Beat the Timer

The girls have been doing so well picking up lately. I've decided that I shouldn't be the only one to clean up the mess that they make during the day. They should help me considering it's their mess. At school, Aubrey's teacher has a timer that she sets while the children pick up and try to beat before it runs out. At home, we set the timer that we have and then pick up toys while trying to beat the timer. It works really well. The girls love to rush around and try to beat the timer. Aubrey definitely is much better at picking up than Chloe, but I guess that's to be expected considering she is older. If they do beat the timer, they either get candy, extra books at bedtime, or maybe the chance to stay up a little later. I usually make sure that we have enough time to get everything picked up. We have yet to not beat the timer, but we've come close. For now though, this whole concept works really well for getting the messes picked up in our house without me having to do it all by myself.