Tidy Up Time

Tidy up time is part of work time and is done at the end of it. It is a very important part and thus is dealt with separately here.

Besides, tidy up time is also done at the end of small group time and large group time and after meals.

In my experience, a lot of adults either think that
a) children are not capable of tidying up or
b) quite the opposite that they should tidy up completely on their own.

a) Experience shows that even very young children are able to tidy up. I get all my one-year-olds to tidy up.

b) Just like children should be accompanied when playing they should also be accompanied during tidying up. In fact that's what bringing up children is all about: accompanying them, and by doing so in a meaningful way helping them to develop life skills and giving meaning to their lives.

However certain prerequisites have to be present in order to facilitate tidy up time.

E.g. in High Scope we arrange play areas in a meaningful manner. I have a quiet area, a house area, a block area, a music and movement area, an arts and crafts area, a sand and water play area, a computer corner, a dining area, etc. So to start with children know which toys belong in which area. They can take them to a different area but they must be returned to their proper place at tidy up time.

Moreover, toys should be arranged appropriately. What do I mean by this? I have a barrel for the duplo blocks and a box for the large natural beech wood blocks. I have another box for the smaller coloured wooden blocks. I expect all the blocks to be put back in their respective boxes.

This is not hard for children. On the contrary, it gives them a sense of security and belonging if they know that the blocks belong in their proper places. Also it greatly facilitates them to develop the life skill of categorisation. These blocks are made of wood and those of plastic. These are coloured and those are natural. Thus they learn about materials and colours.

From this you can already see that tidy up time is important in it's own right. It is as much a part of learning and personal development as the rest of our daily routine.

Another important issue is that of neatness. The dolls are sitting next to one another and not piled into a box. The dressing up clothes are hung up or folded away properly and not flung into a box. Would you fling your own clothes into your wardrobe? Why not? Exactly! Children know that if we value things we treat them accordingly. Treating toys like rubbish teaches the children that their things are not worth anything. They extrapolate from this to themselves. So even the way toys are stored is to do with teaching children self-worth.

When tidying up after the work time part of a plan-do-review, recall time is next.