Tidy up the crafts

#crafts#tidy#order#creativity

Crafting leaves many small parts scattered, and sorting them back is a hurdle after the fun is over. Pictures make the tidy-up clear and easier to begin. See how the support works below.

A child puts craft supplies like pens and scissors into a box.

♀

Tidy up the crafts

A child puts craft supplies like pens and scissors into a box.

About this visual support

Crafting is fun, but it often leaves chaos behind: pens, scissors, scraps of paper, glue and small pieces spread across the whole table. That tidy-up is a hurdle, because it comes when the fun is already over and the energy is heading down. For a child the scattered pile can look like an impossible task with no clear beginning.

Visual support splits the cleaning into manageable steps. When the child sees pictures of where things belong, pens in one compartment, paper in another, the sorting becomes concrete rather than overwhelming. It becomes clear what to do and when it is finished, which makes it easier to get going than a general call to tidy up.

A tip: make the tidy-up part of the crafting itself, so it belongs to the activity rather than coming as a dull aftermath. A final sorting round can even become a little game. In the Routined app you can place the tidy-up as a closing step after crafting, so the fun and the cleaning hang together as one whole activity.