There’s a Tidying-Themed Board Game for Kids Featuring a House of Cluttered Mice

Sooner or later, we all have to learn how to tidy, at least if we want to be able to find our keys each morning and get along with a roommate or partner. But how do you teach kids to tidy—and maybe even enjoy it? As it turns out, there’s a cute board game that can help.

Simply called “Tidy Up: Sort Around the House,” the game features a family of mice who live in a four-room house. To win the game, which involves dice and cardboard clutter tokens in the form of a shoe, an oven mitt, a bowl of salad, a shower cap, and more, you need to be the first to put all your clutter back in the rooms where it belongs.

“We love Tidy Up!,” writes one reviewer. “My daughter loved going from room to room singing ‘clean up, clean up,’ matching the token to the room. My LO [little one] was able to follow the instructions and we played with some modified some rules too. We are going to use this technique in our daily lives too!”

The game can be used to teach and discuss more than tidying too. One reviewer notes that she plans to use it as a vocabulary-teaching tool. “I’m going to use this for teaching ESL and teaching the vocabulary for the objects in each room,” she says. “I think there is a good variety of new and familiar vocabulary for my students.”

Another says it works well to teach students about categories: “I’m a special educator and I own many category card games. Nothing is as exciting and educational for teaching categories as this game!!!!! The children learn to categorize different items in various rooms in the house while having a great time and learning to interact with peers. Children loved this game! A definite keeper:):)”

The game, made by educational toy company Chalk and Chuckles, is intended for children ages 3 to 5. It’s currently available on Amazon for $19.99.