With kids under your roof, there’s no way to permanently eliminate clutter, but there are ways to control it. Toys, school supplies, and outgrown clothes seem to sprout out of the floor by magic, even after repeated attempts to keep your growing family organized. Fortunately, we’ve rounded up some decluttering tips specific to parents that should help you keep a relatively clutter-free home and prevent you from stepping on Legos on a midnight trip to the bathroom.
1. Rotate your kids’ toys.
The first way to control clutter is to have fewer items around that can cause it. If you were to take inventory of all of your children’s toys right now, you’d probably find that your kids have more than they know what to do with. Some toys probably haven’t been touched in months. Keep things interesting for your little ones by storing some of their toys in the closet, basement, or attic, and changing which ones you bring out each month.
2. Keep a what-not bin or basket in each room.
Do your younger kids have the habit of dropping a toy in any given location as soon as they lose interest in it? Instead of carrying a toy all the way back to your child’s room, keep one stylish bin or basket in each room of your home where you can place random items in a hurry. At the end of the week, enlist your child to carry their belongings from each of the baskets back to their rightful place.
3. Keep bins under the bed or in the closet for outgrown clothes.
Kids grow fast, which means that they’ll constantly be outgrowing their clothes for several years. As soon as you know they’ve outgrown an article of clothing, add it to a box or bin that you’ve labeled with the age at which the clothing fit. The handiest places to keep these bins are under your child’s bed or in their closet. This will make the clothes easy to use for hand-me-downs, or you can also easily donate them.
4. Set a limit on refrigerator artwork.
When items are competing for space on your refrigerator, your kitchen can start to look messy even after you’ve cleaned the stove and wiped the counters down. Limit refrigerator artwork from your kids to one to two pictures at a time each month. At the end of the month, you can store the artwork in a memory box or discard it.
5. Create a quarterly donation box with your kids.
As we grow, we learn the difference between needing and wanting, and we also learn that it can be so much more rewarding to give than to receive. The earlier kids can start learning that lesson, the better. At the start of each new season, gather your kids and go through their belongings together. Teach them to look at something to determine if it’s still useful or something that brings them happiness or if it’s something that could be better enjoyed by someone in need. Praise your children for being charitable and thinking of others, and don’t forget to take time to enjoy this donation box activity as a bonding moment as well as a teaching opportunity.
Keeping Kid Clutter Under Control Pays Off When It’s Time to Move!
Decluttering is an essential part of preparing to move. For help with packing and moving, you can always count on True Friends Moving Company, located in Nashville and Tampa! Call us at F:P:Sub:Phone} or contact us online.