Packing up after play or activities is one of the most consistent challenges in OSHC settings. Educators often find themselves repeating reminders, negotiating with children, or stepping in to finish the task themselves. While rewards such as stickers can provide short-term motivation, they rarely sustain engagement, and not all children are interested in them.
Why Packing Up Matters
- Responsibility: Children learn to care for shared resources.
- Teamwork: Packing up together fosters collaboration and fairness.
- Life Skills: Tidying is a practical skill that supports independence.
- Respect for Environment: Maintaining a clean space reinforces respect for community spaces.
Creative Strategies from Practice
Educators have experimented with a range of approaches to make packing up more engaging:
- Role Play Leadership: Assigning a “Pack Up Inspector” or “Environment Guardian” gives one child the responsibility to oversee tidying. This role can rotate daily, ensuring everyone has a chance to lead.
- Friendly Competition: Dividing the room into zones and awarding points for the fastest, neatest clean-up can turn tidying into a game. Weekly tallies can lead to group rewards, such as extra playtime or a special activity.
- Raffle Tickets & Recognition: Children earn tickets or tokens for consistent effort, which can be drawn for small prizes. This adds variety and unpredictability compared to stickers.
- Natural Consequences: Some educators highlight that if toys aren’t respected and packed away, they may be removed temporarily. This reinforces responsibility without constant adult reminders.
- Collaborative Reflection: Framing packing up as part of the play process—from beginning to end—helps children see tidying as an extension of their activity rather than an interruption.
The key is variety and shared ownership. Roles can be themed (e.g., “Recycling Ranger,” “Library Keeper”), competitions can be lighthearted, and recognition can be verbal praise or group celebrations. By embedding pack up into the culture of the service, children begin to view it less as a chore and more as a collective responsibility.
Further Reading
How To Get Children To Listen To You Throughout The Day
Toy Labels
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