3 Must-Do Organizing Tips for Kids
3 Must-Do Organizing Tips for Kids. Teaching kids good organizing habits can be fun. But it also teaches them great habits. Make it part of your day. Let them know that they are responsible. Get the whole family involved.
Establish the “ten-minute pick-up.”
At the same time every day, set a timer for ten minutes. Turn on some music and start picking up, as fast as you can. Gather items into a box that belongs in other rooms, then deliver them to the correct space. This teaches teamwork.
Create a “penalty box”
If belongings are left out, put them into the box with the requirement of doing an extra chore in order to get the items back. If you love something, you’ll take care of it and avoid the box. This teaches responsibility.
Designate an “outgoing” space
Someplace near your home’s entrance, where you can collect items that need to go out of the house. Teach kids to place items like backpacks, and library books, and store returns there, so they are ready when you are on your way out. This teaches planning.
Try these 3 Must-Do Organizing Tips for Kids and watch them shine.
Teaching kids good organizing habits can be fun. But it also teaches them great habits. Click To Tweet
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Janet Schiesl
Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.
She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.
Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
Janet Schiesl
Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.
She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.
Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
I’m very glad I no longer have kids at home, and wish I’d tried these strategies when I did!
It certainly is easier to maintain some order without the kids at home, isn’t it?
I love all three of these tips. They are simple, and so effective. Children really love predictability and routine, so the idea of doing the tidy at the same time, in the same way, each day is really powerful. Will be pinning!
Thank you!
The 10-minute quick pick-up with music is a great way to turn ‘maintenance’ into a game. And what kids don’t like games? Whenever possible, adding the fun factor with chores, work, or organizing tasks makes the process lighter and doable. I’m a HUGE fan of the TimeTimer. I use it all of the time and frequently recommend it.
I think we can all benefit from making tasks more ‘fun’ and especially kids. Yes, the TimeTimer is great and can be used in so many ways.
My sister and I are eleven years apart, so my mom only had one kid at one time, and she just had one very firm rule: you only got to have one toy out at a time, the one you were using. If you wanted to play with something else, you had to put the current toy away. Her eyes were ALWAYS on what we were doing, so I’d have never even touched toy #2 before she noticed and tut-tutted, instructing me to put away #1 first. Clutter never built up because it never got the chance! But I don’t think most people have the time or the desire to be watching their kids every minute, so your three tips work make a lot of sense of systematizing how access works and how things get put away. (And the designated space for outgoing items is essential for kids AND grownups; I don’t know how anyone survives without such a rule in place!)
Sounds like your Mom had her system down pat! Yes, you’re right that outgoing item spaces are essential for both kids and adults. I think most things are good for both categories, it’s just easier when you get the chance to start teaching people how to maintain their ‘stuff’ at a younger age.
As a schoolteacher I used the 10 minute clean up at the end of the day and used the time timer as well. I like the idea for the home of doing the 10 minute clean up at the same time to help the children learn routines.
I bought the time timer for my grandchildren and recommend it to my clients who have children (or for themselves – after all, I use one on my desk).
Your teaching experience must come in very handy when organizing families with kids. The 10 minute clean up is a quick, easy favorite.