Kids usually don’t make a fuss about clean up time. They love to help their teacher out and they often appreciate a break from sitting at their seat. However, we do sometimes struggle with encouraging our students to clean up the classroom and take responsibility for our shared space.
When I notice that my students need a little extra “push” in the cleaning department, I use a very simply trick. Similar to my “mystery walker“, I choose a “mystery paper” for clean up time. The floor will get covered in pieces of scrap paper pretty quickly when we are working on interactive notebooks or art projects. When it is time to clean up, I choose a mystery paper and tell my students that I will give a treat to the student who picks up that piece of paper. It is AMAZING how quickly those kids will start picking up paper when they know there is a chance that they pick up THAT piece of paper! HA!
The reward for the student who picked up your mystery paper is up to you. I usually give a small candy treat or a prize from my treasure box. It doesn’t have to be a big reward. Kids just like to be the winner for our clean up game 😉
Looking for MORE clean up tricks? CLICK HERE to read about 8 more tips!
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