Bringing Order to Your Child’s Toys/Rooms

Our brain compartmentalizes like a computer or filing cabinet. If there is clutter everywhere our brain short circuits because it can not compartmentalize chaos. One of the first things a psychologist told my mom that my ADD brother needed was order, and structure. While there are so many things I could say on this subject, I will say that helping your children learn to have order in their life will do more than just keep your home neat and tidy. Today I would like to share some tips on how to help them keep order in the first place every child needs it, with their toys!

Getting your children to clean their rooms, or keep them clean is not as difficult as it seems. I began with Emily from about one year of age teaching her how to put things away. At this age they are so eager to help and learn new things that they will do anything you encourage them to do. Right now I am working with Anna, almost two. With these ages the picking up after themselves is more about you guiding them, literally walking them to the toy asking them to pick it up, taking them to the place where it goes and asking them to put it there. You could have done it faster yourself, but you would not have helped them to learn how to do it. Plus, it is a self esteem builder for the toddler to do something that they feel has been a help to mommy. Of course the praise they get encourages them to do it again. As she gets the “game,” I move on to sitting on the floor and asking her to go get an item and “show mommy where it goes.” I am slowly teaching her to do it herself. Anna loves it, and so did Emily. Emily at five, and even when she was 3 and 4, is great at being able to pick things up. She typically knows where everything goes, better than daddy when he has to help her pick up.

With Emily, I obviously can catch a little more guff than with Anna; Emily has figured out this “game” is not as much fun as it used to be. So I try to make things a little easier for her. Just as we should break down our chores into smaller increments, try doing so with them as well. Here are a few ways:

1- If they are just free playing, every once in awhile pop your head in and ask them to stop and only pick up one thing. “Just pick up all the Barbies, and throw them all in the suit case.” (This is where the Barbies are kept in my house) There may be 15 different things on the floor, don’t worry about that. If they do that one thing, (And things like Barbies with A lot of pieces is an excellent “1 thing”) they have eliminated 1 thing later to worry about. If you give them this one small goal, and then they know they can go back to playing they will do it quickly. If you do this about every 30-45 minutes, you will find most everything eliminated, and clean up time is not so daunting.

2- Have family clean up time periodically throughout the day, before lunch, before nap/down time, and before dinner or bedtime. Know when these times are coming and give them ample time to accomplish them. Family clean up time can be both, or all of you cleaning up their room together, if they are young; or as they get older you set a clean up goal for yourself, while they have clean up goals too. I read one article, where the mother home-schooled four children. She said they would have projects everywhere, all over the table, etc. But no matter what they were doing they stop at a certain time and clean it up. She will begin dinner, and they will begin clean up time. When her husband comes home, the table is clear, and the smell of dinner fills the house. It is such an inviting place to come into. If your children are smaller, then do it with them about 20 minutes before or in between cooking dinner.

3- I have said this before, Set a timer! Emily is very motivated by this. Right now she can’t quite tell time, so as my sister says it is like the ticking bomb, you never know when it is going to go off. However, I know this works for me and my own chores.

4- Use the basket method. The hardest thing for me is not the toys all over the bedroom, it is the toys all over the house. I can’t vacuum, mop, or get anything accomplished for all the toys! My solution: I got a bucket, or laundry basket, that is solely used for stray items in the house. As part of our “pick one thing up” drill, I will say “pick up as many toys throughout the living room and dining room as you can, until the bucket is filled”. Then I will either put them away myself, if I am not in the “training” mood that day, or I will leave it in their room for them to empty later.

5- Of course the number one way to keep things organized is to declutter. In my post about “Holiday Clutter Stress”, I gave some tips on how to get rid of the clutter. As Flylady says, “You cannot organize clutter, you can only get rid of it!”