My two little boys are geniuses when it comes to making the most mess in the shortest amount of time possible. I can clean up the floor of the play area and put toys back nicely in their place, and I swear by the time I reach the top of the stairs, every toy is back out on the floor. Which in itself is not sooo bad, but darn it if those toys never stay on the floor in the play area. They mysteriously make their way to the living room floor, bedroom floors, the stairway, kitchen floor, trash cans and even the dog bowl (courtesy of my almost 2 year old), and just about any open area of our home!
And as much as my little guys love making the mess, they just as much dislike cleaning up. So I use an idea that I read on a parenting site once upon a time, and it almost (nothing is 100% with kids...at least not with my kids) always works.
I turn cleaning up time into a game of "I Spy." My 4 year old especially likes this, and even my daughter will sometimes get into the game even though she did not make any of the mess. Just call out something like "I see with my little eye something round and blue!" and magically my boys will run to get the ball first so they can be the one to put it away! And they really love it when mom is given clues as well and helps puts toys away, LOL.
It has made clean up time at our house a fun time instead of a battle.