After playtime is over, kids tend to leave toys scattered across the floor as they happily skip along to their next activity. This can be frustrating as a parent, and if you find yourself constantly asking the kiddos to clean their room, it might be time for a new strategy. According to Psych Central, a mental health publication, children need to feel pride in regard to their space. In addition, clearly defining what having a clean room means can help them as they develop responsibility. Follow these tips to organize bedrooms and instill a sense of pride in your kids:
Tailor the Organization to Your Child’s Needs
It’s important to consider cleanliness and organization from your child’s perspective. Hanging up clothes might be too far a reach, small pieces from toys can be difficult to put in place, and dresser drawers might be hard to manage. You can find ways to make organization easy for a child when you consider how they view these tasks. For example, instead of making a child handle a dresser drawer that is hard to open and close, consider a smaller dresser with drawers that are easy to open and close or a hanging closet organizer. Simplifying organization will help kids keep their rooms clean.
Use It as a Teaching Opportunity
While it can be frustrating, constantly reminding your children to keep their rooms clean, remember they are learning. By carefully developing organizational skills, and involving your kids in the process, you can remove the anger and focus on teaching. Work in tandem with your children and discover together what is not working and what might work well. For example, if your kids play with a race car and they leave it out constantly, identify together why it isn’t working to leave a car in the middle of the room. Explain the tripping hazard and that the car might break if someone steps on it. Ask your children how they want to store the car. Consider incorporating a fun activity into the process as well. Ask if your kids want to build a small garage for the race car and use that as a way to instill pride in their space.
Keep Everything Properly Stored
Because kids tend to have smaller rooms, storage can be lacking. Create a system with your children and have a proper place for all their belongings. You can use small crates or toy boxes to keep everything in place. Also, consider taking some items to a storage facility and keeping them there. Kids can rotate the toys they own, which will feel like completely new toys become available when they’re swapped out.
Be a Role Model
Your children follow your example, and it is important that you also live up to your own standards. Make sure your children see that you keep areas of the home clean and make your bed every day. It shows your kids that being an adult means taking care of your space. When you decide to tackle your kids’ rooms, head to a SecurCare Self Storage facility and check out available storage units.