How to start cleaning toys with children?

How to start cleaning toys with children?

How to start cleaning toys with children?

The author is a special pedagogue. She focuses on caring for children with warning signs for learning and attention disorders and preparing them for school. She is the author of the good concept.


Not sure how many toys are moving from room to room, so you still have a mess? Introduce rules with your children.

 Cleaning toys is a big topic for many. I did not solve it very much and as a topic it got into my life through my work. Every month I hold discussions on parental topics and once my moms asked me about the topic of "cleaning toys". I wasn't excited, but I decided to say yes. I started to prepare at the theoretical level and I found out that this topic still appeals to me personally. It was especially when I walked around the house like an enraged dragon and wanted to throw out all the kids' junk. I guess we know that every once in a while. I realized that more and more toys are the cause of my irritation and quarrels with my children. So I decided to inspire myself and from what I advised mothers, I chose something for myself. It's an adventurous journey for me, and I'd love to share it with you.

How to start cleaning?

It is important to think about how I am going to do this before I take action. I stick to the fact that things should not be rushed. Cleaning toys with children can be grasped from different perspectives, there are many ways to do this. Whether or not they work also depends on whether we have chosen the right one for us. For example:

• the age of the child / children or the age separation between children,
• style of cleaning and the way we parents clean,
• the situation in which we are: now we have a calm period and I have the energy to fully focus on the topic of cleaning or are we in a situation where we are dealing with more important educational topics and we can only clean up technically?
• What are our parental expectations: Do we want toys to be in place? Do we want children to be independent? Fill in yourself: I want to ....

Such and similar questions should be at the beginning of your cleaning project. They will help you choose the right way. When you have an idea of ​​what you are expecting, you will automatically start thinking about how it will look. You will play scenarios in your head. Even in this section you can catch "bad flies" before realization.

In my mind, it looked like this: "Hmm ... I really like the Montessori principles, cleaning up the toy as soon as the activity is finished." Then I imagined how we work. I found out in my thoughts that I did not know how I would do this. I thought in my head, "a pity that I didn't lead them to it earlier." I found that I don't know how I would start teaching children to put down toys right after the activity if I hadn't physically been there. Maybe the Montessori course would help, but it's not that high a priority to go to the course. I realized I didn't want to spend too much energy on it. I am not concerned with any higher goals and values. I just wanted me not to have to clean those damn toys. And that helped me choose a strategy.

Every toy has its place

This is how we work at home for a long time. I think it plays an important role in cleaning. Children have a designated place for their toys. If a new toy does not have its place, it means that some place has to free it.

Not all toys can be unloaded. For them we have a closet where we put toys for exchange. The toy exchange box is great. Those toys are still not available and sometimes go into oblivion. Once in a while, one of us suggests, "Let's see the toys for exchange." Usually it is a day when the weather is rainy or when we are closed at home due to the disease. I like this time. We open the closet and discover toys we haven't played with in a long time.

Before birthdays and Christmas, we regularly make room for new toys. Children choose toys that they do not play with. We try to sell some at the bazaar and for some we look for a place with friends and some go to charity.

Occasionally, children want to throw away a toy that I think is amazing. So it's me who hinders the cleaning process. I thought, however, that I would respect the children in this. The reason was that I understood that it wasn't important that things that no-one was playing would take up our place. But sometimes it was difficult for me. And frankly, I can't do it all, and I just couldn't put some toys out of the house.

Less is sometimes more

My cleaning mission got to the point when I realized we had a lot of toys. Children are filled with toys. Often we inherit some, we still get smuggled as part of a children's magazine, and visits and the family also want to be happy about giving children toys. Honestly, I couldn't fight it. I solved it through "every toy has its place".

What I consider important to note is that I believe that today's children have much more toys than necessary. In my mother's discussion, this topic appeared in one interesting light. We talked about the possibility that if the children do not treat the toys, so we can take those toys for some time. Then one mother said, "I take their toys and they don't care." This statement is important to me. It reflects two truths.

The first is quite logical. If children have many toys, they simply do not miss them. No wonder. Without reducing the toys, children will not feel their loss. One of the cleaning tips is that the parent tells the kids, "Now is the time of cleaning, I will set the timer and when it rings, I will come. This method can be helpful in selecting toys. Usually, children make toys that they have an emotional relationship to and want to play with. The others let them lie on the ground. If they repeatedly leave some toys on the ground, they may be the ones that are suitable for discarding. I am convinced that if we have toys at home that children do not lack, we simply have many toys at home.

There is, however, something more important in this statement. Often we want children to "just" clean their toys. We'll set them up to understand them. We will act according to these rules and feel disappointed. Because children don't care that they have toys taken for a week. We feel that children should feel bad for not taking the toys off. It seems to us a little "just" to take their toys if the children do not mind at all.

