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Chores for a toddler - Room CleaningApr 07 '04 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Toddlers should learn to clean their rooms. Be patient, teach them what you want, and praise praise PRAISE them when they do their best.
Today my 22-month old daughter surprised me... she picked up some of her toys, in the middle of the day, without being asked. I was overjoyed. She has been cleaning her room for about 4 months now. It is her only required chore, although sometimes she'll try to "help" with other jobs around the house. I think all toddlers should be taught to clean their rooms. Why should toddlers clean their rooms? I have to admit it: I've struggled with cleaning my room for as long as I can remember. My mom never made me clean my room, and as a result, I never really learned the organizational skills that would help me now. As a result, there's a little too much clutter in my house, although I have been improving on it. I don't want my daughter to have the same problems. I want her to learn things that my mom never forced me to do, like laundry, cleaning, etc. She is capable of cleaning her room at this age. Almost any child is capable of learning to clean their rooms, as soon as they can walk, carry things, and put items into a container. Cleaning her room is a great self-esteem booster to my daughter. She knows that we are pleased with her when she cleans her room, and do not like it when she refuses to clean her room (if she refuses, she is punished, and then we make her clean anyway). Today, as she cleaned up her toys without being asked, she said "good girl." Of course, I praised her and cheered, happy that she was being a good girl. Getting Started Before you start trying to teach your toddler how to clean their room, make sure you know where you want your toddler to put everything. Children love stability and routines, so once you decide on the places the toys should go, it should stay that way. If changes are to be made, they should be made later, slowly, and one step at a time. Once you've decided where your child should put her toys, it's time to start teaching them. Teaching Your Toddler To Pick Up Toys The first couple of times you try this, it will take up some of your time. The younger your toddler is, the longer it will take. Pick one thing that you want your child to master, and start with that. The first thing we wanted our daughter to do was put her toys in her toybox. That's where a majority of her toys go. We demonstrated putting a toy in the toybox. Then we asked her to try. I think it took a couple tries, but once she did it, we cheered her on like crazy. You can't heap on the praise enough at this age. We handed her another toy, praised, until the job was done. After the toybox toys were in their place, we showed her how we wanted her blue bear to go on top of the toybox. I put Laurana's Little People toys in their area, and her doll in her cradle. When she was finished, we told her what a good girl she was and how wonderful it was that she picked up her toys. Every night, we had her pick up her toys. Every night, we praised her on what a wonderful job she was doing. We made exceptions if she was sick or we were out extremely late, but that was it. She started getting the hang of it. It wasn't too much longer before she started figuring out how to put the blue bear on top of the toybox. She learned that by observation. Today she put her Little People toys in their proper location... learning by observing me. I think that she knows where her dolly goes, but she hasn't really demonstrated that consistently. Legos And Other Small Toys When Laurana got her first set of Legos, I made a rule that she had to clean up the area prior to my getting out the Legos, and she had to put them away when she was done. That way, the small pieces do not get lost, and we don't get her other toys mixed in with the Legos. When she is done playing, I tell her to put the Legos away, and I help her. The first time, I demonstrated to her how to put the toys in the bag, and it took a little catching on. Now she knows how to do it quite well. Incentives: The Carrot And The Stick We do not bribe our daughter to clean her room, she is expected to do it, to the best of her ability. I guess that praise may be seen as a bribe... but that is one bribe I am willing to heap out in quantity. A few times, however, we have had to break out the stick. Okay, not literally, I don't beat my daughter with sticks. However, we have had to punish her for deliberately refusing to pick up a toy when asked. I don't expect her to obey "clean your room" which is a broad term and can be misunderstood, however, I do know that she understands me when I tell her to "pick up the ball." If she refuses to do that, she gets punished. The punishment really doesn't matter, but but it should be fair and consistent. Afterwards, she still has to pick up the ball. Never ever EVER punish a child for not doing something they don't know how to do. The parent is the best judge of their child. Even if they've done something before, they can sometimes forget. A parent can tell whether the child is deliberately trying to disobey, or just don't know how to do something. If they don't know how to do something, they should be taught. My pastor often tells the story about how when he was a kid, his parents had a contest. They would have their children make their beds, and whoever did the best job would get to go out for ice cream. Of course, they all did their best because they wanted to be the winner and get the ice cream... the ingenious part of their plan was that they were able to see what each child's best was, so they knew what sort of standard they would be able to hold their child to. Conclusion Toddlers love to be helpful and they love praise. If you make them feel important by praising them when they clean their room, they're more likely to do a good job for you. Not only will they be learning valuable skills that will help them for the rest of their lives, they will feel like they are a "good girl" or boy, and feel good about themselves, and that they can be important members of the family.  |
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