Keeping a tidy home can be challenging, especially when you have kids. Toys, clothes, and school supplies can quickly pile up, turning your once-peaceful abode into a chaotic mess. However, don’t fret! There are many effective decluttering tips when you have kids, allowing you to restore order and harmony in your home while teaching your children valuable lessons about organization and responsibility.
7 Helpful Decluttering Tips When You Have Kids
1. Involve Your Kids in the Decluttering Process
One of the most effective ways to lighten the decluttering load is to involve your children in the process. This doesn’t just make the task easier for you; it also imparts important life lessons to your young ones. Start by helping them categorize their belongings into three groups: ‘keep’, ‘donate’, and ‘discard’.
Through this activity, your children can learn the skill of decision-making, understanding that each choice they make has a direct outcome. For instance, toys they no longer play with can bring joy to another child if donated.
Conversely, broken or unused items take up valuable space and may be best placed in the ‘discard’ pile. This is especially important if you are moving. Before you move house, declutter so it can make your move more easier and organzied.
2. Embrace the ‘One In, One Out’ Rule
The ‘One In, One Out’ rule is a beneficial approach to managing clutter, especially when it comes to children’s belongings. Essentially, this rule dictates that for every new item that is brought into the house, an old one should be removed. This method helps to control the volume of items in your home and encourages your children to value and appreciate the items they already have.
Additionally, it subtly exposes them to the principle of sustainability. For instance, when a new toy is bought, your child can choose an old toy to donate or recycle. This not only helps maintain a clutter-free environment, but it also offers the chance to discuss responsible consumption. It’s an easy way to integrate decluttering into everyday life while helping to nurture a mindset of moderation and environmental consciousness.
3. Regularly Schedule Decluttering Sessions
Transforming your home from a cluttered space to an orderly haven isn’t a one-and-done task; it requires consistent effort. Scheduling routine decluttering sessions can help ensure that tidiness becomes a natural part of your family’s lifestyle. Aim to have these sessions once every month, or consider aligning them with seasonal changes. This approach helps to manage the amount of stuff accumulated over time and keeps clutter from overwhelming your home.
Adding these sessions to your family calendar serves as a visual reminder for everyone in the household. Moreover, having a regular decluttering schedule turns the task from an occasional and perhaps overwhelming chore into an expected part of your family’s routine. This could also help your children view decluttering as a regular part of maintaining their personal space, rather than as an extraordinary task imposed by the adults.
4. Use Storage Solutions that Kids Can Easily Access
Incorporating kid-friendly storage options is a crucial step in maintaining an organized home. Consider using open shelves, bins, and baskets to store your child’s belongings. This not only keeps items in order but also enables your children to easily find and put away their things independently. By making their belongings accessible, children are encouraged to take responsibility for their items and their spaces, fostering self-organization from a young age.
For smaller children who may not yet read, visual labels like pictures or color-coding can be a helpful way to teach them where each item belongs. This setup promotes the development of early literacy skills and organizational habits. Therefore, the selection and placement of storage solutions should be strategic, easy-to-use, and above all, kid-friendly. It should facilitate easy clean-up, and enable children to manage their possessions, helping them understand the importance of maintaining order.
5. Keep Sentimental Items to a Minimum
It’s natural for parents to want to hold on to special mementos that commemorate their children’s milestones and achievements. However, allowing these sentimental items to accumulate unchecked can contribute significantly to clutter. To manage this, allocate a designated keepsake box for each child. This box serves as a special place to store items that hold significant memories – the first pair of baby shoes, favorite childhood books, handmade Mother’s Day cards, and more. But here’s the catch: the items must fit within this box. Encourage your children to choose which items are truly important to them and worth preserving. This exercise can help them understand the value of selective memory preservation, and that not every item needs to be kept to cherish a memory. By keeping these items within a controlled space, you’ll prevent sentimental clutter from overwhelming your home, while still preserving those precious memories. This practice teaches children that while cherishing memories is important, it’s equally vital to make conscious choices about what to keep.
6. Turn Decluttering into a Learning Experience
Decluttering doesn’t have to be just about tidying up. It can serve as a powerful teaching moment for your children. For instance, when deciding which items to donate, this can be an opportune time to discuss generosity. Discuss the value and joy of sharing with them and let them know how their pre-loved items can bring happiness to less fortunate children. By seeing their things find a new home with someone who needs them, your kids can learn firsthand about empathy and the importance of helping others.
In addition to this, decluttering sessions can serve as a platform to talk about recycling and environmental conservation. Use these moments to emphasize how recycling unused items can contribute to the wellbeing of our planet. Let them know that even small actions, like donating a toy instead of discarding it, can have a significant impact on the environment. well-being
7. Maintain a Positive Attitude
Adopting a cheerful approach towards decluttering can greatly influence your children’s perception of this activity. Turn decluttering into an enjoyable experience by incorporating elements of playfulness, such as games, rewards, or even a lively music playlist. Recognize and celebrate small accomplishments along the way, like successfully sorting a pile of toys or tidying up a bookshelf.
Don’t forget to constantly highlight the positive outcomes of decluttering. Explain how tidying up can lead to a more spacious play area or make it easier to locate favorite toys and books. By demonstrating a positive attitude and making the process enjoyable, you’ll help your kids associate decluttering with positive emotions and outcomes. This could ultimately encourage them to take the initiative in maintaining a clean and organized environment in the future.
