Do you ever just want to say, "Who cares if all the toys aren't put away?" and just leave things out for the next day? I have a 24x32 room designated for just daycare. Before we do certain activities and before leaving at night we put everything away in it's assigned place, but it's getting so old repeating myself over and over telling them to put toys away. I almost want to just leave everything out and say heck with it. I tried putting away the play food but they found where I "hid" it and got it back out. We have a small tote of action figures and cars too, and they all end up spread around the room. I've tried sticker charts for good behavior and picking things up, but they get to the point where they just don't care anymore. Not sure what to do, but by 5pm I'm too tired to care, especially with my 4 rowdy after school boys that are non-stop running/wrestling/bugging each other/etc.

Reply

A lot of times I just leave it. What's the point, it's going to be trashed within 5 minutes in the morning. A lot of times though the kids do put a lot of it away. It was funny last week when I went in to pick up after the kids left. I have separate bins for everything and the kids picked up that day. They just put everything into each bucket. They didn't separate it. I started separating the little people and the food and the blocks etc. Finally I stopped and said to my husband, what is the point in that? Do you think they care if they're in the same container or organized by type of toy? I quit picking up LOL

Reply

I cleaned up all the dress-up earlier today, I have all girls here and they love dressing up but unfortunately cannot even hit the right quadrant of the room when they put it away. So when I entered the playroom after the main 2 culprits had left, I loaded up a giant garbage bag with all the dress up stuff. They had again left it all sprawled out everywhere. Maybe they'll think a little more about it next time.
I'm also thinking about down-sizing my shelves of books again. I have mostly ages 1-3 and the 18 month-2 yos are notorious for tearing them or not putting them away. I find covers or pages stuck behind the dollhouse or chalkboard. So I might leave out maybe 20 books a week, or all board books, until they get past that stage.
I know toddlers are known for dump and run but man, is it ever getting old. Plus one of my dogs is a lab who loves to chew toys.

Reply

I have a rule: If you aren't playing with it, you need to put it back in its place.

If I see something out that is not being played with, they clean it up right then and there.

It's still not super tidy until the end of day clean up but it definitely helps keep it a bit more controlled.

... and there has been many times that I have just left it til the next day!

Reply

Yup. I don't leave anything though. Have to vacuum and mop so it needs to be put away.

We are separated by areas, and when they are done with that area, they clean up before moving on.

I am CRAZY jealous of your space though. WOW!

Reply

I have a large designated playroom and I COULD leave it all out.

However, even thought it's a pain to sound like a broken record every day when getting the kids to clean up, I feel it's something they NEED to do. It teaches them responsibility. None of them like to clean up, but we all have to do things we don't like to do and I want them to learn that.

Reply

If I had a totally seperate daycare space that I could close the door and not have to look at it, I would probably just leave it most days. Well wishful thinking I would. The ocd in me probably wouldn't be able to just let it be.

Reply

we do some cleaning up, but i have a 2.5 year old who's house this is also and he plays after the other kids go home. and no, I'm not a stickler about him cleaning up because....it's his house. By the time he's done playing he's tired and cleaning up is a fight. And the same toys come right back out before daycare even starts so it's still to do it myself.

I'm a HOME first and a daycare second.

I push the toys to all be picked up before lunch actually, and then vacuum during nap. Then we do as much cleaning before pick up time as we can manage, but it's hard because pick up times vary a lot with the one family. So, before lunch it is.

Reply

I never keep as many children as the rest of you do but my rule is everything is picked up before naps. By the time they get up they don't have time to drag out much before pickup time. Then they pick it up again right at the time that mom is getting off work. Then we sit and watch cartoons until mom gets here.

Reply

I do DC day shift & hubby does nights. Most days he forgets to pick up the toys. I usually do it in the morning. Last week I didn't & when he came downstairs I mentioned that a DCP asked who trashed the DC & my reply was he must have been overwhelmed with all that playing he did on the internet last night. (Kids are in bed by 8:30pm.) The DC has been picked up since.

Reply

The kids are allowed to play in groups with certain toys until around an hour before my closing time. When 4:00 rolls around ALL toys get picked up and put back for the day.

The kids are allowed to look at books and/or draw at the table until their parent arrives.

That results in no toys/mess at the end of the day.

If a child is in the middle of some activity when their parent arrives, tey are required to pick up their stuff BEFORE being allowed to leave the area and go to their parent.

Sometimes my toddler room is a complete disaster at the end of the day but thank goodness for 3-4 yr old little girls because they LOVE to be "helpers" and can have the room clean, organized and spotless in less than 5 minutes!

Otherwise a daily rule is that NO toys and/or activity gets taken out until the first one is put away and done with.

Reply

I kind of do the same thing. When I am down to the last child, that one helps me clean up and then I take him into the infant area (since the infant is gone at this time) and we will either read books or I bring out 1 puzzle for him to work on. Unfortunately my last one here is the worst one to clean. He gets distracted so easy, so we speed pick up as fast as we can so it keeps him interested.

Reply

My over two's pick up what they are using before they do ANYTHING else or move on to another toy, except for using the bathroom. I am a master at out waiting them. My under two's are starting to learn but for the most part I clean it up. There are days where I just can't stand to pick it all up one more time. So there it stays til morning. The dust bunnies don't seem to mind.

Reply

This is one of those times where I think "it's not about ME" and "it hurts me more than it hurts you"

Reply

I pick up toys 2-3 times a day. I vacuum and mop daily. Every toy is disinfected and sanitized weekly or more often.

I like organization and cleaning. It's very theraputic for me.

My kids' rooms are messes, that is their choice. I require them to pick them up once a week or so and usually end up helping.... I like it.

Weird, I know.

Reply

Same here, unless we need a 'mid-morning clearing'. I can't stand to see kids stepping on or over toys, so when there are too many out, we pick up for a minute.

Reply

we pick up before lunch, and I try to pick up before going home. Usually about 4:30 we start picking up. If the kids are engrossed in play I sometimes let them continue knowing that I will be picking the mess up. I get up and do it all in the morning. I am wiped myself when the last kiddo leaves and have more energy in the morning while waiting for the kids to arrive to do it. I definitely teach and encourage clean up from everyone.

Sanitizing and deeper cleaning feels like I am always doing something in this area everyday. It is never ending. Some days are better then others.

Always looking for ways/ideas to cut down on clutter.

Reply