5 Simple Tricks To Make Toy Clean Up A Breeze

Have you ever tried to encourage toy clean up for the day and it just doesn’t go well? Do you constantly have to nag your child to stay on task or follow behind them to make sure they are putting things in the right place?  You know you need to teach your kids to pick up after themselves but at the same time it would go so much faster if you just did it yourself? Yea, I feel you.

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Picture this.  A bomb of toys has exploded and all you want to do is see the floor again! You announce to your kids it’s time to put away the toys. What reaction do you get? Tears? Complaints? Crickets?

Even Jenny’s perfectly designed, Joanna Gains-worthy playroom gets destroyed and needs a good toy clean up session on a daily basis!

If you are experiencing any of these struggles of toy clean up time…it’s completely normal. Think about it. What child is going to jump for joy to clean? (Unless you are the children of Marie Kondo-let’s be honest, you know they do).  And Mamas, how many of us can say we want to clean? Nah, that’s not something that sparks joy for me. I clean because it’s necessary.

Nonetheless, I’m writing this post in hopes to help moms, like me, have a more enjoyable time teaching their children to pick up and avoid the rivers of tears I’ve swam through to learn these tips.

Because, let’s be honest, toy clean up time isn’t fun for ANYONE!

1.) Start them young

When your child can follow simple commands such as, “Bring me your cup”, there is no reason that command can’t be “Put your toys away.” Bring the toy bin over to the center of the mess and get them putting the toys back in the bin. Then be consistent. Consistency shows your expectations as the parent and it paints a clear picture for your child that picking up toys is a normal part of their play routine.

2.) Create age appropriate expectations

Make sure your expectations are in line with the physical and mental abilities of your child. For example don’t tell a 3 or 4 year old to clean up their toys, leave the room and expect your toddler has turned into a laser focused Danny Tanner.  They need your guidance to get the job done.

Also keep in mind, picking up will take time. Children don’t move as fast as we may like and when it comes to cleaning, they basically become sloths.  

3.) Set the stage

Get some good hokey pokey-ing jams on. I love our Alexa for her many capabilities but my favorite feature is having mood appropriate music at all times. “Alexa, play the clean-up song” (insert blue ring and Alexa voice) “The Clean Up Song by Shari Sloane.”  I love to jam out to 90’s alternative while cleaning but that doesn’t really work for my kids so whatever gets them in the mood works for me.

4.) Test different cleaning styles

Most toy messes kids make are massive, right?! Asking them to tackle such a big job likely seems impossible to your kids and can leave them feeling overwhelmed. I was so guilty of doing this to my kids. That’s probably why many tears have been shed while picking up toys. Here are a few of my favorite cleaning styles that get the job done without so many emotions from me and them!

-Race Against the Clock- I say “I am going to have Alexa play the clean-up song one time. Let’s see how many toys you can get picked up before it’s over.” The song plays and they go as fast as they can. We have played this so much now they know when the song is about to end.  Another option is setting a timer for 5 minutes. I like this method too because it begins to give your younger children a sense of time. In my personal experience I have noticed this works a little better for Risden (5.5yo) than Rachel (4yo).

-Theme Clean-  Provide your children with categories for what they need to pick up. For example you could say “pick up all the stuffed animals” or “pick up all the block.” You could even have them pick up based on colors. Once they have completed that theme go to a different one. This works well for both of my kids.

-The Grocery Cart Method- We have a plastic grocery cart we use for this but you could also use a stroller, a laundry hamper with a string attached or maybe a large dump truck toy if you have that. The idea is to get your child to “shop” the room for toys that are out of place and fill the cart as much as they can then push the cart around as they empty the toys into the proper spots. This has really helped Rachel get things done faster and helps her stay on task. I love this method too I find myself doing it as an adult with a laundry hamper (no strings attached).

5.) Chill Ma.

The goal here is to foster good habits for our children. If we get too OCD on them during toy clean up, it will quickly turn into an un-fun and negative environment. So, if the kids don’t put the toys in the exact bin but they are still put away let it go. I’m not talking about letting them shove everything under the bed or in their closet but if you are like me and have certain bins for certain toys-don’t sweat it too much. Right now we just want them to learn to pick up after themselves, organization can come later.

I truly hope this helps someone. Please let me know if you try any of these and how they work for you. Plus if you have more tips for me leave them in the comments!