Go Clean your Room

I expect my children to tidy their own bedroom and playroom. They've been helping clean up since they were old enough to walk. By the time they were 2 years old, they were doing a pretty good job and by 3 years old, I was feeling really good about the wonderful little cleaners they had become. My children are 4 years old now and although they have the ability to do a good job, I've noticed that they haven't been very motivated to pick up and organize their belongings lately. I will tell them to clean up and when I check in on them 10 minutes later, not only has the cleaning process not started but their room is often more of a mess. Sometimes the room will appear clean but when I look under the bed or in the closet, I discover the short-cuts. I guess I've gotten a little spoiled because they used to clean up so well and they actually enjoyed it. I knew that might change someday but I didn't expect it to be now. When I was teaching preschool outside the home, I was more creative with motivating my students to clean up and also gave more specific directions. Lately, I've simply been telling my own kids to "go clean your room" and then feel frustrated when they don't. I think in addition to getting distracted, they often get overwhelmed by their messes. Although we have a good organization system and everything has a place, it can be daunting to put everything in it's place when it's all been dumped on the floor.

I realized that I needed to come up with some new ways to motivate my kids instead of just feeling frustrated with their cleaning set-backs. I've tried a variety of things. I give them advance warning before clean-up time. I've tried to make it more fun by playing music to see if they can clean up before the song ends. I've tried setting a timer to see if they can race to beat the time. I've sent one to the bedroom and one to the playroom and challenged them to a race. Sometimes we sing a special clean-up song together. I make sure to give them positive reinforcement. I've also had to play the role of the "mean mommy"and bagged up all of the toys that were left on the floor. All of these methods work some of the time but it seems that the only sure bet at our house these days is to be very specific about what they need to do to help them stay on task. Today I sat on the floor in their bedroom and gave specific step by step instructions such as telling one child to pick up all of the dress up clothes and put them in the treasure chest while the other child picked up all of the ponies and put them in the pony basket. Next, books on the bookshelf and then stuffed animals in the animal basket. As soon as each task was complete, I would give another job. They didn't complain or whine and actually stayed on task (I'm sure it helped that I was sitting there watching). I didn't do any of the tidying and before they knew it, the whole room was clean.

Do your children have a hard time tidying their room or do they enjoy it? Do you have to get creative or help motivate them to get them to pick up their toys? Do you use a job chart?

Leave a comment or send me an email to share what works at your house or school. I would love to read some of your ideas.

Icky, Sticky Messes and Clothing

As I was working on my laundry pile again today I started thinking about some practical solutions that I've learned over the years that have helped me save several items of clothing from permanent damage. I thought it might be helpful to share these tips for others who may not have tried them yet.

• Removing ink from clothing: Spray with hairspray, let it soak in and then wash.
  
  
• Dirty leather shoes: Baby wipes work really well.
  
  
• Removing blood stains: Immediately apply hydrogen peroxide (Do not use hydrogen peroxide on wool, silk or dry clean only fabrics), rub it into the stain and then launder.
  
  
• Removing Gum from clothing: Place the item in the freezer for 2 to 3 hours and the frozen gum will usually peel right off.
  
  
• Washing clothes for sensitive skin: Add 1/3 cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle of your washer. The vinegar will help get rid of soap residue on the clothes. White distilled vinegar also helps prevent yellowing of clothing, acts as a fabric softener and reduces static cling.
  

I have also found that keeping a spray bottle of SHOUT stain remover next to my washing machine is helpful to quickly treat stains. When I was teaching in the classroom, I kept a Shout stain stick and a bottle of hairspray in my supply cabinet. I also kept a bin of extra children's clothes on hand so that if a child ended up with a large stain or mess but didn't bring a change of clothing, I was still able to treat the stain and give the child a fresh article of clothing to wear. Although stains, messes and kids go together, I had many thankful parents when I was able to treat a stain or clean a mess on a special piece of clothing.

What cleaning tips and tricks have worked for you? Maybe you have a solution that I haven't tried. I would love to hear your ideas. Email me at kim@lessonplansplus.com.