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Okay I need some tips and ideas on how to get a very stubborn two and a half year old to clean up her toys. When we all clean up she will just stand there and when we sing our clean up songs and I encourage her like I'll say do you want me to help you pick these up or hey let's see who can make this in the box first those types of strategies to clean up but she will generally throw a fit sometimes throwing a toy kicking the toys etc. I also give warnings that clean up time will be happening I'll usually start with 5 minutes will be cleaning up our toys for lunch and then 3 minutes 2 minutes 1 minute. I try to make it fun for everybody but 9 times out of 10 she will not cooperate.
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Try to award those that help, either by positive feedback or with a sticker. -
Depending on the group, playing a game of "I Spy" can get the kids picking up. "I spy with my little eye...a green truck with black wheels. Who can find it?" If they're distracted and no one is looking for the toy I've described I'll ask, "Who brought their sharp eyes today? Who can find the truck. It's going to be tricky to find it!" For some reason, the kids tend to love being praised for having brought their "sharp eyes" to daycare and for finding a toy that I said was hard to find.
When that doesn't seem to be working, we play "Trick or Treat". I take a large basket or toy bin and say, "Trick or treat. Give me something good to eat!" The kids enjoy putting a toy into the basket/bin, as if they're handing out Halloween candy. This works best in the month or two after Halloween but is still working for me even into February. I've also tried setting the timer on my stove and making it a race between the timer and the kids. Can they pick up the toys before the timer goes off.
My last resort is to reward with mini M&Ms. I know it's frowned upon by many but I'm not above using small amounts of candy to bribe the kids into picking up. It often works when nothing else will. It's amazing how hard the kids will work for 2 or 3 mini M&Ms. When even that won't work, I'll pick up the toys myself and then eat the M&Ms I would have given to them. When they tell me they want some too, I remind them that I was the one who picked up so I'm the one who gets the reward. I don't usually have to do that more than once or twice before they start to pitch in. Once picking up becomes a habit and they're old enough to understand that the faster the toys are picked up, the more time we have to play outside, I phase out the M&Ms and use more outside play as the reward for picking up quickly.Comment
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