Are your kids' rooms so messy that sorting things out seems just
too daunting a task? If so, here are some strategies for you to
bring some order back to your children's spaces.
First if all, do your kids actually need everything they own?
Are you still hoarding clothes and shoes they have grown out of
or toys that are now far to young for them to play with? Be
ruthless - pass them onto someone else, dump them at the charity
shop or throw them out. It is not use trying to tidy around
things which have outgrown their usefulness.
If any of your kids’ rooms are particularly bad (drawers full of
small pieces of rubbish, sweet wrappers, broken Lego, pens
without tops etc, try the ‘mining’ technique. Take the draw
(crate, box or bag) and tip everything out onto some large
sheets of newspaper. Then ‘mine’ all the useful items and put
them in a container. Everything that is left stays on the
newspaper. This is then wrapped up and put straight into the
bin.
Is there usually dirty washing in your kid’s rooms? Are they
loath to use the wash bin to put their soiled clothing in? If
so, why not have a different coloured laundry bin for each
child, or put a logo of their favourite character or pastime on
the front. This might encourage them to place their dirty
clothes where they belong.
Attach pegs or hooks behind each child’s door. This is where
they can hang their school uniform for the next day as I think
that trying to get them to fold their uniforms neatly and place
them in a drawer till the next day would be a triumph of hope
over experience! This way, when they come home at night, when
they change they can simply place all items on the hooks and
forget about them till the next morning.
Now, one of the best organising solutions is smart, cheap and
effective. Buy a number of colourful plastic stackable crates to
house clutter. They can be colour-coded if desired e.g. Blue for
books, Red for Lego and construction, Yellow for games etc. Not
only this, but they can be used for shoes or seasonal clothing
which is not required. If you are able to install some racking
too these crates look very funky lined up against a wall and
this way they don’t have to be stacked on top of one another.
Books look much neater if lined up in size order or colour
coded. A mish mash of books just stuffed in a bookshelf any old
how does not make for a tidy looking room. Likewise with videos,
or CDs. Store them with all red, green, yellow coloured spines
together. Not only does it look neater, but it also makes titles
easier to find too.
Should the rooms get to such a state that drastic measures are
needed, try a ‘2 minute pick up’ where you get the kids to pick
up as much rubbish and put it back neatly as they can do in 2
minutes. This is an effective strategy, especially with younger
kids, because it is so much fun! Let them off after 2 minutes if
they have at least tried. You can do the rest as a favour.
If any of your children have a particularly small bedroom raise
the bed on stilts. This way you will have all that extra room
underneath. It doesn’t need a DIY genius to rig some leg. If you
can afford the money, one of those high beds with cupboards /
sofas / writing desk contraptions underneath might just be a
solution to a too cluttered bedroom.
Small toys such as Barbies, Duplo bricks, etc can be stored in
drawstring bags hung from hooks on the wall. These are very
simple to make. Just an oblong piece of material, folded in half
and sewn up the seam and across the bottom with a hem round the
top through which a string can be threaded. The bag can be
pulled tight shut with the string.
Finally, try to encourage good habits by letting your children
help you with your own chores and always reward for a job well
done. If your kids have at least tried to keep things tidy, you
should let them know how you have noticed this with a reward and
encouragement to do it again the next time.
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