24 secrets of daycare teachers—steal their tricks!

The imaginations of toddlers and preschoolers are exploding. Use that to your advantage, says VanGerwen. “Your shoes want to stay together when you’re not there, so put them beside each other,” she’ll tell the kids in her care. Get competitive and make cleaning up a race, or turn on some music and dance while you tidy. Count the items as you pick them up. Is your daughter an animal lover? Tell her she’s a zookeeper who has the very important job of putting all the “animals” in their cages for the night. Or say she’s a construction worker when it’s time to clean up the blocks. Whatever the mess is, associate it with something fun, VanGerwen says.