The 5 Minute Clean-Up

I never knew how much five minutes could change my day.  We have started doing a "5 Minute Clean-Up" after breakfast and again after lunch and any other time that I can't get across a room without crushing someone's favorite toy.  It's easy enough...we play a song that is fiveish minutes long and we clean until the music stops.  I have found that it works better to give the kids very specific tasks...put away the blocks, put away the dishes, etc. 

When I first tried this, I was skeptical, but, WOW.  Five minutes of cleaning makes a huge difference!  I was shocked.  It feels so good to get regrouped a couple times a day and enjoy seeing the floor for a few minutes.  Love love love this.

Our two favorite cleaning songs:

• The Imagination Movers "Pick it Up" (Show on Disney JUNIOR)  This one gets played twice.
• Eli's current favorite song:

I wish I would have started doing this a long, long time ago.  A good reminder for me too that in five minutes, without a song even playing, I can clear the dining room table or wipe down the kitchen counters or tidy up my own room.  It is more fun with a song, however.   Oh...this is VERY important...you MUST stop cleaning when the music is done.  That's the best part.