Tag: Cleaning with Kids

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Toy *Chorey* Day 4: 🚗MEET ME AT THE CAR WASH✨ when toys need far more than spot-cleaning!

As we were “Toy Detailing” last week, I realized (to my horror) that some toys needed more of a deluge than dainty detailing.

Anyone else have Duplos that look like these?

How about trucks and tractors that look like they’ve been doing some serious farm work after hours?

Yup. We’re all in this mess together! So, today we’re putting down the Q-tips and going for lots of suds, scrubbing, and elbow-grease!

We’re not playing around! So come meet me at the car wash! The car wash, yeah!

Thanks for tuning in for Toy Week; getting playful with practical-life activities! If you’re just joining us, here’s what you’ve missed so far:

~Toy *Sorty* (kids of all ages)~

INSTRUCTIONS:

1.) Have a sort of scavenger hunt with your kids to collect the dirtiest, grimiest toys lurking in toy chests and baskets.

2.) Divide toys into the following cleaning categories for today:

  • MEET ME AT THE CAR WASH (toys to be hand-washed and scrubbed)
  • DISHWASHER DISINFECT (for hard plastic, dishwasher-safe toys)

~Dishwasher Disinfect (kids of all ages)~

SKILL SUPPLY LIST:

  • a collection of seriously dirty/germy plastic toys (dishwasher-safe like Legos or Duplos)
  • dishwasher and/or some serious elbow-grease
  • dishwasher detergent
  • metal baskets or colanders to hold toys in dishwasher

INSTRUCTIONS:

1.) Ask your kids to place all the collected hard-plastic, dishwasher-safe toys into metal baskets/colanders. *Be sure to remove Duplos/Legos that have decal stickers on them or paintwork such as faces which may get damaged in the dishwasher.

2.) Help your child place the baskets/colanders into the dishwasher, fill detergent chamber, and run dishwasher. *We turned the heated dry setting on our dishwasher off, just in case.

3.) Check out your disinfected Duplos/other toys and either dry them and return to the their toy chest/basket or run them through a second cycle as needed.

It’s hard to tell from the pictures just how much grit and grime came off these Duplos in the dishwasher! Since I didn’t dry them in the dishwasher, they had to be poured out, and it was like a mixture of water and sand/sediment! Disgusting and thrilling at the same time. I couldn’t stop thinking of that scene in Ratatouille when the rats pop out of the dishwasher clean and steaming 😆 !

~Meet Me at the Car Wash (kids of all ages)~

SKILL SUPPLY LIST:

  • a collection of metal and/or plastic cars, trucks, and tractors
  • old, disinfected toothbrushes
  • bowl
  • dish soap
  • hose with a sprayer nozzle
  • towels for drying

INSTRUCTIONS:

1.) Set up a Car Wash Station with the above supplies outside, or over the sink.

2.) Add some dish soap to the bowl and add water until super sudsy.

3.) Help your child point out the dirt/grime on the toy vehicles. Oftentimes, wheels and hubcaps are the worst.

4.) Show your child how to dip his toothbrush into the soapy water and scrub a car, truck, or tractor. Make believe whenever you can.

“Gotta get #8 ready for his big race!”

5.) Encourage your child to persevere through caked on mud and dirt. You may also use a stiffer-bristled scrub brush when needed.

6.) Show your child how to spray all the suds off on the grass or in the sink with a sprayer.

7.) Help your child set all the vehicles out on a towel and rub them all dry, explaining about water spots and rust.

Tune in later this week for TEACHNIG WITH TOYS; math and reading lessons to get playful with this school year! Subscribe below 🙂 !

Thanks ever so much for reading!

Love, ~Our Holistic Homeschool~

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