It’s been a great day; the kids have had a wonderful time playing and creating. Now it’s time for cleanup, and everybody scatters, or worse yet, complains and whines. Many parents, caregivers, and teachers dispair at this point, give up, and clean up the mess themselves. Here are some ideas to help you help your children to become responsible citizens and clean up their own messes!

After a craft project has generated lots of scraps on the floor or table, do a quick visual survey of the area. Estimate how many scraps each person needs to pick up to clean the mess. Now, ask each child for that many tickets before he or she can leave the area to do something else.

Sometimes cleaning up a large area of clutter can seem very overwhelming. Try asking your domestic engineer to put away a specific number of items. Instead of "Clean up this mess!" try "Put away twenty things." Repeat as often as necessary.

Turn clean up into a treasure hunt with young children! Ask your hunter to find all items that are red, or that can be worn on the feet, or that are round, or ....When an item is found, have the child put it in its proper place.

Finally, encourage a clean-up routine at several points throughout your child’s day. Cleaning up small messes after lunch or before bed or TV will help prevent larger chaos. When you include clean up as a routine part of each day, children will become accustomed to the idea and will fuss less each time it happens.