We all adore our kids, but isn’t a new school year glorious?! It allows us to get back to a normal schedule; while re-establishing some much needed order. Speaking of order, how do the kids’ rooms look? September is a perfect time for a little organizing and cleaning. In this article, I have 6 great suggestions on ways to organize little Sally’s room without breaking the bank or taking a month to do it!
1. Sort, Keep, Donate – I like to go through toys first. They tend to be the item(s) that clutter a child’s room the most. Take 2 bins, bags or whatever you have on hand and go through items deciding on whether you want to keep or donate. You can decide if this is a task you want to do alone or with the kiddos. After you are done with the toys, start on clothing. Most kids get a few new pieces of clothing to start the school year off making this an awesome time to donate unused items. Does Jimmy really need 15 pairs of sweats?
2. Stay Sane With Storage – Kids tend to have smaller rooms and more stuff so great storage ideas are a must. It not only keeps things tidy, but it helps teach kids how to put things away and prevent items from getting lost. We utilize every inch of our son’s room with storage containers, shelving and closet space. The key is to make it kid friendly otherwise it doesn’t work quite as well. We like to label baskets and bins with what goes inside them - Legos in one drawer, art supplies in another and so on and so forth. For smaller ones, use pictures to help with keeping the bins sorted and organized. Create your own storage solution or look for units. IKEA has great ideas as well as your local hardware store.
3. Hooks, Knobs & Pegs – Add some fun wall hooks for items that need to be hung up – jackets, bags, umbrellas etc. and try to get the kiddos in the habit of hanging gear up as soon as they get home. Knobs & pegs that have a fun theme or design make them that much more enticing to use thus increasing participation from the kids.
4. Schedule A Weekly Clean Up With A Miscellaneous Bin – With all families, sometimes things don’t make it back to their rightful bin or container. Often times items end up in different parts of the house altogether. We handle these stray items with a miscellaneous bin in each one of the kids’ rooms. This bin or basket is used to temporarily store random items (I also use them for clean clothes) until they can be put away. Then, every Saturday morning (you can use whatever day works best for your family) have your child put away items in their miscellaneous bin.
5. Cork & Bulletin Boards – If you are like me, you come in contact with many different pieces of paper for school, sports, clubs, artwork etc. Every day we are getting information about something that is coming up. This is why we designated an area in each one of our kids’ rooms for a cork board. We put any important homework slips, field trip papers, artwork, awards or whatever else that needs to be displayed on the board to help grab our attention. When we go into their rooms at night to tuck them in, we get an opportunity to talk about things that are coming up or need to get done before the next day. These boards have saved me several times when life has gotten too busy and I’ve forgotten about picture day or an upcoming field trip!
6. Purge Every 6 Months – Purging is such an important job when it comes to keeping things organized. Our little ones grow so fast that it’s sometimes hard to keep up. Clothing sizes change, interests change & toys come in and out of style. Purging is a fantastic way to keep on top of items that make the most sense right now. My line of thinking is “if it wasn’t used, worn or played with in the last 6 months, than it’s time for the item to move on”.
These specific steps work great for my family but feel free to substitute or create your own ways of organizing. The point is to keep things clear, concise and user friendly. Use what you have on hand and don’t be afraid to get creative with ideas.
