Wanted to Ask This on the "I'm Sick" Thread

[BigMama]

but some posters were getting ugly so I got scared

How is clean-up done in your program? It sounds like many providers expect the children to clean up everything after play. I find that every toy can be used during our play period and that asking (and expecting) the children to put away all of the toys is not really appropriate or feasible. Usually I give a 5 minute warning and then we sing our clean-up song. Each child then either spontaneously chooses something to clean-up or I will give him/her a very specific job (Mo, you can pick up 10 blocks.). If children have been building with legos, for example, I will often pair two of them up to tackle cleaning them up. I give the older children more responsibility and only expect the younger toddlers to pick up one or two things. All of my shelves are labeled so I do expect things to be put away appropriately, but consider it my job to do the real picking up.

[Lucy]

Whatever they take out, they put away. If it was group play, they all pitch in.

[nannyde]

The adults NEVER clean toys here. The kids do it all every day. If they can walk they can clean. If they can take out they can put back. NO exceptions.

[daycare]

my rule is one toy out at a time per person. When you are done with it put it away. you don't move on to something else until you have showed me it's been put away.

During centers, you cannot move to a new center until the mess you make at the current one.

If you participate in making the mess you participate in cleaning it up.

[BigMama]

my rule is one toy out at a time per person. When you are done with it put it away. you don't move on to something else until you have showed me it's been put away.

During centers, you cannot move to a new center until the mess you make at the current one.

If you participate in making the mess you participate in cleaning it up.

I've considered instituting this rule as a way to teach responsibility and caring for materials, but am worried that I will spend valuable time that I could be interacting with the children hounding them about cleaning up. Daycare, do you have to constantly remind them or do they do well with the expectation?
My other concern with instituting this rule is that while I can see it working if a child chooses puzzles or manipulatives, but if they have to stop and clean-up in the middle of more creative types of play they might get stifled. For example, I have one DCG that empties the dress-up bin to choose an outfit to wear while she plays. If I stop her and ask her to clean-up the dress-up stuff before she goes off to be a princess or construction worker or doctor in the sensory table, I feel as though her enthusiasm and ideas will drain right out of her.

[Blackcat31]

I have two areas and the kids take the things out that they want to play with and when it is time to clean up and move onto a group activity (such as lunch or outside time) then everyone cleans up and puts the stuff that was taken out. Sometimes it is a few things and other times, it is everything in the room. Either way, I don't care.....they make a big or small mess and they clean it up. I never fuss about who took what out or who played with what. Basically if you played in the room, you clean up. Period.

[daycare]

I've considered instituting this rule as a way to teach responsibility and caring for materials, but am worried that I will spend valuable time that I could be interacting with the children hounding them about cleaning up. Daycare, do you have to constantly remind them or do they do well with the expectation?
My other concern with instituting this rule is that while I can see it working if a child chooses puzzles or manipulatives, but if they have to stop and clean-up in the middle of more creative types of play they might get stifled. For example, I have one DCG that empties the dress-up bin to choose an outfit to wear while she plays. If I stop her and ask her to clean-up the dress-up stuff before she goes off to be a princess or construction worker or doctor in the sensory table, I feel as though her enthusiasm and ideas will drain right out of her.

SO I have my stuff sectioned off when it is out. kind of like centers. Even the toys.

Each day there are different toys out. They stay on a certain shelf along with the picture of the toy (like label cards)..
Two kids per play area and everyone rotates out every 10-15 min. They clean up before moving on when they are done.

During free play, they ask me can I use bead center, playdough, etc. and I say sure. If I see them leave their center before the mess is cleaned up, I will ask them to go back and clean it.
MOst of the kids are really good at cleaning up when they are done, because they know that I won't let them do anything else until they have taken care of their responsibility.

It takes some coaching at the start, but once trained it's easy....

[bice99]

The adults NEVER clean toys here. The kids do it all every day. If they can walk they can clean. If they can take out they can put back. NO exceptions.

Yep - and I do limit the toys that are out. They learn very quickly how to put thing away correctly so that they can move onto something else if they want.

[littlemissmuffet]

I don't limit the toys that are out. There are days that every single toy is on the floor after free play. All of my kids help with clean up from 16 months on. I teach them ALL where everything goes and I have fantastic little cleaners - I very rarely have to help. We have about 4 tidy times each day and they last about 15 minutes each. Everything in the house has a home... and my kiddos make sure everything is in it's place - no stuffing toys wherever. I love it!

[spud912]

I don't think it's mean at all to make the kids clean up everything. They had the ability to take it all out, they have the ability to put it away. They know that the more they take out, the longer it takes to clean up. Even my youngest children help out at 16 months and they have been cleaning up for at least 2 months already.

I have blocks of time for playing with toys and in order to move to the next activity, they have to clean up their last activity (like cleaning up before circle time, before arts and crafts, before going outside, before meals, etc.). On rare occasion, I will help out to speed things up. However, with 6 kids cleaning up, even the messiest room can be cleaned up within 5-10 minutes.

[Meyou]

My kids clean up by themselves too. I start teaching them at 12 months and by 18 months they know where everything in the playroom goes. It's kind of amazing to watch them buzz around the room putting everything back in order.

[SunshineMama]

I let everyone have at it with all of the toys, but they are all expected to help put them away every time we leave the room. I sometimes assign jobs to each one (Johnny, you are in charge of cleaning up all the food, etc) if I notice that they are getting distracted.

Even the 2 year olds know how to pick up. Heck, even my 16 month old knows that when we sing the clean up song she starts cleaning up.

[nannyde]

I don't limit the toys out and don't do the "take out put back when done" because it would be too expensive to supervise in my setting. I also think it could be an escalator having an adult micromanaging to that extent.

When the floor gets cluttered we tell them to clean up. They clean up before every transition.

[countrymom]

toys get played with and when it becomes too crazy then we do a clean up. So we have about 4 clean ups a day.

[JenNJ]

They can take out as many toys as they like. They know that anything out must be put away at the end of play time. If they are able to take out a toy, they are able to put it away. Even my 11 month old baby puts her toys in the basket. lovethis We clean up at transitions and if it gets too cluttered.

They also clear their dishes from the table, put their dirty clothes/bibs into the hamper, and place their personal belongings into their bins. My older kids (3+ years) fold their blankets after nap. I think it teaches personal responsibility and is a great example of teamwork. I expect it from every child. I don't think it is cruel and I don't think it is my job to clean up toys. My job is to take care of them and teach them how to be good, responsible humans. Taking care of their messes is one way to teach that.