Guest Post By Emma Lewis
Having a big cleanout of your child’s room can be monster task, even if your child is tidy to begin with. Because most kids, don’t really know how to keep a space tidy by themselves, getting them into some good habits with their cleaning from a young age is very important because it can help them to establish good patterns for when they are older. Knowing what strategies to use to keep the space clean is very important, because then you can spend less time in the future cleaning up unnecessary mess and more time playing and doing other fun things with your child.
- Keep and throw – This is a common trick that people use when they are doing a big clean-out, but it is effective, and it works well for kids. Having the children choose which items stay and which items go helps them learn the value of their items and allows them to hold to the things that they love, while they ‘rehome’ the things that they don’t. Make sure you have a bag at the ready for the items you don’t want, so that they don’t make their way back into your child’s room after it has been thrown out. Also remind your children that it is ok to throw things away when we no longer want or need them. If you’re giving away your old items or clothing to charity, make sure that the children understand that the items are being given to someone else who can use them or who needs them, and re-enforce the positive impact that this will have on someone else’s life.
- Finding a place for the items – Make sure you have adequate storage for your kids’ rooms, otherwise you will have a terrible time when it comes to cleaning up, because they won’t know where to put things. Having different types of storage is also important, because not everything is going to fit in the same place. For example, it is advised to have a chest of drawers and a wardrobe for your clothes, so that you can store things like their shoes, coats and other items that won’t fit in your drawers. Having different boxing and shelving solutions is also good for kids with lots of toys, so that you can keep track of where everything is supposed to go. Making kids ‘find a home’ for their items, rather than ‘putting them away’ is also a good idea because it shows you value the items just as much as they do.
- Have a system in place – Having a system for your storage is important for kids, especially the younger ones, because they need more help understanding how to clean up their messes and how to store things properly. A good idea is to color code your items or your storage so that the children know where things go, based on their color. For example, you might put cars in a blue box and balls in a green box so that they know exactly where to put things. You can even use picture labels on toy bins, to make it easier for the kids to put their items away. If you store things neatly and together with things that are similar to them, it will be a lot easier for you to keep track of your kid’s items. Storing toys and clothes together is never a good idea but storing items like hats and bags together that are similar may work better for you and your kids.
- Utilize storage options – Some items are too precious to just throw out or donate to charity even if your child isn’t currently using them. If you’re trying to declutter, consider renting out storage place so you have a place to keep those things that you don’t want to keep in your home right now, but you still want to keep. A site like Spacer allows you to rent space from other people in your area who aren’t using it. This means you can store the items somewhere safe, convenient and affordable and access them when you need, while still keeping your child’s room tidy!
- Try to keep on top of the clutter – if you can, keeping on top of the clutter is going to work out better for you in the long run. This is because you won’t have to take up a large amount of time to do a big clean-up as often as you would. Staying on top of clutter can be difficult, but if you can go through your child’s room quickly once every week or two, you should be fine.
Cleaning out your kids’ room will always be a chore, but if you know how to clean it effectively, the job will be done in no time. If you can teach your kids that you can be tidy too, you can set boundaries in place for how tidy their rooms should be as well. If you’re naturally a messy person, then your kids are going to learn these habits from you, so if you can keep on top of your mess around the kids, then you won’t have as many problems.
More About Emma
Emma Lewis is a loving mother, a devoted wife and a part of the team supporting Spacer – a company helping you find storage space whenever you need it. Emma is also a staunch supporter of the sharing economy and often mentions its benefits.
*Photo courtesy of Emma Lewis