Tippy Tuesday~Classroom Clean Up

As a teacher, one of my least favorite times of day is clean up time at the end of the day.  It can be very chaotic, and you always have those special few that are chasing each other around the classroom instead of doing their jobs like they are supposed to.  I believe I have found the cure for the madness though!  I have had a mystery piece of garbage many times (I cannot stand garbage and other random stuff on the floor), but Find It/Fix It from Littlest Learners/Clutter Free Classroom Blog takes mystery garbage to a NEW level.

To play the clean up "game" Find It/Fix It, you, the teacher, find a piece of mystery "stuff", store it in your brain, and let students go to town, finding and fixing the "stuff" that is out of place.  It takes about one to two minutes and the "game" ends when the room is perfect.  The rules are simple: no talking, no running, no maneuvering under furniture, and only pick something up if you know where it goes.  If a child talks, they sit down and are disqualified.  Once finished, students stand behind their seats while the teacher gives elimination clues to reveal the winner. 

After the "game" is over and the winner is revealed, the teacher can give a prize of their choosing.  The key to the games success, though, is the teacher choosing the winner before starting clean up, and then keeping an eye out for something they fix to share.  Keep a list of who has already had a turn and earned a prize and then start over when everyone has had a turn.  This should keep all students on their toes!

And that is this weeks tip!  As I said, this is not my idea, but I love the easy twist to add to something I already do in my classroom!  Hope it works for you too!