No matter what season your kids are in, they have toys, electronics, bags, or clothes that seem to take over all the adult space in the house. The key to keeping this from happening is to work with your children on a system that will work for them so they can take ownership of keeping their belongings cleaned up. I worked with my daughter on her doll items for this blog. Even though this is written for doll items, you can still use our strategies for any items.
As always, we emptied the space first. My daughter actually took it upon herself to start this project, so I was unable to get a before picture. If you’d had told me a few years ago that she’d be self-initiating organizational projects, I wouldn’t have believed you, but this just goes to show that organizing is a learned process and skill. Your whole family is able to take part in the process, but just as I mentioned in my blog on how to get started with organization, you need to practice consistency for it to become a habit.
Once we had the space emptied, we needed to decide how many bins we had and what categories we needed. Take note that the bins are drawers from a Rubbermaid container that broke. We repurposed them because they fit perfectly when turned sideways in our hallway closet, and the size is perfect for toys. Another bonus is they’re clear, so you can see inside of them. In my linen closet blog, I discuss more on choosing containers.
When working with kids, this is where you need to give them the autonomy of choosing systems that work for them. My daughter knows how she plays, so she came up with the categories. Are they the same categories that I would’ve picked? No, but I’m not the one who will be putting items away, so I deferred to her. We decided to choose the same amount of categories as we had bins, which was seven. This part is always overwhelming to see everything sprawled out on the floor, but it’s a necessary step in order to know what you have. In this process, we found Lego and Playmobil pieces, which obviously didn’t belong. When this happens, we put them in separate piles until the current project is complete. Once we finish what we’re working on, we put away the out of place items we found along the way.
After separating the piles, my daughter asked for labels on the bins. She picked pink and the font. I took her categories and made the labels to fit the bins. Once those were finished, all of the items were placed back into the closet, which looked so neat and organized. Since this project, my daughter has played with her dolls much more frequently and put the items away each time because she can find exactly what she’s looking for, and everything has a place that can easily be put away.
It’s extremely important that we trust our children in this process. They need to be taught how to organize their items, but they also need to be trusted to make choices that make sense for them. If you want them to build their autonomy by having them put away their own items, they need to have a system that works for them personally. The best thing to do as a parent is assist when they ask, applaud their progress, and provide any containers or spaces they need in order to make their system work. Organization is a learned task, and we’re doing our kids a huge favor by teaching them as children. It will become second nature, and they will be productive adults.
