This social story is about a boy named Jacob who does not like cleaning up after arts and crafts projects. His teachers have told him many times that he needs to clean up so the class can move on to other activities. The story explains that when Jacob and his classmates clean up together and put materials away in the right spots, they free up time for new projects, activities, and snack. It emphasizes that cleaning up makes Jacob, his teacher, and classmates happy and feels like a team effort.

1. Cleaning Up
a Social Story
By Ethan Mazur

2. Hi! My name is
Jacob. I don't know
what to do.
I never like cleaning
up after Arts and
Crafts projects and
fun activities, but
my teachers don't
like when I get
distracted and keep
doing our activity.

3. I want to keep making
my artwork of a juice
cup with glue and felt!
But when my teacher
says it's time to clean
up, I feel sad.
The other kids in my
class have started
putting their materials
away and washing the
tables.

4. My teachers have to
talk to me many
times about not
finishing or cleaning
up after myself.
They said I am
costing my class time
that could be spent
doing different neat
activities.

5. Putting materials
and toys back in
their correct spot
allows us to
start new and
different
activities/art
projects.

6. When I clean up,
my teacher,
classmates and I
are happy

7. It is nice when we clean
up together, making us
feel more like a team!

8. • By putting things away and
cleaning up after activities, we will
have more time to have snack and
communicate with each other
• It can allow us to have a lot of
time to do other interesting
activities and more time on the
playground.

9. I now know that cleaning up
is very important and it
gives me more
opportunities for more and
more and more!
My friends and I cleaned up
all the materials and it felt
like we were doing
it together!

10. Reflection
• Listening to our teachers and cleaning
up after ourselves can provide
children with positive habits going
forward through their development
• I made this with a child in mind that
has trouble cleaning up their various
objects and materials, because they
don't want to stop working or playing
• Jacob doesn't want to help cleaning
up because he enjoys the first art or
learning activity so much! But, he has
to realize that he has to
follow instructions from his teachers
so that his class can keep doing more
fun stuff!
• Children can learn to clean up after
themselves and stop what they are
doing
• Encouraging children that
following directions leads to more time
on other activities and fun things in the
classroom
• This can encourage opportunities to
form cooperation skills and allow them
to clean and put things away together,
feeling more and more like a family
every day.