Cleaning Up—The Do’s and Don’ts when Tackling a Messy Kids Room

Keeping your kids room clean is almost as hard as getting them to clean it in the first place, but for a number of health and safety reasons, it’s an important chore to add to your weekly cleaning routine—and better yet, teach your children to do themselves as part of their weekly cleaning responsibilities.

When children are young, often the biggest obstacle between you and a clean room is their toys. On holidays, for birthdays, when grandparents visit, for good behavior, it seems as though kids are always accumulating new toys—but where do you put them all! And what do you do with all
of their old toys? With a little organization, creativity and discipline, you can not only clean up that messy kid’s room, but also teach your kids that clean-up can be fun and rewarding. Follow this great to-do list—and pay careful attention to the -don’t list—and be on your way to a clean and organized home.

Do:

• De-organize. To get your bearings and know exactly what you’re working with, start by setting out all the toys on the floor.

• Categorize. Group toys by type (board games, books, stuffed animals) and then by size.

• Donate or toss. Anything that is not played with or that your kids have outgrown, donate to a local charity. Anything that is broken or missing pieces, throw away.

• Purchase storage containers. Best practice is to purchase a variety of sizes and styles depending on the size of the room. For small spaces, stackable containers, or containers that slide under the bed are great options. Bookshelves, baskets, shoe organizers and shoe boxes also come in handy. Neatly put toys away in each container.

• Get your kids involved. Have your kids help you pick out their containers, then together, decorate them with stickers, paint and labels, so that the content of each container is easily identifiable by their artwork.

• Be encouraging. Make cleaning up fun, by turning it into a game and playing it with them—who can clean up the floor fastest, of stack the books in order of size.

Don’t.

• Get caught off guard. Messy toys, such as markers and paint, play dough and other major mess causing toys, should be kept on higher shelves, out of reach.

• Forget the small stuff. Barbie shoes, action figure accessories, Lego, marbles and other small toys can be organized in their own clear plastic jars and Tupperware containers with tightly fitting lids. Not only will this help prevents pieces from being lost, it is also reduces the choking hazard if your supervision is needed when playing with those toys.

• Be all play and no work. Schoolwork and materials used for completing school work should be kept neatly organized as well. It’s a good idea to designate as small work area in their room, to encourage quiet time and focusing on their on their work.



Sources: www.home-organization.suite101.com

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