Whether you’ve always struggled with organization, or you used to be the neatest person imaginable, having kids throws an undeniable spanner in the works. Not only will there be more people in your house, and so inevitably less space, but you’ll also be dealing with the dreaded avalanche of toys. Yes, from the moment they’re old enough to say ‘I want that’, your kids will fill every spare corner of your home with toys galore. And, understandably, that can get overwhelming very fast.
In fact, a few years into this parenting thing, you may be pulling your hair out and wondering whether organization and kids can ever live in harmony. Luckily, we’re here to tell you that they can. We’re also going to tell you how to make that possible. So sit back, buckle up, and keep reading to find all about the kid-friendly organization strategies that might just change your life.
# 1 – Zone Your Home
When you have a newborn, you tend to give your entire house over to your parenting pursuits out of pure necessity. After all, if you don’t have a muslin and baby wipes in every room , you’re asking for accidents! This theme tends to stick as our kids grow, and we start finding their toys in every single room in the house. But remember – you’ll struggle to ever get organized when you’re living like this.
Instead, it’s far better to zone your home as soon as your kids are old enough for that to be practical. By this, we mean simply that you should have zones for everything from play to relaxation and beyond. This makes it far easier to encourage your kids to keep toy clutter in their bedrooms or a dedicated playroom. And that’s ultimately going to prove vital for your attempts to finally get organized.
That’s because certain rooms, such as your dedicated living room, will then be much easier to get in order each day. You’ll then have far more time to focus on putting away all of those toys when you reach the playroom, which will inherently feel like an easier task when they’re all in one place like this.
# 2 – Minimize Those Toy Collections
Getting rid of toys is never easy, especially if your kids seem particularly attached. But keeping minimal toys in the house is going to make a huge difference in your lives. Incidentally, it may also see your children engaged in more beneficial play with their favorite toys.
Ideally, you should aim to keep toy collections to a level where you have a dedicated place for each thing. It can also pay to operate a one-in-one-out system, which encourages a natural rotation of toys that basically organize themselves. This latter option also has the benefit of getting your children used to giving things away, which is sure to help if you ever do want a major clearout.
For this purpose, it can also help to store toys within dedicated collections, as this will help you to keep a proper eye on what’s what. For instance, keeping things like vehicles, animals, and blocks together allows you to see at a glance where your toys are getting out of control (and where you may need to skim some excess), and also where you have a little wiggle room to invest in and store some more.
# 3 – Declutter Elsewhere
You could have the cutest Montessori playroom with kids who happily give their excess toys away, and you’ll still struggle to get organized if you neglect the rest of your home. This may come as a surprise for many parents, because toys are definitely the most prevalent form of clutter in any household with children. But remember that toys aren’t the only things that can build up. Regularly decluttering your own belongings remains as important as it was in your pre-child life. Only now, seeing you do this is a great way for your children to learn the same skills.
At least once a year, you should therefore still sort through your wardrobe, your drawers, and even your kitchen cupboards. You would be surprised by how much space you can clear in this process. Looking through all of your belongings like this is also just a great way to get organized in your mind. Like sorting your children’s toys into collections, this process will help you to see what you have, what you need, and also what you might be able to keep elsewhere. For instance, could you keep your seasonal wardrobe in self storage instead of at home? Could your largely unused but still necessary kitchen accessories fit in your attic space?
In either instance, doing this is going to create more space in your home, especially within those adult areas that are too often neglected when parenting takes all of our headspace.
# 4 – Make Organization a Full-Family Affair
You’re just one person, and trying to organize the belongings of a family of four or more is inevitably going to be your downfall. So it’s also vital that you don’t take all of this task onto your own shoulders. As well as being another great learning opportunity for your youngsters, encouraging them to organize themselves is going to help your whole house to look better.
However, it’s also important to be realistic. Young children can’t always access high shelving or closed cabinets. They may also struggle with overly complex organization methods and leave things even messier.
So, ensure that you’re implementing organizational techniques with the whole family in mind. Things like open toy bins, low storage units, and basic toy color coordination can all help in this sense. Even from a young age, you can display these things like they’re additional games in the toy room. Then, get your kids to ‘play’ at the end of every day. Suddenly, that endless mountain of disorganization will start to look a whole lot more manageable.
Whoever said organization wasn’t possible with kids obviously hadn’t tried these top tips, so give them a try and see the results!