TIDYING UP! or lack of it.

[johnshe]

I've just spent the last 1/2 hour trying to get my ds (5) to tidy his lego - I'm fed up with the sound of my voice.

Any good clues on how to encourage happy, stressfree tidying?

Oh no, he's just tipped it out again.... off I go.

Just spotted a thread that might help, I'll have a look - other tips will be v. much appreciated though.

Damn Lego, know the feeling. I sometimes try saying I'll race my ds (nearly 5) to see who can get the Lego/cars/action men tidied first. Sometimes works, sometimes doesn't. Or I use threats and bribery: if you do this you will/ won't get that. Or, quite often, I leave it all over the floor

There was also a discussion a while back on this subject. It's here

I think I've seen that somewhere, ks, but know if I bought mine lego on its own integral tidy mat the mat would be used to transport small pieces of lego all over the house, and end up being used, alongside pilfered items from wardrobe, as a hat or something

I spend a lot of the day on my hands and knees, peering hopefully under the sofa for that suddenly-wanted tractor or something, only to find it when planting beans about six months later in the garden. Think that making toys edible would be the only real solution to tidying.

Message withdrawn

Doesn't the bloke who wrote 'toddler taming' suggest a garden rake? For easy clean up of lego on carpet I suppose it could work, but where would you store the blasted thing when not in use - have visions of children using it as a large pokey stick on each other.

I made one of those GLTC lego mats out of an old curtain. Just make a circle with a pen on a bit of string and cut out, make some holes with scissors to thread string through (you need quite a long bit of string as the material needs to open out flat. Hey presto it's done and I'm no good at any type of craft so I'm pleased with the result for free. R

I hate Lego. Even did as a child - I find the texture/feel of it completely squeamish. DS has Mega Blox at present, think I will push him in the direction of Mecanno, Knex etc in a couple of years.

Year before last at mother & toddler group, DS tipped the box of Lego all over the floor. Parents were expected to clear up their children's misdeeds so I grabbed the nearest dustpan and scooped it back into the box. The organisers looked at me as if I'd committed a cardinal sin (disrespecting the Lego) - oh dear!

Yes, me too Mandyd, makes me feel sick clearing it up, but squeamish?! Ks, glad you're feeling better after your tile nightmare

I know I say this every time, but whenever we have to clear up I put on some music and we dance around whilst picking things up and putting them away. That way its a game rather than a chore (Oh God, do I sound like Mary Poppins???). But it usually ends with giggles rather than tears so it works for us

I LOVE Lego, and so do the boys. I bought some cheap 'hobby boxes' or something from Woolworths - they have loads of small compartments in them - (maybe designed for nuts and bolts or something?) Anyway, we sorted out the Lego into the boxes - wheels in one bit, doors/windows in another, people in another ... etc. The boys (3 and 5) enjoy sorting it out, AND it helps them play with the Lego more constructively and imaginatively too. I usually suggest they play with the Lego at a table, which helps.

The boxes mean they don't have to tip it all out to find the bit they want. And at the end of the session most of the bits are still in the boxes, apart from the bits which are part of completed models.

They are generally very good at tidying away all their toys. I usually help at the end of the day when everyone is tired, but in the middle of the day I simply tell them they have to tidy up before we go out, or have lunch, or whatever it is they want to do. They have masses of toys, but everything is ordered and sorted in boxes, and they have learned not to get too much out at once, as tidying away is then very hard work.

I also have K'nex sorted out in a big box with compartments ... and Hama beads in smaller hobby boxes, sorted according to colour ... am I obsessive?

Throw it out. That's what I did with my two boys. Now when I say "tidy that away of I'll throw it out" they know I mean business )

whoever you are you're making me laugh madonna...

We used to have a huge (well it was to me when I was little) kitchen table that was feet high in papers/toys/you name it was there. I remember my mum getting sooo fed up , she lugged the dustbin in and just scooped the whole lot in. I remember retreiving a belt but I have to say I didn't miss any of the rest of it.Do you think we have too much choice (www do your wizzy thing cos I remember another thread on this) Do you think tidy/messyiness is in the genes?? Are you a tidy person yourself? How much is habit? How much can you leave out for safety - some bits need to be put away every night so they don't get steppped and broken and parents don't trip over them. But sometimes its so frustrating for a child to have built castle/farmyard/train track only to have it put away and start again tomorrow. There again you could be like me - too long on mumsnet rather than tidying.

I got really fed up of threatening to throw it all out that I decided it was time to take action. They spent every afternoon putting every single toy on the floor. In the end the floor got so hazardous that I confiscated the lot and put it in boxes on my wardrobe for the weekend. Its still there now over 2 weeks later as they've never even missed it. they just have a few toys to play with and the house is loads better. I find I can sometimes get them to help me if I give them their own little bags to put things in. Also I've got to keep it simple "Pick it up" achieves nothing but "Can you find all the red ones" usually gets some results.

When you have your first kid all you want to do is spoil them. I ended up buying mine loads of toys thinking that they would keep him entertained and happy for hours. You know the toys the ones with a millions bits to it. Shocked was I to find that playing consisted of throwing all the bits around the house in evey nook and cranny. After a few months of spending time on hands and knees retrieving all the bits, I resorted to putting these toys to the bottom of the play box.

I am so conscious about not 'spoiling' my child (he is an only child of 'old' parents) that I very rarely buy him toys - he has a set of wooden bricks, stacking cups, 4-5 cars, 2 x posting sets & a couple of ghastly plastic 'noisy' toys he was given, balls, lots of books, jigsaws, soft toys he was given at birth & one outside toy - when I go to friends houses I am amazed at how much stuff (junk) they have - I personally cannot stand wading through toys to sit down. I am always 'culling' the stuff he is given to get rid of it. Horrible mother!

For the last three months I have always made a point of putting everything away together before bed time, hopefully this habit might stick - DS is 18 months now.

my ds is nearly two and we have different colour baskets, if he has toys out from all the baskets we make it quite a game seeing if he can remember which colour basket the cars go in, the farm etc. Sometimes he says no so then we take it in turns to clear up, Ill put a brick away then its his turn. This seems to work, he is a very tidy little boy everything has to have its place. Hope that helps.
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