Encouraging tidying up

[itsalarf]

I am starting to feel overwhelmed by mess. I need my dc to tidy up their room and play areas more successfully, and without so much nagging on my part. They are 7 and just turned four btw. I am thrilled they are great at playing imaginatively and together, but need more mess control.

I was only really successful at this by applying some time pressure - there was something about a stopwatch or some sort of alarm system that got them moving. So we'd have only 45 seconds to get all that Lego shifted - panic! And they'd go for it, every time :o.

Just keep it manageable for them to start with - don't expect the whole room tidied, just the Playmobile/soldiers/Duplo/whatever - at least till they've embraced teh whole tidying concept.

We do 'challenges' as Hassled said, races and songs.

Bribary . No tea/tv/playing outside/stories until we can see the floor

Well I've gone straight in for hard bribery and dd (age 6) gets pocket money for completing a few little chores and keeping her room tidy and the dining room table tidy, where she does all her drawing/colouring/cutting bits of paper up into tiny pieces for no apparent reason!

Thanks for quick replies. I have threatened and started with bin bags but this causes upset, and does not actually get the job done as they are wailing so much . You right Hassled, they are better when they just tackle parts. It is likely that I am expecting too much perhaps. I have form for that!

I usually say to mine they have to tidy up the playroom/bedroom/whatever needs doing before they watch a certain programme or dvd. Usually gets done quite quickly funnily enough!

I also encourage mucking in together - I will help them tidy as long as they're doing it too. Dd2 commented recently how quickly it gets done when we all muck in!