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View Full Version : How do you stop children getting all the toys out?!



littleelm
22-10-2011, 01:10 PM
So, mindees are rubbish at putting toys away once they've finished playing with them.

We've tried a tidy up chart... sort of works... they put stuff away, but just wherever they fancy!

We've tried just getting one or two thing out ... say the blocks and the train set. But as soon as they get bored they just get more toys out!

It's really annoying as toys end up getting muddled up and pieces get lost.

So how do you do it?!

Chatterbox Childcare
22-10-2011, 01:52 PM
We only have so much out and then if they want more we pack the others away first.

It is all about educating them with playing with your toys. I am sure they do what they want at home but with us being there it is easier I think.

kel1983
22-10-2011, 02:06 PM
We only get a few boxes out at a time. We dont have a playroom so the children dont have constent access to toys.

If they get bored with the toys that are out they have to put them away first befoe we take the boxes f played toys away and get something new out.

Not easy though. Sometimes the little ones are good at the tidying other days they dont want to help

Nature'sKids!
22-10-2011, 02:26 PM
I have a small playroom but not all toys are accessible and they get rotated regularly too.

I have found the only way to keep things tidyish is to offer a SMALL but varied amount of toys and rotate them regularly.
So if you've got 5 things on offer and they get them all out it's not such a huge task.

uf353432
22-10-2011, 02:39 PM
You just have to be consistant with them. There are many routes you can choose but whichever method you adopt you need to be consistant.

If you have lots of different rooms for them to play in - the rule might be they packaway before they leave a room and move to the next room.

If you have a small single room to play in you might have a 3-4 toy limit and they have to pack away something before they get another toy out.

You could have set pack away times - like before snack time, before lunch, before school run. You play with what you like but then 20 mins before these designated times you pack away everything.

There are other options - but choose a method and stick with that one and be consistent and then before you know it they will just do it.

Lady Haha
23-10-2011, 10:34 AM
We also have a rule that if you want another toy out, you put the one you've finished with away first (unless some one else is still playing with it, but then the job of tidying it away is passed to them!) There are times when I have 6 mindees all with a different toyset/activity out and that can be hectic, but usually two or three mindees will play together with one toyset.

Like others have said, you need to be consistent and eventually they will know the rule and just tidy up without having to be told and when new mindees start and see this happening, they automatically learn from existing mindees that this is just how it works here!

I love it when a new mindee starts and within a couple of sessions is tidying up after themselves without me having to tell them!

amanda1309
23-10-2011, 11:05 AM
I only get a few boxes out of the garage at any one time. We have to tidy up before we leave the house and if we are going into the kitchen and dining room. We have a dog and he loves to eat toys so the mindees have learnt very quickly to tidy up or the dog eats the toys. He only eats things left on the floor so they all out put things back in boxes. I don't have a play room so they play in the lounge.

singingcactus
23-10-2011, 01:22 PM
Personally, I don't. The kids get out all the toys all the time.

That's not cos that's how I want it to be btw, I wish they would get only one or two out and then put it away before the next thing, but I don't think that is possible for me without me turning into an even bigger nag than I already feel.

I have limited the number of toys that are available to the little kids though, to the amount that I can deal with putting back away. The big kids though have access to everything all the time :crying: .

Having said that, I now have so many schoolies they do encourage each other to tidy up a bit more, without me nagging :thumbsup:

Pipsqueak
23-10-2011, 05:54 PM
I find just letting them look at pictures of the toys and using their imaginations solves the mess problem nicely:D

mushpea
23-10-2011, 06:10 PM
I have the rule that they put away a toy when they have finished playing with it, if they are reluctant to put stuff away then i give them a pile of toys each to put away and they dont play with anything else unitll they have put their pile away,, I find that I have chidlren that would happily put everything away and a child that dosent want to and will watch the other one so I make sure they have a pile each or prehaps one puts the train set away whilst the other puts away the cars so they have a job each.
as for schoolies they definatly pack away toys they've had out and I will often say to them ' instead of tipping all of the box out only get out what you need' which they do as they learn they then dont have to put so much away.

mama2three
24-10-2011, 08:09 AM
Im probably going against the flow here but they often have lots of different things going at the same time - the little ones return time and time again to a particular thing , and they mix toys to play with them how they want to - not how they are 'supposed'to. who says that the noahs ark animals shouldnt be sleeping in the dolls cot , or riding on the train ?or ( current favourite) balancing on top of a building block tower!
It does take more time to tidy up - but we do it together and they know this is a part of their routine like any other.

funemnx
24-10-2011, 10:15 AM
I find just letting them look at pictures of the toys and using their imaginations solves the mess problem nicely:D

:laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

snufflepuff
24-10-2011, 11:36 AM
They only have access to a limited amount at any one time, because I have no playroom. We use the living room and have lots of toys stored upstairs which I rotate (leaving the favourites downstairs all the time.)
So there's always 5-6 boxes, a basket of craft materials, some books, and some cuddly toys. They tend to have 3 or 4 things going on at once- say 2 or 3 boxes plus some books and something crafty. I don't worry about them having lots out because they all know that they have to help tidy it all away. We tidy before lunch and before going out anywhere, then if it's really messy close to pick up time we will tidy some bits away then too.

Daftbat
24-10-2011, 05:17 PM
I let them get out whatever they want so long as there isnt complete chaos!!!! I have found that it s a fact of childminding that you are constantly sorting out equipment and toy boxes:D

I sorted out the craft box on Friday - you guessed it - today my own daughter went in to it and it chaos again..... and I only had two children today:laughing: :laughing:

PS have managed to train hubby to put baby toys and cars away in the lounge at the end of the day......not sure how it happened but not going to moan:clapping: :clapping:

manjay
24-10-2011, 05:22 PM
Im probably going against the flow here but they often have lots of different things going at the same time - the little ones return time and time again to a particular thing , and they mix toys to play with them how they want to - not how they are 'supposed'to. who says that the noahs ark animals shouldnt be sleeping in the dolls cot , or riding on the train ?or ( current favourite) balancing on top of a building block tower!
It does take more time to tidy up - but we do it together and they know this is a part of their routine like any other.

