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Tidying up with kids may not be at the top of your list when it comes to fun activities together. But why not make tidying fun by creating a bit of a den of toys together?
It's a great way of getting them to do a chore without knowing, picking up and placing all of their toys neatly in one corner of a room. And at the same time, you can be getting them to think imaginatively about their den and what they want in it.
Take a look at the film below for inspiration.
The benefits of building a den together
- Building dens is a great way to encourage your little one to use their imagination. Try asking them what they want to make their den with and why?
- It gives them practise describing the positions of different objects - try asking them where they're going to put each thing
- It's great for their hand-eye coordination
- Once it's finished, you could read a book together while snuggled up in the den
4 games to make tidying together fun
1. Make it a race
How many items can they tidy away in 30 seconds? Can they put more things away in the time than you can? This could help them practise counting, as well as teaching the ideas of first and last.
2. Sorting and matching
You could set them a series of matching and sorting challenges as they go. Can they tidy away all of the red items? How about all of the blue items?
You could even use this to help teach them about word sounds. Can they tidy away something beginning with鈥?
3. Tidying Simon Says
Simon Says is a fun game which helps with listening skills and following instructions.
Someone becomes 鈥淪imon", who gives instructions by saying, "Simon says鈥" followed by an instruction. For example, "Simon says touch your nose." Everyone else must perform the action. If Simon doesn't say 鈥淪imon says鈥 before giving instruction, anyone who did it is out!
This fun game can be adapted as a game to tidy away toys and other bits and bobs. Try throwing in some tidying instructions into a game - so as well as things like 'Simon says stand on one leg', you might also put in there some useful things like 'Simon says put the books back on the shelf'.
4. Hide the toy鈥 then tidy it away
Why not try playing a game of hide and seek with the items you want putting away?
Get them to go looking for the item around the room using the words 'warmer' and 'colder' to give clues. Once they find the item, ask them 'where does it usually go?' and get them to put it back in its place.
Image caption, Encourage your child to use their imagination.
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