To want a 6 year old to tidy up?

[bloodytidyup]

I'm hoping one of you mumsnet geniuses has found a solution to this and can share it with me. I have a very messy 6 year old boy. Me and DH are quite tidy people though our house is far from a showhome. Obviously I expect a certain amount of mess with a young child but it is getting out of hand. He has his own double bedroom with plenty of storage in there for toys. He also has a cupboard in the living room with some other toys, such as board games, stored in there. His room has so many toys across the floor (cars, lego, blocks, colouring pens, books, random plastic tat) that its hard to walk across. There are toys strewn across the living room, kitchen and landing. This is just from us being home most of the weekend. I want him to have the freedom to play and not place unrealistic restrictions on him but I can't bear the level of mess. When I try to get him to tidy, he is basically not able for the mammoth job and I end up doing it. Does anyone have any suggestions for getting him to be more tidy with his things?

i find that article a little odd Queen, it seems to indicate that the Mother is a shopaholic who buys things to make herself happy but has taken the majority of her daughter's toys away to prevent mess.

I get that her own habits are "a work in progress" but I wonder what message that is really sending to her children.

I think that there is a balance to be found in between.

Can I just say I am feeling quite proud to have found myself in "discussions of the day" with a headline picture and all . DS has brought me (anonymous) fame!

Best advice I had re getting kids to tidy up is to use 5 stages - I put them on the chalk board in DD's bedroom, it definitely helps.

I tried something new yesterday with my 2 year old. Firstly, I asked him to help tidy up by putting his toys in the toyboy - he basically ignored me. So I said, any toy left on the floor was going in the bin! It worked!

I got sick of nagging my kids so devised the job box system...

craftinvaders.co.uk/craft-tutorials/getting-kids-doing-chores/

They know now to check the box before asking for screen time - it helped loads for me (my kids would sell their souls for screen time though!)

My 6 year old responds better to one at a time instructions. Try investing in a stopwatch and get him to time how long it takes to tidy away each set of items. Then see if he can beat it the next day.

To be honest when my child was little I used to get stressed a lot because I was walking on toys at one point. However now she seems to have learnt in the nursery to tidy up after playtime so I try and encourage this at home every night . Sometimes they are tired and lazy just like us so I let her get away with that especially weekends but the rules remains tidy up after play and even little things like drawing or homework so it's becoming a habit

After years of having to help my dd, I did eventually work out (last year when she was 9) that she needed it broken down into tasks! It used to drive me mad. I helped her when she was little. As she got older I seethed more and more and it turned into a once in a while, both of us grumpy task. When she was about 8 I used to say look down, pick up the first thing you see and put it away. I couldn't see what the problem was! But I literally had to say it over and over again, and that's when I realised I was approaching it wrong.

I did a big A3 list of the standard things: soft toys, books, people and animals, baby clothes, your clothes, plastic bits and bobs (these all have easy to see, designated storage that she is clear about) and it lives on the back of her door, and she ticks it off in different colours. She still isn't great, and still gets distracted or grumpy. She can do the middle of the floor well, but not the edges! so I often go in and spend 10 minutes getting it ok so I can hoover, but in general it is better.

She is also a get everything type of thing out to play something imaginative, so it is never a simple job.

Now have to work out how to approach the other bits of the house she plays in!

I have an 8yo, 6yo, 4yo, and a 3yo - they have a lot of stuff! Getting them to tidy up can take days - but I have found this week that changing 'pick that up...' to a scavenger hunt: 'who can find/see...' as well as adding where the item lives is working quite well - with the added incentive of a treat and due to my boys' competitive nature they are doing it at speed compared to usual.

Right from teeny tiny we did tidy up times with ours - before lunch - before nap - before bath. We would have races and they became as much fun as the initial playing. As teens the wifi went off until rooms were put into satisfsctory order if they became too unbearable for me!

Threatened my 2 with the binbag again this evening - everything was picked up in a matter of minutes!

Bought a tarpaulin type plastic sheet from b and q for lego. So apart from the latest creation which can stay out lego tidy is just lift up the four corners and dump in box. Yes I know it's me doing the lifting but DS almost 7 is now great at keeping lego on the mat. Also have separate boxes for different types of toyand it's no more than two boxss of toy out at one time. Little and often also the random threat to hoover his room and just vacume up anything on the floor works