No matter your child’s age, you’ve probably experienced the frustration that parents share when children cheerfully contribute to household clutter but balk when they are asked to help clean up toys and other belongings.

When building blocks, baby dolls and puzzle pieces seem to cover every inch of your floors, it isn’t surprising that some parents want to wave a white flag of surrender. While it may seem easier to let your child revel in the mess, setting boundaries now will help your child to be a more responsible adult later.

Teach your child with these five steps:

Make organizing fun

Cleaning sounds like a dreary job to kids, so try to make the process more appealing. Use brightly colored bins for your child’s different belongings — art supplies, miniature cars, games etc. Then turn clean-up time into a fun game of sorting. Add cheerful music to the mix, playing a particular song when it is time to tackle the mess. Or make it a game of beat the clock to see who can finish faster.

Reward good behavior

The best reward is a parent’s praise, so give it freely. Sticker charts are also a great way to reward a kid’s positive actions. You can offer a small prize when the child gets a certain number of stickers on the chart.

Hold them accountable

Explain the possible consequences of behavior to your kids, and then be prepared to follow through. For example, you can tell your child that any toys left on the floor before bedtime will be taken away for a week. If they don’t clean up by the set time, calmly pack the toys away.

Create a routine

Children learn good habits when they are routinely asked to perform the same positive actions every day. Teach your child daily habits that make life easier for both of you: make the bed after breakfast, put toys away after dinner, brush teeth after a meal.

Rotate toys

When a child’s room is packed with belongings, the mess can be overwhelming for everyone. Consider rotating toys instead of keeping them all in their room at once. Put some items in a locker every month. When you bring back the toys a few weeks later, your child will feel like he or she has a new set of belongings, according to a representative from Colorado Springs Extra Space Storage.

It may take a few weeks to see results, but the effort is worth it. A child who learns to be responsible when they are young will model good behavior as he or she grows older.