Hobbies And Interests
Treasure Hunt
Give each child a basket or bucket. Tell them it is time to go on a treasure hunt. This one does not involve a buried treasure chest, but each item the child picks up and puts in his basket is worth some pirate doubloons. Have the kids begin picking up at the same time and let them tidy up until their baskets are full and the floor is cleared. Each child can count how many items he picked up and report his cache to you. For each item, he earns a penny, nickel, dime or quarter; whichever you prefer.
Bin Basketball
This game works well with soft toys, clothes and small, non-breakable objects. The goal is to tidy up the room by making "baskets" with the misplaced objects. Set up a toy box, plastic tote or bin for your child to toss the items into. Assign points to each item, and help your child add them up as he makes his shots. If there are at least two children, have them take turns and see who makes the highest score. For some, winning the game is positive motivation to clean a little faster and be more thorough when picking up.
Time It
Play this game several different ways. Set the timer and see how quickly the children can tidy up. They must put objects where they belong and can't just throw things in the closet or shove them under the bed. As soon as the last object is put away, stop the timer and record how long it took to clean the room. Do this for each room that needs to be picked up. After the house is tidy, compare times to see which room took the longest and which one took the shortest amount of time to tidy.
If you just have one room to tidy up, set the timer and see how long it takes to put everything away. As a reward, let your child stay up as many minutes as she cleaned, or let her play outside for that amount of time.
Musical Clean Up
Use a portable radio or compact disc player for this game. When you turn on the music, the kids need to move quickly. The goal is to get the entire room picked up before the song is over. Stop the music occasionally. The kids have to freeze until you start the music again.