age apropriate "clean up"

Thanks ladies for all your helpfull replies.

I will start composing my "clean up song" then!

GW Ethan also learned a song at pre-school which he started singing out of his own one day when I asked him to pack away stuff. Now I sing the song every time I want him to pack away.
I also read somewhere in one of my 305 books on Toddlers that you cannot just expect that to pack away on their own at this age. You need to do it with them. good luck

Yaz, my dh says the same thing about Barney and so far, he has stuck to his guns. We'll see how long that lasts.

GW - I think if you make cleaning up a "game" like Barney does, maybe she'll take to it??

Yep, sad but true: an annoying purple dinosaur has more authority than us moms! Lilly also cleans up to that song 'sigh'. (I always said Barney is only going to enter our house over my dead body but then we started Moms & Tots and guess who has moved in with us!)

Thanks for the great advice ladies.

I will start to chant some crazy song! Maybe I can brainwash her too like barney does! ha ha!

My niece and nephew also cleans up to that Barney song. I have tried to get Emily to help, but she just unpacks what I pack, so I sort of gave up for now.

When i was au-pairing I took the one year old boy I was looking after to a mom's and tots group one day (his mom couldn't attend that day).
They had "free play" in the beginning while everyone was arriving, then the teacher switched on the barney song:
"clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere.
Clean up, clean up, everybody do your share"

And i was totally gobsmacked becuase the second that song started the one year old boy stopped what he was doing and started packing the toys away!

So maybe if you make a routine in the evenings with a specific song as an indication that you are now in clean up mode, and then you get her to help you clean up, she will eventually start doing it herself when she hears that song?