We’re a couple weeks into summer, and if your house is anything like our house every summer, your kids’ rooms are looking a little… scattered shall we say? So how to tackle the clutter without cleaning it up yourself or yelling ‘Clean your room!’ three times a day? Try letting your kids guide the organization and clean up!
My own mom helped me organize my room when I was young. After *many* arguments about the messy jumble that my room had morphed into, she simply took a different approach. How would I like organize my room so I could keep it clean? I have to tell you it made ALL the difference.
Split the chore up into several manageable steps to make it easier to tackle:
1. Sort out the mess by category: Art & craft supplies, toys, games, stuffed animals, books, media, clothes, etc.
2. Donate and dispose of all the accumulation of clothes and toys that your child has outgrown.
3. Along with your child, evaluate the space. What areas does the child use to craft or play? Where does he/she like to read and do homework? By letting your child tell you how they use their space, you can consider the most suitable ways to organize their belongings. You might be surprised by their answers!
4. Choose containers that are convenient for your child to use and label them. Consider size, ease of use and placement. Let’s face it and make it easier on everyone… she’s not going to put that box of dress up clothes back on the very top shelf of her closet and he can’t even lift that huge tub of Legos.
5. Along with your child, put everything away in its new home.
6. Discuss and agree on a maintenance plan with your child. Spend 10 mins picking up every night before bed? Clean up on Sunday afternoons and start each new week fresh? Whatever you both decide, stick to it.
I think you’ll be surprised how quickly this new structure & task will become routine for your kids. Of course they’ll still make messes – they’re kids! But learning how to organize their own belongings and be responsible for keeping things picked up can only benefit the whole family.
We’re going to be talking about storage and organization throughout the week, so if you have great tips or resources let us know so we can share them with our readers!
Also, to make it even easier, you can SAVE 20% on TCC Felt Boxes all week!
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
I have to say this is my FAVORITE TCC product! I probably own 10 of the large boxes already and could always use more. My daughter’s closet is full of them filled up with her shoes, toys and extra hangers. I would HIGHLY recommend this product to everyone. Very kid friendly.
{ 1 trackback }