The Value of Play 

Vs 

The Value of Cleaning Up

We all know that children play.  In fact we often find it a wonderful and amusing sight, and it is always a pleasant time recounting the antics of our children. 

In fact, the role of play in children is very important.  Playing is the way children learn about the world.  Play also lets them develop skills in a wide range of activities including gross motor coordination, fine motor control, visual and auditory perception, and even more importantly socialisation and intellectual development.  The list goes on, but I will not take too much space here on it.  Suffice to say, play is very important to the physical and psychological development of children.  Without play they do not develop to their full potential as human beings.  This is why children play all the time.

However, conflicting with this is the demands of reality.  That is, children take up time and resources and the mess they make while they are playing has to be cleaned up by someone – and there is no guessing who that will be.

So many parents try to get their children to help clean up the mess, or not to make the mess in the first place.  And its at this point that we can have some difficulties because some parents get very frustrated and peeved with the sheer volume of work that can be involved in cleaning up after children.  Especially, if they have been having a really good time!

Unfortunately, sometimes parents make the mistake of trying to minimise the mess and accidentally end up minimising the play.  This is a problem because children need to play, and conflicting with this is that parents like to live in a home not a garbage dump.  So what is the compromise.

Well, again unfortunately, some parents do not compromise.  They demand that the house be tidy, that any mess be cleaned up and “you kids stop making such a mess!” whenever they are playing.  I recall being at a kid’s playground, in the park, and two little girls came over to play with my two little girls.  They were dressed in beautiful frilly dresses, and the kids looked gorgeous in them.  Their mum came over and proceeded to nag them about keeping themselves clean and not getting those same beautiful dresses dirty.

Now we all have our reasons why we do things, but I could not help thinking that I could not understand the logic of taking children to a playground and then complain about them getting their clothes dirty.  That’s what children do at playgrounds – play and get dirty!

But let’s get back to the cleaning up side of kids playing.  There are some  reasonable compromises that one can make.  Try and create games for kids that create little mess, or create a mess area that is easy to clean up after the kids.  I am afraid that painting and pasting are very good kinds of play, and it does make a lot of mess, so get them to do it in an area that mess is not such a big issue or at least you can live with it.  Also, you can set things up so that mess is minimised.  The trick is to think ahead and plan the activity and anticipate the problems.  You will find that the mess is much more under control when you plan.

Now in fairness, it is also good to teach children the value of cleaning up and being tidy.  But you will get best results in this area if you make it fun.  Remember, motivation is the big factor in cleaning up after play, and children are motivated if it is fun.  So start the tidy up with some fun, play some music or make it into another game.  And then afterwards, tell them that they were a big help and that you could not have done it without their help.

One final point, remember that having children is a big responsibility.  It is silly to think that you can have kids and have your old lifestyle at the same time.  It is just impossible, unless you are a millionaire and can afford personal servants!  So remember, you chose to have kids, and mess is part of that decision.  So the best advice that I can give regarding kids playing and the mess – is learn to live with it!

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