Helping Your Children to Learn to be Organized
Teaching good habits is one of the things for which we as parents are responsible. In order to help our children to keep their own space well organized, we’re also responsible for providing the tools with which to accomplish that task. It’s normal that your child isn’t going to want to clean their room.
Sometimes more than anything else it’s just knowing where to start. Bear in mind that learning organization means having the tools to accomplish it and a little guidance from parents, along with a reasonably good example.
Kids don’t learn to be organized on their own. Just as you are a part of helping them to learn anything, they are going to need a hand from you as well as some participation in learning to be more organized. Your intercession and teaching is going to be necessary in order to help them to find ways to organize better and to have that “place for everything” that they need to be successful in personal and professional life.
Just a few ways that you can help your kids to put the clutter in its place are:
Provide them with a place to put things.
One of the best methods of organizing is to purchase a small shelf that is comprised of squares or sections. Purchase some of the small drawers, some baskets that fit the squares or the small drawers made of paper-like fabric to insert into each of the squares. Help your kids to separate like toys or other items into each basket and insert a label on the front of the basket to make things easier to find. If you don’t have a shelf and the small drawers in the budget, try a few baskets which will be more cost effective and help to ensure that your child has a place to put everything. Low tubs which are see through and a few stick on labels will be workable and low budget solution to organizing a child’s room.
Toys or other items can be put into a toy box.
This is more costly and sometimes not the best method. Even if you’re not working with a low budget organization, the see-through plastic tubs are a wonderful way to organize. Those which are low in height will easily slide out of sight under a bed and help to keep the entire room tidier. The solutions don’t have to be costly to be effective, so keep in mind that you can opt for low cost ways to organize a child’s room and still get the job done. In our experience, kids tend to like that better in many cases because they can see what’s in the tub as well as read the label.
You might also consider two or three cardboard boxes, well covered with contact paper or other sticky shelf paper will be just as good a receptacle for toys and will keep them organized as readily as the more expensive toy chest.
Spend some time with your kids helping them to sort out broken toys, broken crayons and other items and discarding them. It’s hard to throw things away. It’s a given that some of us like to hold onto things well past their prime. Set a good example by discarding things that you haven’t used in a given amount of time and helping your kids to do the same. That doesn’t mean that you toss out their favorite baby toy. Using common sense and allowing keepsakes is allowing them security, but keeping something that isn’t worthwhile or useful any longer isn’t healthy and can be taken to extremes.
