Put Toys To Bed

What you need

• toy basket or box
• a few scattered toys
• soft cloth for a 'blanket' (optional)

How to do it

1. Say it's bedtime for the toys and point to the basket.
2. Pick up one toy together and say 'night night' as it goes in.
3. Let them collect the rest, one at a time, into the basket.
4. Tuck a cloth over the top like a blanket if they enjoy that part.

Why it matters

Turning tidy-up into a bit of pretend play makes a boring task feel like a story they want to finish.

What they're learning

pretend play

treating toys as if they need sleep is early symbolic thinking, the root of all imaginative and story play to come.

tidying as a habit

finishing play by putting things away starts building a habit that saves years of nagging later.

narrating actions

saying 'night night' as each toy goes in links words to actions, feeding straight into early sentence building.

What to look for

Starts saying 'night night' to toys unprompted, showing the game has become their own idea.

A tip

Keep this to a small handful of toys — a whole room's worth turns a game into a grind fast.

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