Cleaning up small LEGO

chocolatecake

Wed, Oct 23 2019, 12:28 am

What is your policy on small LEGO. How often is it cleaned? Where is it kept etc.

I have a 6 yr old son. He LOVES his lego. He can play for hours. He has his own room and it’s kept there. I make him clean it up once a week so the cleaning lady van mop his floor. He always puts up a huge fuss when I make him clean it. I hate that there is always LEGO all over his floor. I’m thinking of buying him one of those LEGO tables but he’d need a pretty big one and his room is pretty small

FranticFrummie

Wed, Oct 23 2019, 1:50 am

The point is to get him in the habit of cleaning up his belongings without throwing a tantrum.

The lego mat is a good idea.

If that doesn't work, tell him he has to have all of the lego put away nicely the day before the cleaning lady comes. Anything left on the floor will go into the garbage can, because you assume he doesn't want to keep it.

Take a garbage can with a clean liner, and start putting the stray lego in there. He will FREAK OUT! Keep putting the lego in the can until he starts putting them away and begging you to get back the ones in the can. Tell him he can have these back, but in the future you will assume that anything left on the floor is trash.

When he gets lazy, ask him "Is it time for me to get the trash can and help you clean up?"

Trust me, this works wonders. I only had to do this with DD once, and we never had another fight about picking up toys. I also had a long talk with her about kids who didn't have any toys at all to play with, and how I was going to take the trash can full of toys to the "sad kids". This made her think about gratitude for what she had. (She was 6 at that time, so she was old enough to understand.)

One day, when she decided she had too many stuffed animals, she got out a garbage bag all on her own, and filled it up with toys that she didn't play with, most of them still with tags on. She then brought me the bag and told me it was for all the sad kids! We brought all the new, clean toys to the local fire house where they collect toys for kids who are traumatized by emergencies.

OK, long story short, teach your kid to be grateful for what he has, and to be responsible for it.

cbsp

Wed, Oct 23 2019, 1:55 am

amother [ Oak ] wrote:

It should be magnetised, come to think of it so should all toys - then we could stand in the middle of the room with a magnetic toybox and everything would just fly in Hooray

Agreed!

Can you pretty please with 15 cherries on top create magnetized perler beads while you're at it? LOL

singleagain

Wed, Oct 23 2019, 2:52 am

amother [ Seafoam ] wrote:

I dint know how to post a link, but there is a thin mat that kids can play on and it has a drawstring to pick up everything at once.

Do you mean something like this

Kids Play Mat, Qtopun Toy Storage Bag Portable Drawstring Quick Organizer Foldable Toy Storage Pouch Waterproof Travel Mat Outdoor Beach Blanket--60" https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X.....8H9X5