age, he should be able to do some of the tasks related to tidying up his own room. You just have to hold them accountable.