
Do you use praise alone or reward charts?
Do you tidy with them or ask them to do it while you put the shopping away/do tea/sort washing?
In our case, we say to our pre-schooler, “what do you get when you help to tidy up and put away?”
Her little face lights up and she says, “a penny in my purse!”
And off she goes. She tidies and puts away 3 things – because she’s 3 – and gets her penny.
If she tidies downstairs and her bedroom at the end of the day, she gets 2 pennies in her purse. Which, for the record, is the pink Disney Princess purse you see in the picture. Gotta be pink! She’s also got a Peppa Pig purse which she uses for playing shops but her Princess purse is where the money’s at…
To ask her to tidy everything up is, we think, unreasonable. So she tidies her age in toys and understands that if she does this, she knows where to find them. At the weekend, she gets to choose what she buys with her ‘pocket’ money.
We have to make up the difference of course… but any change we get goes into a pot that her pennies come from.
To ask her to tidy more than 3 things would take too long and she’s often tired after a busy day.
She’s already told us that she would like to buy a magazine at the weekend.
So, how do you encourage your little one to tidy and put away?
Read my emotional and inspiring true story ‘Diary of a Complicated Pregnancy’. 50% of sales to the charity Action on Pre-Eclampsia.
… visit my facebook page - Pre-~Eclampsia & hellp ~ Diary of a Complicated Pregnancy.
And follow me on twitter @ComplicatedPreg
Also available – my indispensable guide to avoiding Working Mum Guilt. Whether you are about to return or have already started back, this book offers practical solutions and feedback from real Mums with real families in real situations. Covering topics such as Post Natal Depression, childcare options, yours and your child's development and time management - Ditch the guilt today! …visit my facebook page – Working 9 Til 9 ~ Ditch The Working Mum Guilt and follow me on twitter @WorkingMumGuilt
Thank you.
Do you tidy with them or ask them to do it while you put the shopping away/do tea/sort washing?
In our case, we say to our pre-schooler, “what do you get when you help to tidy up and put away?”
Her little face lights up and she says, “a penny in my purse!”
And off she goes. She tidies and puts away 3 things – because she’s 3 – and gets her penny.
If she tidies downstairs and her bedroom at the end of the day, she gets 2 pennies in her purse. Which, for the record, is the pink Disney Princess purse you see in the picture. Gotta be pink! She’s also got a Peppa Pig purse which she uses for playing shops but her Princess purse is where the money’s at…
To ask her to tidy everything up is, we think, unreasonable. So she tidies her age in toys and understands that if she does this, she knows where to find them. At the weekend, she gets to choose what she buys with her ‘pocket’ money.
We have to make up the difference of course… but any change we get goes into a pot that her pennies come from.
To ask her to tidy more than 3 things would take too long and she’s often tired after a busy day.
She’s already told us that she would like to buy a magazine at the weekend.
So, how do you encourage your little one to tidy and put away?
Read my emotional and inspiring true story ‘Diary of a Complicated Pregnancy’. 50% of sales to the charity Action on Pre-Eclampsia.
… visit my facebook page - Pre-~Eclampsia & hellp ~ Diary of a Complicated Pregnancy.
And follow me on twitter @ComplicatedPreg
Also available – my indispensable guide to avoiding Working Mum Guilt. Whether you are about to return or have already started back, this book offers practical solutions and feedback from real Mums with real families in real situations. Covering topics such as Post Natal Depression, childcare options, yours and your child's development and time management - Ditch the guilt today! …visit my facebook page – Working 9 Til 9 ~ Ditch The Working Mum Guilt and follow me on twitter @WorkingMumGuilt
Thank you.