How to tidy up kids toys?

You can make tidying up fun for kids by creating a cleaning playlist full of their favourite songs, dressing up and acting out silly storylines as you go, setting up a cleaning contest between siblings, playing beat the clock, dividing up the chores with a cleaning relay, treating them to their very own kids cleaning set, or dishing out small rewards. Packing away and tidying up gives toddlers a sense of responsibility, independence, self-confidence and pride, particularly when given a lot of praise and encouragement by their parents. Toddlers might not master the art of organisation overnight, but introducing them to the concept of tidying and cleaning up can start as early as 18 months to 2 years. Start with tasks like putting toys away, placing clothes in the washing machine, or wiping spills with a cloth. Prevention is better than cure, a handy hack for limiting excessive mess is toy rotation. This involves arranging around 10 toys on a low shelf that your toddler can reach, then stashing the rest away in a toy box or cupboard, then you switch them up every 1-2 weeks, or when you feel a refresh is needed. This reduces clutter, makes clean-ups quicker and easier, and keeps things new and exciting for the kids. Age-appropriate chores can help toddlers grow into confident and self-sufficient young adults. It’s not about raising mini Cinderellas, it’s about teaching kids how to be responsible while also doing their bit to contribute to family life.

A starting point would be to see putting their toys away at the end of play as part of the process. So at the beginning of the day you get your play box out and you can make all the mess you want and enjoy that play but at the end of it, part of the process is you put it all back in the box and you put it away. You want to teach them to value their space. They need to appreciate that a chair is for sitting on, a bed is for sleeping in, the table is for doing work on. You want it to become automatic behaviour. People who are tidy don’t think of a task as complete until they have tidied away afterwards. The way children store more and more things can become problematic, so you need to get into the habit of moving things on. As they are given new things, get them to select one or two things they are happy to part with, even if they are small – to help get them into the habit.