A mum-of-three and teacher, Mary, revealed her clever hack to get kids to tidy their rooms in just five minutes, using her teaching skills to motivate them when faced with a mess.
She shared on her TikTok that she also uses this tidy-up trick with her students. After a sleepover left her kids’ room messy, she showed the clutter on camera. She explained the kids need to clean up quickly and without fighting. To encourage them, she uses prizes, which don’t have to be costly—just small things found around the house.
She explained she has five prizes to motivate the kids. These include sweets, a voucher to skip chores for a day, and an hour of remote control which she says is highly valued. Each prize is linked to a specific item in the room, and whoever tidies that item wins the corresponding prize.
The kids don’t know which prize matches which object. Mary sets a five-minute timer, and they have to clean up as much as they can before time runs out.
Prizes were linked to items like a Pringles can, books, and a Barbie car for sweets. The no-chores voucher went to whoever tidied the windowsill, and control of the remote was given to the first child to offer to vacuum.
Mary called it an “easy hack” that always works. Many parents thanked her, with one saying, “I used this this morning and it worked, thank you so much!”
“I’m definitely giving this a go with my girls,” another vowed.
“Such a good idea!”
“I’m going to try this with my boys – this is genius!” a third commented.
One person wrote, “So glad I’ve come across your page, loads of good ideas thank you!” while another commented, “This is genius! I am totally doing this every evening in the front room!”
