Toy Thursday: Picking up Toys!

So last night, Judah was singing bits and pieces of his "picking up toys" song. It was so cute to hear in a little voice, "so carefully" and "away." Even more so, he was picking up his bath toys while singing it. Singing the toy song as we pick up toys has finally paid off. He knows what to do now which certainly will make my life easier.

We actually learned this song at our Kinder Musik class. We adapt it though to be more specific to what we are putting away or for any task we are trying to complete really.

Put the toys away so carefully,
so carefully,
until the job is done.

Put the toys away so carefully,
so carefully,
until the job is done.

Thank you for putting the toys away.

I have also heard other songs out there. In fact, our neighbor boy sings about picking up. Either way, the song helps the kids focus on the task ahead of picking up and encouraging team work in an organized fashion.

Which brings me to a topic of discussion among moms. How do you pick up your toys in your house. While there is no wrong way to do things, we like to as moms be efficient and effective in the picking up process.

Some moms prefer picking up toys after each individual play time. This saves mom's insanity of playing hop scotch with toys strewn all over the floor throughout the day. It teaches the kid to get only one thing out at time and put it away before the next item. This method produces order and patience. On the flip side, the kids seem to always be picking up toys, making moms tired of constant getting out and putting away.

Other moms let the kids keep taking out toys until the kids are completely done playing for the day. While moms walk around the toys, kids play with multiple items at once. This method encourages independence, creativity, and sorting. Everyone joins in at the end of the final activity to pick up all items and straighten up the play area. On the flip side, items may get lost by putting them away in the wrong place and the house may seem messier during the day.

At our house, we do a combination of the two methods depending what we are playing and where we are playing. Most days, we pick up every night (as part of our bed time routine) all the toys we got out for the day. Chances are we will play with them again sometime throughout the day. However, we do pick up after ourselves from doing specific activities like crafts or playing outside.

With that said, I need to go pick up after this morning.