How do i get the kids to tidy their toys away!

elainew

I give my dd warning i'm about to come and hoover. If anything is on the floor then i'm afraid it goes in the hoover or binbag. Soon gets tidied up

lauren_1

I finally won the battle of the mess after what ever was on the floor got thrown away (put in the attic or taken to charity shop). Obviously the good stuff got kept but the usual kinder egg, maccy d and useless toys went.

We dont have consoles, sky got cancelled due to a daily battle between cbeebies, cbbc and NICKjr or anything much really apart from books and toys, my garden is shaded by a mahoosive tree after 11 am most days in the summer, they are made to play outside now mostly.

Be firm, if you make a threat to take favourite toys away, do not give them back! This will only need to happen once before it sinks in.

Brighton_belle

as an adult, faced with a lot to clear, I feel so overwhelmed I don't know where to start. So I wonder if it is the same for your children, particularly the youngest?
As has been suggested, maybe you need to help them break it down into smaller jobs,with clear and simple instructions.

Aputsiaq

Its discipline they need in a consistent manner, not shouting.
Tell them what you want them to do and if they refuse to do it, issue a warning. If they ignore your warning then apply the punishment. That could be removal of toys, no playstation for a week, whatever.

AND STIC|K TO IT! <

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That is the crucial aspect.

It is the people who lapse back into forgetting the warning or not being tough with the punishment or relenting when the kids are pleading that will suffer the problem over and over.

Show them that you are the boss and they do as they are told.

Krystaltips

pigpen wrote: »

I do find though with my 5 year old I have to literally TELL her what to pick up.. e.g. fill this wash basket for me.. put the books on the shelf.. and she can do that easily.. it seems to be deciding WHAT to do she has the block but once that choice has been removed she gets on with the others.. .

Completely agree with this.

The rule in our house is you have 1 box out and when you've finished playing you put that box away before you get another one... Unfortunately I have children not robots and DD1 often forgets...

We also try and tidy the girls room every night before bed so that the mess doesn't become completely overwhelming... I have a real job with DH because he just gives a blanket "go and tidy your room" order but DD1 (6) needs more than that, she needs a "go and pick your polly pockets up, then put your ponies away"

Even so, every couple of months I find myself having to do a deep tidy...

lindseykim13

We have a warning system, warning then time out on the step which i know i have let slack because they run off and hide somewhere while i'm dealing with the baby etc and i can't enforce it very easily without having to shout to get then out from wherever they have dissapeared to. This also doesn't work with toy tidy time as they get what they wanted which was to get out of the tidying up and they would rather sit on the step!

I think the main problem is my lack of sticking to and changing the rules and DH who just threatens straight away instead of issuing the warning first.
I think having a tiny one around has thrown everything up in the air because i'm busy dealing with her.
Some great suggestions though i think i'll go back to using a star/sticker chart so they can get money (although they buy more toys to add to the problem) and if they don't pick up the toys i'll black bag them. Although this would take a while as it's mainly lego in their bedroom :mad:
Their toys are split into labeled boxes i've made it so easy for them to put their toys in the right places it's just a never ending battle.

I already banned toys from downstairs which has helped but thats mainly for the safety of my dd. Although they still push their luck by bringing it in the hallway/kitchen.

Going to come up with a plan, tell them the rules and try our best to stick to them.
Do others have a set toy tidy time and bedtime? We had a set bedtime in the winter of 7.00 tidy time 7.30 story time and 8.00 bedtime which worked then. The summer though they have been able to stay up later and we've often gone out after dinner so all the routines gone which i fear is half the problem.

lilac_lady

Try"beat the egg timer". I have a small egg timer and it's used for grandchildren getting dressed and tidying away toys. They love the challenge. I know it won't work forever but at the moment it's really useful.

BitterAndTwisted

Separate boxes or stacking thingummies are what little ones need or they can't figure out what to tidy where: it's just too overwhelming. Chucking everything in one huge toy-box means they can't find the things that go together when they do want to play, so it all gets emptied out on the floor. I always found that it worked better if I tidied with them, ensuring thing got put away properly or stuff would get stuffed anywhere it fitted. This used to go on after the dinner-things were put away before bath-time. If they didn't help nicely to my satisfaction there would be no story-time for the culprit.

Sometimes some kids have just too much ruddy stuff, things get taken out but not played with so perhaps some editing down might be helpful. Or maybe hiding some away for a few weeks so they appear fresh, new and interesting again when they're swapped for something else.

pukkamum

I do a quick ten pick up, basically every night they must go and find ten things in their bedroom and put them where they belong.
I find if this is done every day the room stays tidy, although i must say i don't insist on completely tidy rooms as i think children need a 'sanctuary' where they are not constantly being told to pick up!!!

mrcow

Tell them that whatever is left on the floor when they are at school goes in a bin bag.

When they are at school, scrap everything into the middle of the room and sling it into a bin bag. Shove the DS and the Playstation in there too (even if they are on the floor or not - if they don't treat their possessions with respect, then they don't deserve them). Stick it in the shed/garage and don't mention it again.

Then you can vacuum xx

Repeat each day as required.

If anyone says anything, well it's not as if they weren't warned.

Leave everything there for three weeks and then ask if they'd like it back. If they do, they can have it back a bag at a time to put everything away. The last thing that will be returned is the DS and Playstation.

Repeat as required. ALWAYS take the games consoles first. If you follow this through, you will not have a problem with mess again as it will either be in the garage, or the kids will have put it away.

If you're serious about kicking this into touch, then it will work.