Top 10: Tips to Organize Your Kids
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Top 10: Tips to Organize Children’s Artwork
Tips to Organize Your Playroom
Organizing is tough. Organizing with kids is even tougher. However, don’t let the task become so daunting that you avoid it together. Kids learn organizational skills from their parents and other adults in their lives. Failure to work with your kids and to teach them the importance of respecting their home and possessions can lead to bad habits in their adolescent years, into college, and into adulthood.
One of the hardest areas to keep organized is the playroom. This room, by definition, will be a construction site on a daily basis. And while it doesn’t need to be perfect, a few simple guidelines will help keep things in order and keep everyone a little saner.
Start your organizing project by talking to your kids about why organization is important and why you want them to work with you. Giving them the opportunity to talk about their concerns ahead of time is very important. Often kids think that organizing means getting rid of everything and this is scary to them.
When broaching the subject of getting rid of extra toys, it’s important to talk to kids about WHY it’s important to donate, recycle, and purge their toys, clothing, and other items. Tell them about those less fortunate and what you plan to do with the items. It’s important that they never feel tricked.
If you ask your kids what they want to get rid of, the answer will always be “nothing”. Instead, set some guidelines. If you give kids a laundry basket or a box and ask them to fill it, they often do so willingly.
You will have to work harder than your kids to get their space organized and you will have to accept the fact that they may dither off during the process. It’s important that you set ground rules. However, it’s also important that you have breaks. Set a timer so your kids know exactly how long they will be working. The same tactic helps adults, by the way.
If you’re wondering where to donate items, I can help you with that as well. Of course, there are your local donation drops such as Goodwill or Salvation Army. However, some toys are trickier to donate than you may think. For example, many places don’t take stuffed animals. A great way to donate unwanted toys is to call your local women’s shelter. Many of them are in need of toys to give to residents when they leave their homes in a hurry. Also, many police stations collect stuffed animals and distribute them to victims of domestic violence or house fires.
If you are looking to make some money from your unwanted items look for a second-hand store in your area. Some stores will pay you cash upfront for your items. You will earn less from these stores but the store accepts all the risk of the item selling and you take home cash the next day. Another great place to take toys and books is the children’s wing of your local hospital. Often the toys there are out of date and well-worn. Daycare facilities often accept donations as well as military bases. Ask your friends and family about places to donate to in your local area.
It’s a great idea to challenge your friends to also get rid of things at the same time. You can offer to do the drop-off of donations and gather as much as possible. Give yourselves a deadline. That way you can’t push off getting organized. Hold each other accountable.
Once you have organized with your kids, you need to put a maintenance plan into effect. Every day hold a “ten-minute tidy”. During this time, have all family members work in their own space. Your kids can work on their space. Decide if you want to implement a chore chart to help them stay on track. Remember, they are looking to you for guidance and only you can hold them accountable and enforce consequences. Organizing is an ongoing task. In order to stay organized, it’s going to require a little work, every day. However, if you are willing to dedicate a few minutes when it works for you, after dinner, before work, etc, you can live a calmer, more organized life.
p.s. If you need structure to your organization redo, try this new book of tear-outs by I Should Be Mopping the Floor blogger Kristi Dominguez.
Home Organization Tear Outs for the Whole Family: Get Everyone Mobilized to Organize Your Home with 100 Printed Forms, Lists, Schedules and Directions by Kristi Dominguez
The only downside to this book is the labels are tear-outs that are not on label paper, so you’ll have to adhere them to your boxes, bins, and bottles yourself. Try Rubber Cement for that, for easy removal. Still, this book is full of beautiful labels, schedules, and To-Do reminders that it’s a good basis for a complete reorganization of your home and life. Whether it’s your pantry or your personal finances that you want to attack, this book has the tools in the form of labels and forms. [four color book of tear-out forms, lists, schedules, and labels]
Bonnie Joy Dewkett, CPO® is a nationally recognized organizing expert, author, radio personality, and motivational speaker. Her company, The Joyful Organizer®, creates and implements organizational systems for the home and office. These changes allow her Customers to create calm from chaos at work and at home. Bonnie is passionate about helping her clients meet their organizational goals and loves to see the positive impact that getting organized has on their lives.
Her diverse background gives her the ability to assist her clients with everything from the unique needs of organizing children’s rooms; to the organizational challenges of moving an entire family across the country. Working in special education in Maine, Bonnie helped her students exceed their educational goals by creating individualized programs that used their strengths to overcome their unique set of challenges. As a relocation consultant at Cartus, she managed the logistics of the moving process for hundreds of families that were being transferred through their employer.
Recognizing a gap in the information about moving and relocation, she authored The Joyful Organizer’s Guide to a Joyful Move—a comprehensive resource for families that are preparing to move. It helps them reduce stress by keeping them organized throughout their move.
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My books:
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World
- Junior Library Guild Gold selection
- Massachusetts Book Award Long List
- Selected as one of 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023 by dPICTUS and featured at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair
- Starred review from School Library Journal
- Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
- 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist
- Green Earth Book Award Long List
- Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids
Amazon / Barefoot Books / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Scholastic / Signed or Inscribed by Me
These are great suggestions for organizing with/for kids! I like the 10 minute daily clean-up!
To Ann,
The Joyful Organizer always has wonderful and practical advice. I learn so much from her and help getting my kids to clean up is much appreciated!
This is good stuff. Your first sentence, “Organizing is tough. Organizing with kids is even tougher.” pretty much sums up my life.
To CraftWhack,
I just wish bribery worked better but has no impact in getting my kids to clean up!