Our daughter is a dropper. She plays with something and then usually drops it wherever she is when she’s done with it. Ahh… I see you nodding your head. You know a dropper too, don’t you? I’ve learned that a dropper means a quick accumulation of toys, books, and possibly even socks all over the living room. (A stray shoe under the couch anyone??) While I encourage her to not leave things, life happens and the stuff starts to take over.
Our solution?
The Five Thing Cleanup Race
Yep, it’s a race. On the ready-set-go, she and I each race to see who can be the first to put five things (or more depending on how messy it is) back in their correct locations. Suddenly it’s a game. The giggles begin. And the living room carpet magically reappears.
Today we noticed the family room was getting a little dangerous to walk through (a.k.a. toy war zone). We did a Five Thing Cleanup Race before we started school and another Three Thing Cleanup Race when we were heading back upstairs. Bestill my homeschool-math-teacher heart… She turned that into a math problem! “Five plus three equals eight,” she said. “Your eight plus my eight equals sixteen,” I replied. Her eyes got big. She realized how quickly we had tackled sixteen things.
The best part? No, it’s not that the room is somewhat cleaner. It’s the fact that I didn’t have to nag or beg or remind. It takes us all of 30 seconds and we’re done!
Do you have a dropper? Have you found any other cures that work for you?
