Tidying up
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Thread: Tidying up

  1. #1
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    Default Tidying up

    What are your expectations of the children with regards to tidying up and their ages?

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    All children help with tidying up. I have 2 x 2yr olds who are excellent at tidying up, they sometimes just do it without me asking lol. They are pretty good at putting things in the correct place. My 3 and 4 year olds are brilliant, they know where everything goes and get the job done really quickly. Here everyone helps to tidy away as soon as they are mobile lol.

    xx

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    All tidy up here also. The 2/3 year olds even do their lunch dishes. Ofsted will want to see the children being responsible and tidying away.

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    I'm struggling to get the 4 year old to do it, I mean they will they're just so painfully slow and start playing with stuff instead of tidying which annoys me!
    I have a feeling they aren't made to tidy up at home.
    I know OFSTED want to see it which is why I'm trying to get them on board doing it :-)

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    Everyone tidies here, my 4 year olds are really good and usually turn it into a who can tidy the fastest? game

    Even my 15 month old LO has started helping when it's tidy up time!

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    Quote Originally Posted by mumofone View Post
    I'm struggling to get the 4 year old to do it, I mean they will they're just so painfully slow and start playing with stuff instead of tidying which annoys me!
    I have a feeling they aren't made to tidy up at home.
    I know OFSTED want to see it which is why I'm trying to get them on board doing it :-)
    For me this is part of British Values, everyone equal, everyone contributing and helping. Plus also a big lesson on 'cause and consequence' - you empty it all over the floor, you'll pick it up. Play a game of no other toys out till this is tidy. It'll take a while till all the toys are lifted, painful for you but they have to learn. Maybe introduce an element of competition 'who can put the biggest pile back first?'. Best of luck.

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    Thanks guys, although all my mindees are sweet they're all allergic to tidying up and saying please and thank you it seems!!

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    Quote Originally Posted by mumofone View Post
    Thanks guys, although all my mindees are sweet they're all allergic to tidying up and saying please and thank you it seems!!
    Im allergic to tidying up too

    if they are not used to at home it does sometimes take a while to convert a child to your way of thinking
    When someone tells you nothing is impossible, tell them to go slam a revolving door

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    I have one of these: KUSINER Mesh basket with lid - red, - IKEA which is good to do a quick 'sweep' of the floor from one end of the house to the other, then sort the contents properly from the basket.

    It saves me a lot of bending down, as I can mostly just sit on the floor and lob toys in from there, especially if I can get the little ones to help. I find this is a good first step on the road toward getting them to tidy more thoroughly. It also beats the real tinies for time. One headache I find is that the wee ones are immediately drawn to whatever I pick up and want it now. Using the basket, I can be too quick for them (quite an achievement ! )

    I hate the way parents get uptight about tidying and have to tell them they are banned from tidying at home time. It almost always ends in a lengthy parent-child stand-off when all I want them to do is leave. If they do tidy, then I have to get everything out all over again to find the things that really could do with a wash/anti-bac; sort the jigsaws into sets and generally get everything back in the right place.

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    Quote Originally Posted by bunyip View Post
    I have one of these: KUSINER Mesh basket with lid - red, - IKEA which is good to do a quick 'sweep' of the floor from one end of the house to the other, then sort the contents properly from the basket.

    It saves me a lot of bending down, as I can mostly just sit on the floor and lob toys in from there, especially if I can get the little ones to help. I find this is a good first step on the road toward getting them to tidy more thoroughly. It also beats the real tinies for time. One headache I find is that the wee ones are immediately drawn to whatever I pick up and want it now. Using the basket, I can be too quick for them (quite an achievement ! )

    I hate the way parents get uptight about tidying and have to tell them they are banned from tidying at home time. It almost always ends in a lengthy parent-child stand-off when all I want them to do is leave. If they do tidy, then I have to get everything out all over again to find the things that really could do with a wash/anti-bac; sort the jigsaws into sets and generally get everything back in the right place.
    we generally tidy as we go, but at the end of the day, I too, just want everyone to GO HOME, and if that means I spend 10 minutes tidying the playroom, that is fine ... otherwise it is 30 mins putting everything away were it belongs!

