Organize Your Childs Room: Ideas For Teaching Order & Responsibility
8 Ideas for Organizing Your Child's Room
Clean your room!
Ugh. Oh, Mom. I'll do it later!
This same dialog is shared by millions of parents and their children
all over the world.
With the new school year upon us, you may have the driving urge
to get your child's room in order.
Where do you start? Here are a few ideas:
1. SCHEDULE: Schedule a specific date and time to clean out your
child's room. Your daughter or son, if she or he is old enough,
should be there to help.
2. DUMP OR DONATE: Have a large box on hand for items you will
be donating to your local charity or selling at a rummage sale.
Also, have a large plastic garbage bag--maybe two or three--for
everything you will be disposing of. Your children can help here.
Let them know that every item that is of no use to them, that they
donate, will be helping another child. Also, tell them that it's
important to discard anything that will never be used, to make room
for new, useful items.
3. CLOTHES CLOSET: The clothes closet is usually a good place to
start. Pull everything out until it's completely empty. Then, the
only items that should be returned to the closet are those articles
of clothing or other items that are going to be used again. This
should eliminate clothing that doesn't fit, is worn out, and so
on. If you're not sure if an item fits your child anymore, have
him or her try it on right now.
4. BASEBALL CAPS: Hang a baseball cap rack on the back of your
child's bedroom door to keep all caps neat and organized. Ensure
it's at a reachable level for a child's height. Show him or her
how to hang the caps on it properly.
5. SHOES: Give your child a shoe rack to keep his or her shoes
organized, easily accessible and in one place. Show your child how
to organize shoes, keeping all pairs together.
6. STUFFED ANIMALS, TOYS AND GAMES: Put up shelves in children's
rooms. This is usually a better solution for toy storage versus
containers, because the toys won't get crushed and will be easily
obtainable. Make sure the shelves are at a reasonable height so
that your child can reach wanted items.
7. PAPER: Create a filing system for your child, to keep artwork,
rock star photos, blank paper, notes from family and friends, etc.
Use a portable filing container that is capable of holding hanging
files and that can be transported to someplace else if necessary.
The ones with handles are nice, since they can be transported to
different homes, on vacation, etc. Some of these containers have
snap-shut compartments for pens, pencils, clips, and more.
8. RESPONSIBILITY: Teach your children to clean and organize as
soon as they're old enough to do so. If you help them do this now,
you will be helping them when they're old enough to move out on
their own. Devise a simple daily checklist for maintenance. If you
have two children sharing the same room, divide the room in half
with an imaginary line. Describe this imaginary line to each child.
Assign each one the responsibility of keeping their side clean and
organized.
Copyright © 2000 Maria Gracia
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