When you live with kids, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed with stuff. From toys that have hundreds of pieces, to clothes for school, home and different seasons, although kids are small, they take up loads of room. It’s important to organize your child’s stuff and teach them how to keep everything clean and tidy.
Here are some ways you can do so, without losing your mind.
- Only keep hold of toys they play with
Every parent wants their kid to have lots of toys, and you no doubt spend a lot of money on any toys they have on their Christmas and birthday lists. However, the truth is that less is more when it comes to toys. If kids have too much stuff, they won’t play with half of it, and they use their imagination less.
Get your kid to help you sort out their toys. Buy some large boxes, then sort out broken toys, things to donate and things to keep. Have some smaller boxes to keep together bits and pieces from their toys, from their LEGO to Barbies, so that all the accessories can be kept together. There are then plenty of places to donate old toys that’ll be happy to take the things you no longer use.
- Store toys that you are saving for younger kids
If there’s an age gap of a few years between your kids, you’ll probably want to keep toys for the younger ones. However, keeping hold of them can mean more clutter around the home. Find some local affordable storage units where you can keep hold of toys in a clean environment, without them cluttering up the playroom.
- Sort out their clothes each season
Kids’ closets can soon get packed full of weather-inappropriate or outgrown clothes, so try to make time for a clear-out twice a year. Many young children can take ages to sort out what they want to wear in the morning, so sorting out their clothes cuts down on time.
Some ways to store old clothes include:
- Using vacuum sealed bags – this means they don’t take up as much space
- Using sealed plastic boxes – especially if the clothes will be stored somewhere where they could get dirty or damp
- Using suitcases at the bottom of the closet
Kids grow pretty fast, so many parents find that they have to regularly have a clear out anyway, so while you are doing that, see what you could get rid of.
- Ensure they have a place for everything
Once kids get to the age where they have toys with lots of pieces, make sure they have labelled boxes in order for them to keep items together. Have a rule that only one toy should be taken out at a time, as this will stop you from ending up with lots of mixed up pieces, and make sure the playroom is tidied up by the kids at the end of each day.