Organizing a child’s room can be a big challenge for a number of reasons. Children tend to live in the moment and love to move from activity to activity. They have special needs depending on their age and size, and let’s face it, it is sometimes tough trying to declutter a child’s room when every toy is a favorite.
Get Down to the Child’s Level
You’ll want to be able to put systems into place that are easy not only for you to use but also for your child to use. In order to do this, you need to get down to your child’s level and see things from his or her perspective.
This is a literal step. Get on your hands and needs and take a good look at the environment around you. What does the furniture, toys and storage all look like. If you were a child, would you have to pull down all of the books just to get to the one that you want, for example.
Would a slick knob on a dresser drawer be hard to open leading to clothes thrown everywhere? Your new perspective may prompt you to realize the need for open bins for toys, the removal of closet doors that might pinch fingers or lower hooks to make handing up clothes easy.
Involve Your Child with the Organizing
Try to focus on organizing as a fun activity to do together. Although it may take longer to do it this way, in the long run it will pay off. You will be teaching your child valuable skills, spending time together and instilling a sense of ownership and responsibility in your child. He or she will see that being organized and keeping the room picked up is a good thing. As your child what is working and what isn’t to help pinpoint trouble spots that you might not have otherwise understood on your own. You may find, for example, that a favorite doll or teddy bear “likes” to stay out of the toy bin because it gets lonely. Honor the request and find a shelf or a chair for that special toy that still keeps it neat.
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