 Simple and easy to understand

I aligned the cleaning of toys with our functioning of the household. The toys started to be cleaned in clear stages. The organization of our day is that either we all play together or the children play alone and their free play ends at some point (at their or my instigation). So we started working according to two rules:

Every time we play together, we end the game by cleaning together.
Whenever children's free play ends, children are invited to clean their toys. This gave us a natural cleaning rhythm: we always clean before lunch, before going out, watching TV, before evening ritual. Whenever the game ends at my suggestion, I give them at least 5 - 10 min. to face the challenge of "kids, it's time to clean up toys."


In order for children to be able to clean the toys themselves, it is important that children have the environment so that they can be self-contained. This includes low furniture or simple storage. M has many nice principles to do.

You'll keep going

I try to keep the cleaning in a relaxed atmosphere. It is not always going well, but my sincere efforts help us to clean our rooms as often as possible. I believe that children want to repeat things that happen in a positive atmosphere and make our parents happy. Certainly they would rather go back to an activity that was positive than an activity associated with anger, shouting, and a bad feeling of themselves. This also applies to cleaning. I always try to notice if they do something of themselves and appreciate it. To show my joy in helping me. And I noticed that if I stick to this, children are more willing to clean.

As long as I have energy and time, we clean up together. Children always prefer to hear the phrase "let's clean together" rather than "make toys." I try to engage playfulness and fun. If I am in the mood for this, cleaning is usually laughing and we have it faster. We clean up for speed, by throwing a toy in a box, jumping or turning into an animal. I also use children's favorite fairy tale characters. "Here's something for a superhero, and here's something for a fairy." Some work "cleaning songs." You can invent your own family or use the repertoire of artists who make songs for children.

Scarecrow belongs to the field, not to education

Does haunting have a place here? I meet with the parents saying that they will "throw away something forever" or throw all the toys in a box and hide them "as if they are thrown away". And they are waiting for what happens. Sometimes it causes a big cry and the promise "we'll clean the toys". Parents go to see if no one has picked up the toys and bring them back. In most cases this has a short-term effect with an adverse effect. With time and repetition, children find that this is just a game. Sometimes a parent threatens to throw away toys, but actually does nothing. Children quickly realize that these are just false words. Other times, parents in anger hide all toys for a long time. They find themselves in a situation where children have long been missing favorite toys and dissatisfied. But parents only saw the branch under their feet. Then it may happen that parents have more robots to seize a dissatisfied child than they should with tidying up. I prefer that children take toys gradually (to avoid a long-term shortage) and rather for a shorter period. It is good if the children feel dissatisfied and you can refer to the agreement. "I know you'd want the dolls back, but if you haven't done them, you decide to take them for you today / week." However, I do not think that children should feel discomfort over the long term. Shorter periods allow them to try again and better. That has a bigger effect in my opinion.

Principles of cleaning for children with developmental disorders

For me, these feelings were a mirror. If my goal is not to keep my toys in my home, then hiding them will meet my expectations. However, if I have an unnamed expectation that I want my children to value toys, I should choose a strategy other than picking up unworn toys for a week.

Cleaning with children with learning and attention disorders is even more challenging. This is not because these children have done it on purpose. It is part of how a specific learning and attention disorder can manifest itself in everyday life. This is not helped by the fact that in early childhood, parents are not yet aware of their children's failure.

1. Replace the general and comprehensive instruction "Work toys" with the specific "Now put the dice in the box".
2. The multi-step instructions "Put the dice in the box, books in the shelf, and put the paper on the table" may not work. Use one "Put the dice in the box" instruction and when that happens, use the second "Put the book in the shelf" instruction and so on.
3. Help with visualization. Keep clearly marked with the help of pictures of where it belongs.
4. Communicate face to face. If your child is not looking at you, they may override your request.
5. If a child has a hearing impairment (background figure), it may be difficult for the child to perceive the spoken instruction when the TV or radio is playing in the room. If your child has impaired visual perception, it may be more difficult for him or her to see puzzle pieces on the patterned carpet or take longer to orient themselves.
6. If a child's disorder is due to a sensory integration disorder, it may be difficult for him / her to put things in the lock boxes, lid boxes or containers with closures. A child may be less skilful in handling things. Think of simplicity.
7. Children with developmental disorders may experience a state of overstimulation when they are unable to clean. Then they need more understanding and help.

My journey with cleaning continues. We have been working with the new rules for a month now, and we have shared joy and difficulties. Whatever it is, I learned one more thing. Never set rules above your children. You may find that you want to change something while it works. Like me, when I realized that evening cleaning was a big challenge because of fatigue. During it, I usually help or move it for an early time so that there is not much left in the evening for cleaning. There are times when an exception will do more service than a firm compliance with a rule or policy. This is usually the case when children are frustrated by an experience. If you feel that the set rules cause a lot of stress, you can always think of something better and working. Your children are more important than rules.