Tame Those Toys Thursday – Decluttering Their Bedrooms

This is our first Tame Those Toys Thursday, so we are going to start with the first step in getting your kids organized. It all starts with their bedroom. If their room is a complete and utter mess, where nothing can be found, then that is going to make every aspect of their lives hard.

It will make it hard to find clean clothes or to put the clean clothes up in the first place. It will make it hard for them to do their homework, if it’s done in their room. It will make it hard for them to get ready for softball practice if their glove is hiding under a stinky, mold growing mess of clothes. It will also make it hard if they want to have friends over but you say you have to clean your room first. What will they do? Probably walk into their room and be totally overwhelmed.

We are going to start with the basics today. A child’s room should be their place of refuge. It should be a place they enjoy going to and relaxing. A place they feel safe and a place they can express their unique personalities.

Step 1: Get six boxes and label them: give away, throw away, store away, garage sale, stays in room and the question box. The give away, throw away, garage sale and stays in room boxes are pretty obvious what they are for. The store away box is for clothes that are too small, that you might want to save for a younger sibling, or out-of-season clothes that are just crowding the closet.

The question box is for items that your child can not make up their mind if they want to keep it or give it away. That can be a really hard decision and you don’t want to throw away something without their permission.

Go through the entire room and sort everything into one of these boxes. As far as clothes and shoes, put the dirty ones in a hamper or trash bag and the clean ones in the dresser or closet. If you don’t really have a designated place for the clothes and that happens, then grab another box and put them in there. Also put the shoes nearby and set those two things aside for later.

Step 2: After all the clutter is out and you have a clean slate to work with, take a good look at the furniture. Is there too much? If so, then it is probably crowding the space way too much and a crowded space is hard to keep organized.

Or, is there not enough furniture? Maybe your child does his/her homework in their room, but they do it on their bed and are constantly searching for pencils, crayons, scissors and all the other supplies and by the time they sit down to do their homework, they are exhausted. So they may need a desk to house all the supplies and a place to sit and be able to concentrate on their work. Add a lamp to that desk and you’re good to go.

Really evaluate the space and get your child involved. Ask them what they would like in their room to make it more comfortable and inviting. For example, my 9 year old daughter really wants a big fluffy chair with a canopy over it in the corner, so she can snuggle up with a good book. She got this idea from a friend’s room. We can’t purchase that for her now, but it’s on our wish list.

Step 3: Divide the room into sections. Think of the kindergarten room example. How is it organized? In centers. Centering a child’s room is a great way to help them keep it organized and it really helps them to enjoy their room.

Some possible centers and items needed are:

1. Sleeping center: bed, night stand, alarm clock, bookshelf, favorite stuffed animals and a few comfort pillows for us girls
2. Homework center: desk, lamp, school supplies and either drawers to hold them in or items on the desk to keep them organized, pencil sharpner, a comfortable chair
3. Reading center: comfy chair or bean bag, canopy for that special affect, bookshelf with favorite books, lamp
4. Dressing center: dresser drawers with clothes organized and divided by type, floor length mirror, closet with 2 level of rods, place for shoes which could be an over-the-door shoe divider or a shoe rack on the closet floor

I didn’t put any centers for toys, but if their toys are in their room, divide those into centers too. We will go in depth on organizing your kids’ toys at a later date.

If you have two or more children sharing a room, if it’s at all possible, let them each have a section that is their own. You could use a room divider or a curtain. This can even be done with bunk beds. The bottom bunker can have his own nightstand with all the essentials and the top bunker can have a wall lamp and a plastic file holder mounted to the wall to hold his books.

Step 4:Now go get that “stays in room” box and all the clothes and shoes and put everything back in the appropriate center. Make it a game if you want and set the timer to see how fast you both can get it done together.

Save the “question box” for a little later. After your child gets the great feeling from a clean and organized room, the items in that question box may be a little easier to part with.

Step 5: Go take a break. You both deserve it!

Next Thursday we will go into more depth about storage in a child’s room. Having the right storage can make all the difference.

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