I am with you on this one:thumbsup:

AliceK
24-10-2011, 05:50 PM
Im probably going against the flow here but they often have lots of different things going at the same time - the little ones return time and time again to a particular thing , and they mix toys to play with them how they want to - not how they are 'supposed'to. who says that the noahs ark animals shouldnt be sleeping in the dolls cot , or riding on the train ?or ( current favourite) balancing on top of a building block tower!
It does take more time to tidy up - but we do it together and they know this is a part of their routine like any other.

I do the same. As long as it's not so bad as to be a hazard I don't mind too much and since getting my excellent Ikea storage unit it doesn't take very long to put it all away and get the room looking tidy again. We do have a quick tidy up time before lunch and again before tea though.

xxx

JCrakers
25-10-2011, 10:39 AM
One of my rules is if they want another toy out they must put the other one they have finished with away first. All children tidy up (well, excluding the ones who can't)
It's a good rule to have as it shows the children that they must tidy up mess they have made. They have to do this in foundation at school so it's getting them ready for that.
Plus after a 10 hour day I DO NOT want to be spending half an hour sorting all the toys out and tidying up after the day

So we only have a couple of things out at a time and we get something else out when ones tidied away. Also because if I have babies or toddlers they fall over toys left about so we always tidy up as we go.

Becky

Nature'sKids!
25-10-2011, 12:31 PM
Im probably going against the flow here but they often have lots of different things going at the same time - the little ones return time and time again to a particular thing , and they mix toys to play with them how they want to - not how they are 'supposed'to. who says that the noahs ark animals shouldnt be sleeping in the dolls cot , or riding on the train ?or ( current favourite) balancing on top of a building block tower!
It does take more time to tidy up - but we do it together and they know this is a part of their routine like any other.

Tell me about it! The noahs ark is used as a ferry / warship / baby bath (it's huge) the castle is used as a car park, zoo, hiding place (it's huge too! Lol)
The play silks come out with most of these things for "grass" "water" "caves" etc...
Everything gets tumbled up. The only thing I'm strict with are boardgames and arts / crafts stuff as there are so many little things.

Te Lego is only used by older kids in ds room, as is the playmobil. (only two plastic, small item things we have)

Everythig else is quite chunky so not easily mixed up / lost

The Juggler
25-10-2011, 12:35 PM
I find just letting them look at pictures of the toys and using their imaginations solves the mess problem nicely:D

:clapping: :laughing:

Bluebell
25-10-2011, 03:02 PM
Im probably going against the flow here but they often have lots of different things going at the same time - the little ones return time and time again to a particular thing , and they mix toys to play with them how they want to - not how they are 'supposed'to. who says that the noahs ark animals shouldnt be sleeping in the dolls cot , or riding on the train ?or ( current favourite) balancing on top of a building block tower!
It does take more time to tidy up - but we do it together and they know this is a part of their routine like any other.

yes - I do this - I completely agree - their imaginations can just run wild and the dinosours and knights are quite often incorporated into a game involving the happyland town and all the emergency vehicles and firemen. I draw the line at toy boxes been tipped up, emptied out and then move on to the next toy box to do exactly the same - like a little tornado working through all the toys! I had a boy that did this and I told him no straight away. I do find because I have a laminate floor that a few children playing with different things it can take over and someone trying to step over the train track has to be careful not to step on it as theses kinds of things that take up a lot of room can be trip hazards and can slide - but even just having that one thing out that would still be the case! If it starts getting a bit muddled I scoop up a few bits to stop it becoming a hazard and I do have a tidy up at lunch time!
I do grit my teeth sometimes because it looks like its chaos - like when they jump on my sofa throw all the base and back cushions on the floor and I'm thinking OMG but then actually they then have a really nice game where they pretend they are on an island or on a ship and the pillows end up being rocks or stepping stones or something. I am relaxed and supercool honest ;)

Bluebell
25-10-2011, 03:07 PM
but i have found that things that go together - like certain games and jigsaw puzzles with a lot of pieces I put in a box that's on a higher shelf. It's in a clear box so can be seen but some of these are for slightly older children and I want them to be used appropriately and NOT thrown about and like you said pieces can get lost!! These things are got down either by me or at their request and we sit down and play and then when they are done they go away - stops pieces getting muddled and lost! (see not so supercool and laid back after all maybe!) :rolleyes:

uf353432
25-10-2011, 03:50 PM
I too encourage mixing resources by the kids - today one gang were playing with Lego - built a garage (fathers a mechanic) and then the toy cars came out to bring the garage to life. Meanwhile on the other side of the room the other gang are using dolls house furniture on a table top, with a selection of disney mini figures and some random cat basket model thing (don't ask) covered in marbles and glittery things. Meanwhile I was playing with my new robot arm that I built and was trying to see how much weight it would lift by getting loads of resources and seeing what it could pick up (I made more mess hurrah!) I totally support this kind of play to a point - but also draw the line when they want to use sets full of small peices for something else when if a peice was lost the whole game is unusable - so I tend to have certain resouces that can only be used on the dining table.

The ONLY one that frustrates me is the transporting schema where kids become bag ladies and carry around every kind of bag filled with all kind of 'stuff' from everywhere around the house - because we're talking a billion bags with a gazillion different things to return to their homes. I have been tempted to just bin the bag and its contents - but still haven't had the heart. Oh how my heart sings when they play 'shopping' lol!