Kids Room Tips

i need toy room cleaning tips for my kids!!?

we have a very large toy room for our 3 children (3,4 & 7 +i watch a 2y & 5yr too). they are very spoiled kids being the first three on both of our families. the problem is the toy room is always a huge mess. being from a daycare for years i have everything very well organized, (i think) but they can't seem to put things away. they can pull everything out but don't know how to clean it when done. i could just shut the door, but i like to go in & play with them, but i can't stand the room. i always end up cleaning instead of playing...my question is how can i get them to clean up after themselve? i've already tried taking things away & banning them from playing in there for a week but that doesn't even help. any help would be greatly appreciated! thanks in advance!

Public Comments

1. make sure they are not around when you toss many of their toys or donate them to a shelter. I've got 4 boys and they never seem to notice after i've tossed their stuff.
2. make it a game to clean up. give them a special treat for cleaning up
3. Make it into a game .. i bet we cant clean this room in 3 minutes .. it may not be exactly the way that u would like it but it gets done n u all get to still have fun!
4. get serious and discipline them. i mean be for real with them. take all the toys out the room if they cant keep it clean. hide them in the attic. take it all away even the tv and they will learn. good luck!
5. Dont know how you specifically how you have everything organized, but if you try large baskets or bins for each specific category and label each bin. Ex: one large bin for cars and trucks and put a picture of cars and trucks on the front for the ones who cant read yet so they will understand that's where they go and another bin for dress up clothes, another for blocks and a book shelve. This may be an easier way for they to clean if they just have to throw things in a bin. Also you can go into the playroom like 5 mins before you need them and supervise them cleaning up b/f dinner or nap time or whatever it may be. Good luck
6. You need to be in there while they are playing and make sure that if they pull one thing off the shelf they have to pick it up and put it back before they go play with something else. Something my mom would do is tell me I had to clean my room and put things where they belonged - usually once a week. She gave me a certain amount of time to do it in - which was plenty - and then said anything that is on the floor or not where it belongs I am putting into a big black trash bag and throwing it out. If I couldn't take good care of my things then I didn't deserve to have them. Toys/games are expensive and if I was going to leave them on the ground I wasn't doing a good job of taking care of my stuff. It worked on me! You could try that once a week.
7. try putting up half their toys in bins where they can't see or reach them. Just let them play with those half left for a while, then after a few months, switch them out. This gives the kids a feeling like they are getting "new" toys every few months, and gives you less to have to worry about on the floor. Kids don't play with half the stuff they have anyways! As far as picking up, I always made it into a game with my son. I opened the toy box and we tossed as many toys into the box as quickly as we could (like basketball, trying to make the toys into the box) of course you have to make sure they don't throw the breakables, but most kids toys are plastic figures and stuff and are pretty durable, and can withstand a toss into the toy box from across the room! My son loved it.
8. Kids that young need things divided into specific tasks. For example - "Tommy, you pick up all the crayons and put them here." "Maggie, take all the picture books and put them there." "Ava, you help Joey put the puzzles in that box." This way, they know what the goal is and how to accomplish it. Makes it simpler for them and a whole lot less stressful for you.
9. Discipline always helps or make a game out of it.
10. My girls still keep their toys a mess, but sometimes if I get the mood just right, we can sing "Clean up, clean up, Everybody Clean Up" and they will actually clean.
11. get a reward system, something small, piece of gum or stickers or something. Let them know that they can't leave the room or go to bed whatever timeline you want to set until all toys are picked up.
12. A great way to get them to clean is to make a chore pot. What you do is get a glass container with a latch. Then put marbles or little things they like in it when they clean up. If they misbehave or don't listen to you when you tell them to clean up, you take one away. When they reach a certain amount (say 20) they get to do certain things with you or earn rewards. You can award them individual time with you, ice cream, or create a box of little toys and treats that they can pick out of. This really works. You get a clean room and they do the chores and learn responsibility by earning rewards.
13. throw all the toys out - every one of them
14. First of all take some of the toys out....not as punishment, just to simplify things for them and you. Let each of your children pick 10 toys to keep in the room and put the rest in storage. Ever so often, let them choose to rotate toys out. It'll be like getting new toys at no cost to you. Second. Organize the playroom in a manner that is acceptable to you but easily understood by the children. I reccomend three bins and each child puts the toys they have chosen into that bin. At clean up time, all the children have to do is take their toys to the bin, much easier than putting one on a shelf and one in a drawer and so on. Third. Dont wait till the end of the day when the room is completely out of control, have them pick up every couple of hours. Ofcourse you can modify this as needed (let them choose more or decide yourself on some toys to keep out for the ones you watch). Good Luck!
15. I've had great luck using those little plastic bins with the lids that "click" on. Divide by category - say legos, or barbies, and put it back on the shelf when you're done. We use a set of high bookshelves. The large bins, such as the ones holding the "Little People" playsets for toddlers or other large, akward toys go on the lower shelves, then books in the middle, then small plastic bins with the really messy, not-for-toddlers toys up high. Try putting most of the toys elsewhere. Put them, in the boxes, into the garage or out of the way closet. Then you can rotate, which really helps not only to maintain interest for the kiddies but cuts down on clutter. For example, I have a plastic dishpan that lives on the floor of my home office that holds an assortment of books for the kids, but I change the books out about twice a month. I also have a (closable) bin of baby toys in the kitchen that I rotate with three other bins that live in the garage. I mean, literally label them "1", "2", etc., and just trade them in occasionally. The last bit of advice is to have a few times a day when evryone always tidies up for ten minutes. Before mealtimes works, because they are motivated to get through it! Come hell or high water, at 11:30, 2:45, and 5:30 in my house, at least some of the mess is attacked! Even husbands will feel pushed into cooperating with the schedule. :-)
16. make a game out of cleaning up, sing the "clean-up" song or tell them that you have a fun activity planned but all of the toys must be put away first, then treat them to bubbles outside or sand and water play.
17. It's REALLY easy.... All you have to say is one sentence: "Feel free to clean up any toys you want to keep." They will certainly call your bluff, and you will go in with a trash bag and throw away everything they didn't clean up. (You can, of course, hide these toys and pull them out after they've forgotten they even exist.) I guarantee you that the next time you say, "Feel free to clean up any toys you want to keep," they will MOVE.... QUICKLY. And, if they don't, eventually their toys will be whittled down to a more managable number.
18. First off, weed out all the toys that you don't want them to have (happy meal toys, etc). Next, buy clear plastic containers. Sort the toys into the containers (cars, dolls, action figures. If something is part of a set, keep the set together, aka PlayMobil or dinosaurs) Label with a picture and words on the side. Require that your children only bring out 1 container at a time. Everything must go back in its proper container before they can take out anything else. Also, if they won't clean up, the toys left out go in a basket and are kept in "time out" until the next day, and the child has to place the toys in the proper container. This worked wonders for my son's room. Also, when I was a child, my mother would rotate my toys. A managable number of toys were left out, and she would place all other toys in storage. She would switch my current toys out for some of the stored toys every few months. I never got bored, and it kept the toy clutter under control.