Here's a way to put some fun in clean-up time and to make it feel more manageable.

Materials:

• Pieces of paper or index cards
• Pencil or pen
• Music from a tape, CD or radio (optional)

Directions:

It's natural for young children to feel overwhelmed when they're asked to clean up their rooms. Sometimes a job feels more manageable when it is broken down into smaller specific tasks. Ask your child to help you come up with a list of things that need to be done to make the room clean. Here are some ideas:

• Pick up books
• Straighten the sheets and blankets
• Put dirty clothes in the laundry
• Put toys in their place

Write each job on a separate piece of paper or on a separate index card.

As if you're doing a magic trick, hold the papers (face down) fanned out like a deck of cards. You might even make a drum roll sound and ask your child to pick one card.

Read the task aloud. For example, "Put the books on the bookshelf." Watch your child make the books "disappear" from the floor.

When each task is done, ask your child to pick a new card. Pick a card for yourself, too.

Another fun approach might be to turn on the radio, a tape or CD and help your child put things away to the rhythm of the music.

Children might worry that you will expect them to do all the work of cleaning up. If you work with your child, doing one chore while your child does another, the time will go faster, and you'll have some fun together.

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