It’s amazing how quickly kids stuff piles up – toys, books, clothes, that thing they found on the . . .
ground the other day – all cluttering up your home and adding extra time to the regular chores. I am forever trying to find new ways to organize that will save me time, and make it easy for my little ones to help out, too.
With Christmas just around the corner, it may be a good time to take inventory of what you have and pass on what you no longer need or want. There is possibly someone out there just waiting for what you have to give. While my home is still a work in progress, I thought I would share with you some of the tricks I have found.
1. Purge – Hasn’t had batteries for months? Shoved in the back of a closet since last spring? Time to get rid of it. I will admit I can be ruthless when it comes to purging, but I can assure you that less is definitely more when it comes to kids things. Online buy/sell groups are great for selling used kids toys and clothing, and there are always organizations that are looking for donations.
2. Put away excess – With the changing seasons come a variety of different toys and outdoor gear. One way to keep everything organized is to put everything in labelled bins (I like using clear bins so I can see at a glance what is inside) and only keep out a limited number of things at a time. I like to do a toy rotation every month or two, when I pack up most of what I have out and bring out a different bin of toys. This helps keep toy clutter to a minimum, and means what is out actually gets played with. Not to mention how excited they are to play with toys they haven’t seen in a few months. It’s like you’ve just been shopping.
3. Everything in its place – It is so much easier to tidy up quickly if everything has a place to go. Make kids items easy to put away by using low storage bins or shelves that they can access by themselves. Take it an extra step by adding words or picture to bins for pre-readers so that they know which toys go where!
4. Choose age appropriate chores – kids, especially younger ones, love to help out but we all know that sometimes that can add extra work for us (like when my two year old tried to sweep up the cereal he spilled on the floor – yikes).
Teaching our little ones how to properly do age appropriate chores and then allowing them to strike out on their own fosters independence and responsibility and takes a few things off your plate, too. Even babies can help by working together with mom or dad to put toys back in their bins. Toddlers can help by putting toys and books away, putting laundry in the hamper, making their bed, and dusting (try putting a sock on their hand and make a game out of wiping down surfaces).Older kids can set the table, load the dishwasher, put away laundry, water plants and even help make school lunches.
Making clean up time part of your daily routine helps keep the house feeling a little more tidy and organized and makes the deep clean days go a little faster. I find that it also helps them take responsibility for their messes. Reminding them that they are in charge of tidying up when they’re done playing might mean a few less things come out and therefore need to get put back.
Whatever you decide good luck keeping things tidy with your little ones in tow.
My parents like to remind me that one day the house will be quiet, the toys will be long gone and you’ll wish you had them back.
by Shelley Heaphy
