Organizing Your Child’s Bedroom

It is never a fun time to organize your child’s bedroom, but with summer almost over and the kids now in school, routines are the norm again and now could be the best time for both you and your child.

There are a couple of things to keep in mind when organizing a child’s room.

Involve the kids

Most importantly, don’t forget to involve the kids. It may seem appealing to go into their room while they are at school and go to it but think of how you would feel if someone went through your belongings and kept what they wanted and discarded what you thought was important.

Your kids are attached to their possessions just as you are to yours and therefore need a voice in what stays, what goes and what is placed where. Also, keep in mind that they are just kids and therefore smaller than us and need to be able to reach things so try to avoid adult sized desks, bookcases and the like if possible.

Control the clothes

Let’s start with the clothes first. Kids tend to accumulate clothes. Back to school purchases, birthday gifts, and impromptu purchases from the grandparents, and don’t forget those hand me downs that come from seemingly everyone.

Do the clothes in the closet and drawers fit anymore?

Let the kids know that clothes that no longer fit will go to good use. Take your kids with you to the used clothing center or drop box to give them the sense of helping out. Use the same rule that you would use for yourself – if it hasn’t been worn for a year it is time to go. (It probably doesn’t fit anymore anyway.)

Tame the toys

Now here comes the hard part. Toys! Do your kids play in their room? Is there a designated play area in the house? If they play in their room toys must be organized for easy access and put away.

Store like with like, small with small and keep it easy for the kids to put toys away.

Don’t put toys away on the top shelf of a six foot high case when they can’t reach it – it will always end up left on the floor.

Purchase a few clear plastic bins and keep all the small cars together, all the doll accessories together so the kids can see what is in each container. When cleaning up or putting everything away for the night they will soon get the idea behind the containers.

If you know your child’s favourite toys, the ones they always go to, keep them within easy reach. If they are within easy reach it will be likely that they will be put away more often. Perhaps you could even label the shelf that the toys are stored on if your child is old enough to read.

Electronics etiquette

Finally, as kids grow older so too does the value of the toys, especially when you get into electronics – video games, tablets and the like. Teach your kids the value of possessions today and reward them with a job well done in looking after their toys and putting them away. Praise and hug go a long way.

If you think you may need some help in getting your child’s room and belongings organized for a stress free school year, contact us for a free telephone consultation!