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    Quote Originally Posted by FussyElmo View Post
    Im allergic to tidying up too

    if they are not used to at home it does sometimes take a while to convert a child to your way of thinking
    and its not just tidying they have to learn to do!

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    I often use a tidy up song that I have on my phone - works a treat! My little mindees (2,2 and 3) are much better at tidying than the schoolies I look after :-)

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    I think the key to tidying up is having a place to put it.
    I feel like this with my personal things and children do.
    If it is easy to put things in a basket and pop on a shelf they will be more inclined to do so. What works for me are small baskets and trays and nothing stacked.
    We tidy up regularly, have tidy up music, I role modal and chivvy in an encouraging happy way...if we tidy up quickly we can....
    I find if I praise one, the others want the praise and join in...they want to please.
    I do always give a 5 minute warning of tidy up and I think this is important as children get engrossed in their play and then resent it if you suddenly say it's time to tidy.
    Routine plays a big part and expectation ...mine know that as soon as DH asks if it is nearly fruit time ( he prepares) they know it's tidy time. Tidying up is on our visual daily timetable too so they know what will come next.
    I now tidy up completely before home time and they love helping, we chatter and sing and decide what they want me to set up the next day...carrying on something from the day's play often , it's a happy relaxing atmosphere and all join in then.
    Then only puzzles and stories until parents arrive...it works fine for us and parents are always keen to tell me that they are not so keen to tidy up at home. Sometimes we have a reorganise together and they help me decide where to store things ...I find that if they have helped plan where things go ,they are inclined to take ownership of tidying.
    I haven't needed to do this as a childminder but at school we sometimes used to give an award for best tidier - this helped to encourage the less inclined to tidy.

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    I have a group of 2year olds to just 3s who tidy brilliantly. When the bigger ones are involved I have one who does a great job of looking busy whilst doing nothing! When he is here I allocate jobs to each child , one tidies away the material , one the pinecones etc.... That way he has a task to complete and its obvious when he is ''helping'' or not!
    I also use bribery...bad I know....but they tidy so much quicker when it is time to tidy before a favoured activity / story / snack...!

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    Quote Originally Posted by mama2three View Post
    I have a group of 2year olds to just 3s who tidy brilliantly. When the bigger ones are involved I have one who does a great job of looking busy whilst doing nothing! When he is here I allocate jobs to each child , one tidies away the material , one the pinecones etc.... That way he has a task to complete and its obvious when he is ''helping'' or not!
    I also use bribery...bad I know....but they tidy so much quicker when it is time to tidy before a favoured activity / story / snack...!
    lol I have a 3yr old the same. She will just wander around with 1 thing in her hand trying to look like she is helping whilst everyone else frantically puts toys away. I'm wise to this trick though.

    xxx

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    Quote Originally Posted by mama2three View Post
    I have a group of 2year olds to just 3s who tidy brilliantly. When the bigger ones are involved I have one who does a great job of looking busy whilst doing nothing! When he is here I allocate jobs to each child , one tidies away the material , one the pinecones etc.... That way he has a task to complete and its obvious when he is ''helping'' or not!
    I also use bribery...bad I know....but they tidy so much quicker when it is time to tidy before a favoured activity / story / snack...!
    I've alo got one who is very busy doing nothing! It's funny to watch as they think they are being so very clever. So now, for example if the lego was out, I give everyone a 'corner' so it's obvious who is doing what. Plus, I'm all for bribery.

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    Mine are pretty good at it. We always have a tidy up time before a snack, meal, outing or tv time. That might have something to do with it, there is always something at the end of tidying up. At the end of the day we tidy half an hour before parents start coming and the kids sit down for a snack and a cartoon, so we don't have parents 'helping'.

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    This morning a 17 month old tipped a jigsaw all over the floor. We all helped to tidy even the 17 month old. She loves walking back and forth to pick up the pieces and put them in the box. I've always encouraged tidying. My own DD used to help me empty her ball pit back into the storage bag when she had just turned 1.

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    I've always found if I ask them to tidy up generally They all seem a little lost, but if I give each child a specific task- e.g A tidy all the books away, B put all the puzzles back on the table and all the pieces etc they all seem much more focused and it's easier to see who's busy not helping!

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