Everyday Life and Happiness

Here is a great toy clean up games idea which will not only help your kids pick up their toys but will also keep them (and you) happy at the same time!

What you will need:

• Messy toy room
• Unwilling toy cleaner

1.  RED LIGHT, GREEN LIGHT

Make clean up time a race!  Whenever you say “Green Light”, your kids need to pick up and put away as many toys as the can.  But…when you say “Red Light”, your kids need to freeze in whatever position they are in until you say “Red Light” again.

I tried this with my kids…4 and 11 and I have to say it worked like a charm!  Turning chore time into game time really helped the job get done faster and without the typical complaining and stalling tactics.  In fact, my 4 year old Jack liked this game so much, he wanted to clean the room AGAIN!  When I told him that the room was clean and we would have to play again tomorrow, he broke down crying.

Seriously…this is powerful stuff Moms!

2.  THE COLOR GAME

Tell your kids that they are only allowed to pick up a toy if matches the color you are about to say.  Tell your kids to put away all the <insert color here> things.  This not only makes toy clean up fun but teaches your kids their colors at the same time!

Jack loves this book about clean up time!  It has some great suggestions for Moms about making clean up fun and includes some rhymes and games you can use to pass the cleaning time along!

I’d love to hear how this went for you or any other clean up game suggestions you may have!