I want to share with you one of my favorite clean-up games of all times called “Magic Scrap.” This is a quick way to get all hands on deck to tidy up your classroom desks and floors.
How to play “Magic Scrap:”
Simply walk around the classroom and identify a piece of scrap or trash that will be your “magic scrap.” Choose something that is easily identifiable to you.
Tell students that it’s “magic scrap time” and that they need to pick up as many scraps as they can, but they need to hold onto them until the time is up.
Set a timer or play a song for about one minute. Once time is up, students line up at the trash can. They hold out the scraps in their hand and you will be able to quickly identify if they are holding the magic scrap or not.
Once you get to the student that has the magic scrap, you can celebrate them with some classroom reward…we used classroom money, so the winner always got five classroom dollars.
How often?
It is amazing to see how motivated students become and how they will actually ask to clean up the classroom day after day! I usually like to play once or twice a week, just to keep it fresh and exciting for students. Like anything, the more you do it, the more the novelty wears off.
I hope your students love this game as much as mine.
Wishing you some classroom clean-up fun!
Krisanne Buckson says
Can I just say WOW! This activity worked wonders in my classroom! Students get excited to find the magic scrap at the end of the day! And WOW has my classroom never looked cleaner!
Erin says
Hi, Krisanne!
Yay! I am so happy that your students are enjoying “Magic Scrap.” Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment. 🙂
-Erin
Rachel Brown says
Okay this is genius!!! My fifth graders really have a hard time keeping our classroom clean and complain whenever it is time to clean up. They see it as boring and like a chore. I think with this it will become more of a challenge and students will feel excitement about cleaning up our classroom. You are a life saver!!! THANK YOU
Erin says
I am SO HAPPY to hear this! Magic Scrap definitely will make clean up time more exciting for students. 🙂 Thanks for leaving a comment! -Erin
Jen S. says
This is an awesome idea! I teach third grade and it can be a challenge to get the classroom cleaned up at the end of the day. I will definitely be trying this with my new group of students in August. I usually play the Jeopardy theme song and that gets them to move a bit faster, but adding the “magic scrap” idea is genius! Thank you!
whoiscall says
Thanks.