Keeping Kids' Rooms Clutter Free
If you have kids, even if you're a pretty neat person in all other areas of your house, it's inevitable: the kids' rooms are always a magnet for clutter. Keeping children on task to organize their own belongings is a losing battle, and often they have more things than there's actually space for in their rooms. If you're fighting a losing battle against clutter in your kid's room, it's time to get organized and get that mess clean. Here's an easy step-by-step guide to keeping kids' rooms clutter free.
Make a Plan
The first step you should take in any organizational or cleaning project is to make a plan. Before you pack away a single item, take an inventory of your child's room. Just walk in and quickly assess the scope of the cleaning operation. Are there toys everywhere? Clothes? Mentally categorize the clutter, so that on cleaning day you can have storage bins ready to catch the stuff, making the process of organizing much faster. While you're at it, plan on having a “give away” and “throw away” pile as well.
Get the Kids Involved
Keeping the kids involved in the process of cleaning, sorting, and organizing their room is a great way to teach them about tidiness, and will make the entire process less invasive for the child. Make a game out of it, and be sure to explain that this isn't a punishment – it's meant to make the child's space even better. Long cleaning sessions are quite the effort for everyone involved, so set aside a limited time with a well-defined method, so that both the kids and parents can deal with the clutter without getting overwhelmed.
While you're in teaching mode, another potential hard battle is the task of convincing your kids to donate or otherwise get rid of items they no longer want or need. Most kids tend to be packrats, and will be loath to part with any of their precious toys or dolls, regardless of missing limbs, broken wheels, or tangled hair. Teaching your kids to pass along things they don't play with any more to kids who don't have any toys encourages generosity at a young age.
Storage, Storage, Storage
After the arduous task of organizing your child's room and all the donation and trash pieces have been taken away, you're left with the task of packing up everything else so it can be moved into storage. Many things can and should be stored in appropriate spots or containers in your child's room, but some items like seasonal clothes and treasured treats that your child doesn't need on hand, but can't bear to part with. Make sure that all containers are properly labeled before you place them into mass storage, so you can easily find the items when you need them again.
Make a Plan
The first step you should take in any organizational or cleaning project is to make a plan. Before you pack away a single item, take an inventory of your child's room. Just walk in and quickly assess the scope of the cleaning operation. Are there toys everywhere? Clothes? Mentally categorize the clutter, so that on cleaning day you can have storage bins ready to catch the stuff, making the process of organizing much faster. While you're at it, plan on having a “give away” and “throw away” pile as well.
Get the Kids Involved
Keeping the kids involved in the process of cleaning, sorting, and organizing their room is a great way to teach them about tidiness, and will make the entire process less invasive for the child. Make a game out of it, and be sure to explain that this isn't a punishment – it's meant to make the child's space even better. Long cleaning sessions are quite the effort for everyone involved, so set aside a limited time with a well-defined method, so that both the kids and parents can deal with the clutter without getting overwhelmed.
While you're in teaching mode, another potential hard battle is the task of convincing your kids to donate or otherwise get rid of items they no longer want or need. Most kids tend to be packrats, and will be loath to part with any of their precious toys or dolls, regardless of missing limbs, broken wheels, or tangled hair. Teaching your kids to pass along things they don't play with any more to kids who don't have any toys encourages generosity at a young age.
Storage, Storage, Storage
