Organize Your Child's Room

Children need a quiet place to calm themselves down at the end of a busy day. Organize your child's room and then encourage them to help you keep it that way. If there is less clutter for distraction, you will find that it is easier to get them to settle down during bedtime - or anytime they need a break.

I am a firm believer in not having toys in the bedroom. I allow only books, puzzles and some educational games in my son's bedroom. Of course, kids will be kids and toys do wind up in there, but we just put them all back in his playroom each time we clean up.

If you cannot put toys anywhere else but your child's room, keep toys to a minimum. Make sure you have adequate shelving or storage space for the toys and make it a house rule that all toys must be put away each night before bedtime.

Organize Your Child's Room - Clean Sweep

Step One

Strip the bed and throw the sheets into the washing machine. Remake the bed with fresh sheets.

Step Two

Remove all dirty laundry from the room and place it near the washing machine. If your child has a laundry hamper in their bedroom, empty it. If your child does not have a laundry hamper, consider getting them one.

Make it one of their daily chores to place all of their clothing into the hamper. They should also be putting away all of their clean clothing.

Sort one load to go into the washer when the bed sheets are done. When you hear the washing machine finish its cycle, take a break from the bedroom to move the laundry along. Keep doing this until all of the laundry from your child's bedroom has been washed, dried, folded and put away.

Be sure to have your children help you put their clean, folded clothing away. Work up to them doing this part by themselves.

Step Three

If you have any clean clothes laying around that have not been folded and put away do that now. Have your children help you.

Step Four

Take a look around the room and grab anything that belongs in another room in the house. Move these items to the appropriate room.

Don't worry about putting them away right now - we'll take care of that when we get to organizing that room. The object, at this point, is to organize your child's bedroom by removing all unnecessary items.

Step Five

Take a look around the room for any trash or recycling and dispose of them accordingly. If there is a wastebasket in the room, have your children empty it.

Step Six

Take a careful look around the room for clutter. This means anything from books that your child no longer reads to clothing they have outgrown. Move all of these items to Clutter Central.

Step Seven

Clean out the closet. Remove everything that is not clothing, shoes or accessories. Remove all outgrown clothing. Bring everything you remove from the closet to Clutter Central for sorting.

Step Eight

Now that you have all of the clutter removed, the laundry done and the closet cleaned out, give your child's bedroom a thorough cleaning.

• Take window curtains down and throw them in the dryer to remove dust.
• Wash the windows and blinds.
• Vacuum, including using the crevice attachment to get into the corners and along the walls and use the extension attachment to clear dust and cobwebs from the ceiling.
• Dust all surfaces, headboard, footboards, and knick knacks Wash the overhead light fixture and ceiling fan blades.

Step Nine

Finish the laundry (this means washing, drying, folding and putting away). Remember to have your kids do their part.

Organize Your Child's Room - Daily Maintenance

• Have your children make their beds every morning.
• Have your children put all their toys away before going to bed each night.
• Have your children place their dirty clothes in their laundry hamper When laundry is done, put your children in charge of putting their own clothes away.



• Be sure to wash the bed sheets at least once per week. Children can be in charge of stripping their own beds and bringing the bedding to the laundry room.
• Vacuum and dust thoroughly at least once each week. If your children are old enough, they can do this themselves.

Organize your child's room daily. Use this Chore Chart to help your kids keep track of their daily tasks.

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