Clean up before the next thing
Respect what’s shared; leave it better.
What to learn
Reset the space before starting something new — the cleanup is what marks that one thing is over.
The problem it solves
Five things strewn out at once; nothing ever put away.
How to teach it
Make it the gate: “Before we play house, blocks go home. Toys sleep in their bin.” Do it with her at first, then less and less. “As soon as blocks are away, you get to choose again.”
Close one thing out — clean the space, tie off the task — before opening the next. Leaving it better is care for whoever meets it next, including future you.
Tactics that teach it
Choose → Do → Done → Reset — the same four steps, every time.
Run this for every play activity; the sameness is the point. CHOOSE: she picks one thing, out loud, from a small menu, and says it back. DO: give it a finish line (a timer, or “until the tower is built”) and name the focusing when you see it. DONE: make “finished” a concrete, celebrated moment. RESET: nothing new begins until this one is put away — the cleanup is what marks “this is over,” and it is what kills drop-of-a-hat switching.
Done when
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