Teach a toddler to clean up. But how?
If you’re a toddler parent, then you definitely don’t need me to tell you just how messy toddlers can be. Sometimes it amazes me how quickly, efficiently and HAPPILY toddlers can trash the house. Wouldn’t it be wonderfully amazing if they could clean up their messes with as much zest?
Here’s the good news: they can! You just need to have a couple of good strategies in place and reinforce them regularly. So let’s dig right into it: 5 strategies to teach a toddler to clean up.
5 Creative Ways You Can Teach a Toddler to Clean Up
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1. Associate clean up time with fun
If you want your toddler to love cleaning up, you HAVE to associate it with fun. Otherwise, they will view it as a chore and you’ll be stuck for the rest of your life having arguments with them about cleaning up after themselves.
The idea is that you want them to WANT to clean up. How do you get to that stage? You make it into a game by associating cleaning up with being fun.
Now I know what you’re thinking. You barely have enough time in the day to take a shower, let alone make up elaborate games so your toddler can enjoy cleaning up.
If you pay attention, you’ll see its actually quite simple. It’s more about understanding basic child psychology than anything else.
Let me explain. The way your toddler views cleaning up is strongly correlated with the language (and body language) you use when talking about it.
Let’s say you angrily say something like “You’re not going to get any ice-cream until you clean up this horrible mess!”
This is what your toddler processes: they have to do a chore (cleaning up) before they get to have fun (eat ice-cream). Now let’s make some tweaks to your sentence and see what happens.
How about you say (with a hint of enthusiasm) “Hey once you’re done with lunch can you help me spray the table while I wipe it clean, let’s see how shiny we can make it!”
See that? In your toddler’s eyes, cleaning up just went from being a boring chore to a fun activity. All you really had to do was change the way you speak about it.
Now I’m not saying that your toddler will become into an enthusiastic cleaner the first time you say that. But I can promise that if you consistently learn to talk about cleaning up as something fun, then over time your child will learn to love it.
My five year old actually has arguments with me about wanting to vacuum and mop the floor.
Another creative way to instill a love for cleaning in your toddler is to choose a particular cleaning up song that you start singing whenever it is time to clean up. This not only makes it into a fun activity but also, every time you sing the song the child KNOWS its clean up time.
They used to do this at my 2 year old’s playschool and it would work like magic! I decided to try it at home and it has worked so well with both my girls. Whenever they are done playing and its time to pick up all the toys I’ll say something like “okay it’s clean up time”. Then I’ll start singing. Here’s how our song goes:
Tidy up time, tidy up time, tidy up, tidy up. Come and tidy up, come and tidy up. So we can have a tidy room.
(sung in the same tune as the nursery rhythm “Are you sleeping?”)
I kid you not. It works like a charm. The second I start singing the tidy up song the girls start singing along (even my 23 month old!) and instinctively start picking up their toys.
2. Assign a place for all your toddler’s things
Here’s the surprising thing about toddlers: they actually like order. If you study toddler psychology you find that they get immense satisfaction from putting things exactly where they belong.
That’s why it’s really important that all items you want your kids to put back should have their own place. And your toddler should know where they go. You can teach your little one that each item has a “home” and when we’re done playing, they all want to go back to their home: books go on the bookshelf, stuffies go on this shelf, clothes go in the cupboard etc.
You can get a kids storage organizer to help in organizing their toys and clothes. That way it will be super simple and quick for them to toss the items exactly where they belong.
Luckily there are now SO many cute and pretty looking storage baskets and bins to choose from. I use these storage baskets in my kids room and they are not only suuuuper cute but also sturdy and very well made.
Best Kids Organizers on Amazon:
Simplehouseware Stuffed Animal Jumbo Toy Storage Hammock
Humber Crew Toy Organizer with 12 Storage Bins
Over the Door Organizer Gray Foldable Door Organizers Nursery Closet Storage
3. Provide fun clean up tools
This is hands down one of the best ways to motivate and teach a toddler to clean up. I literally want to give a hug to the person who invented the concept of children clean up toys.
Kids love to imitate adults and do what they do. Why not let them do chores in the name of having fun? It’s pure genius.
Cleaning up toy sets are an excellent way to instill good cleaning habits in your child. They will also help to make your toddler love the idea of cleaning up.
When picking out a cleaning set for kids it’s a good idea to get one that’s functional and where your little one can actually help clean up rather than it being just a “pretend play” thing. This one is terrific and has amazing reviews with most parents saying all the pieces – the broom, mop, spray bottle, dusters etc are designed to work like real cleaning tools.
Kids Cleaning Set for Toddlers
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4. Have a few clean up rules and follow them consistently
It’s important that you establish a few clean up rules. These will differ in every family so pick the ones that make the most sense to you.
This could include rules such as putting away one toy before moving on to another toy or cleaning up before every mealtime.
Just make sure that whatever rules you have are simple for your toddler to follow. And also, that you follow these rules consistently.
5. Be realistic in your expectations
Lastly, it’s important to be realistic in the expectations you have from your toddler. They are after all, tiny little creatures and it’s their job to make a mess. That’s essentially how they learn.
Most of the time (read: all the time) their attempts to tidy up will be well beneath your standards of things being clean.
Be patient with their messes, model good cleaning habits and always refer to tidying up in positive terms. Over time your little one will be the champion of keeping things clean.
Liked This Post? Read These Next:
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The Ultimate Guide to Toddler Proofing Your Home – Safety Hacks That Work
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