Organizing Tips for a Clutter-free Kids
Room
1. Make cleaning up a game. Ask each child to bring you something specific – Ex: "bring me 1 yellow item and 2 red items”. Or "bring me 2 soft toys” etc. Then you place the item where it belongs. If they are younger children it makes it much less frustrating for both of you!
2. Use lower dresser drawers for small
toys. Ex: books, coloring books/crayons, dolls. It
makes it easier for younger children to play with and then put away toys.
3. Keep a "special box” for those times when
company comes to visit and the children need to play quietly. Change the contents 4 times a year
(seasonally) to make it more exciting each time it's used.
4. Rotate toys.
Keep 3 or 4 boxes (small, 14 x 14) for toys. Keep only 1 in the child's bedroom. Store the rest in the garage or other storage
place within the home. Place only medium to large toys in the toy boxes. Each quarter, rotate out 1 box for
another. Label the boxes on the outside,
so you know what's in them. You don't want to search through them each time.
5. Use smaller, clear plastic boxes for very
small toys. Ex: kid's meal toys, Tonka cars etc. Place them on a shelf with a label on each
box. For small children (non-readers), take
pictures of them holding the contents. Tape it to the clear box. They love seeing themselves and tend to be
more cooperative in putting things away.
6. Schedule a "trade and share” day each
month/quarter. Invite friends to come
with their "kid's meal toys” and toys they'd like to trade. After they've traded, encourage the kids to
collect any duplicates they have and make a package to donate to children's
home or children's hospital. This
encourages children not to hoard and appreciate what they have.
7. Take their art work to a copy center. Make color copies at a much reduced
size. You can then put the copy into a
scrapbook album to keep the memory without using up so much space. Or try to
use your digital camera and take a shot of them holding their artwork. Again, they love seeing themselves and will
love having these in scrapbooks just as much as seeing the actual piece of art.
8. Utilize closet organizers. Vertical shelving units will give you space
to place the small boxes of small toys, shoes, folded clothing, etc. Hanging shoe organizers, hung over a door,
can be used for baby items: powder, wipes, burp rags etc
