Teach Your Child To Sort His Toys Alone
It is a joy to see how children play and develop their imagination and creativity. But keeping toys tidy is a nightmare for every mom or dad. For this reason, we have prepared the following article in which we give you some tips to deal with this common problem.
Order the toys first
When you make the decision to end the toy clutter problem, order first. Make sure to classify and group the ones that go together. Look for small boxes, baskets, zippered bags so that you can always keep them together.
If you order first, you will have better criteria to organize things and you will also know where everything should go. The first few times you should order with your little one to teach him how to do it. Teaching them is tedious, but they learn quickly if you use certain tricks to make ordering easy.
Take pictures of the toys
This is the solution to all your problems! Once you have classified and separated the toys, take photos that you will put laminated in the place where they should go, so the little ones, even if they cannot read, will know where to put each box, each toy even without your help … simple and great!
If they are already close to 4 or 5 years old, you can accompany the photos by the written name of the toy, so you also help with the beginning of the reading. If they already read, then skip the photo step and put only signs.
Big toys on the floor
The first thing you should do is place the largest toys on the floor in a space in the room, it is ideal if you put them against a wall or under shelves to take advantage of the space. It is also safer, since larger toys are also usually heavier, so to avoid accidents trying to grab them, better keep them on the ground.
Use baskets and boxes to classify toys
Use baskets or boxes that you can also put on the floor if they are large. There you can put the most abundant toys, such as wooden blocks, trolleys, dolls, costumes, etc.
Plastic boxes with a lid have the advantage that you can stack them one on top of the other and some even come with wheels. While the baskets are ideal so that the toys are always ventilated. Select the option that suits you best.
Together what goes together
This is the basic sorting principle for children, so use it to sort things out for them. This means that you are not going to put the plasticine on one side and the molds and tools to play with the plasticine on the other. Put together what goes together.
It is also interesting that you group by categories, that is, art things in one place, house things in another place, puzzles and board games in another place. This way you favor order.
Use shelves or furniture with shelves
Bookcases or bookcases allow you to use the space up. You can place there the smallest toys, smaller and lighter baskets and boxes, objects for art, board games. Remember to always place the photo or the sign so that your child knows how to order by himself.
Eventually you must clean up and reclassify
Children are accumulating toys, losing pieces or confusing them with other games, so eventually you will have to clean up on your own and put everything in order again. It will be much faster and easier than the first time and will allow your little one to continue feeling great and proud of being able to order without help.
This opportunity is also good to remove the globs and dirt from the games, have wet wipes or a cloth on hand so you can keep the toys in good condition. You can ask your children to help you with this task, always remember that taking your children into account makes them feel important and capable, as well as being a good way to learn to be careful with their toys.
Take out – play – save
This should always be the sequence: take out a toy, play with it, put it away to take out another, and start the sequence over. It is not much to ask, of course it can be achieved! But like everything else, it requires time on your part so that you can teach them and create the good habit, then you will enjoy that effort.
Of course, keep in mind that on the days that they have guests at home to play, such as cousins and friends, this rule is very difficult to maintain, since other children probably do not have this habit and also often everyone wants to play with something different.
That day it’s time to be patient, turn a blind eye and take advantage of the monumental disorder that remains at the end to make a day of cleaning and reorganization.
