Who Says You Can't Get Kids to Clean?

Who would have thought it, but we actually had ALL my kids (despite needs or diagnosis) happily engaged for many minutes in cleaning today. Yes, cleaning. Washing toys to be precise!

Now before you go & call Alberta Ed or Child Services to report child labour concerns, hear me out. ;)

Our wonderful OT brought in an activity to work on fine motor skills that, I will admit, did not think would be all that much of a hit. Being of the mind I'll try almost anything once, we gave it a shot though. What a success!

What do you need to have your children happily washing toys? Your very own mini-car wash!

Take several metal toy cars/trains/trucks, wet them, coat them in sand & let them partially dry. Place a bucket of soapy water, toothbrushes & small pieces of sponges on the table. (To contain the mess give each child a cookie sheet or plastic tray to work on).

Voila! Instant car-wash fun! And what fun they had! Every single kid loved it, my older kids must have washed those cars over & over again for at least 15 minutes.

Now if you'll excuse me I'm gonna finish picking sand out from under my fingernails...