8
IDEAS FOR ORGANIZING YOUR CHILD'S ROOM
by
Maria Gracia
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.
by
Maria Gracia - Get Organized Now! <http://www.getorganizednow.com>
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