Organizing Your Preschooler's Bedroom
Simple, Low Cost Solutions for Storing Your Child’s Stuff
Jul 14, 2008
If you can’t walk through your child’s bedroom without stubbing your toe on a Tonka truck or being attacked by a roving band of teddy bears, it’s time to clean and organize. What do you need to buy? And where do you start? Just a bag of garbage bags, a bookcase, two large Rubbermaid-type bins, and a little determination are all you need to turn the madness into simple serenity.
Declutter
For the first step, you will need the garbage bags and bins. Take your preschooler into his or her room and show off your new supplies. The first bag will be for garbage. The second will be designated for belongings that are unloved but in good, usable shape.
The bins will be for toys and belongings to keep. There is no reason that a small child needs more than two bins of toys and one bookshelf of books. Anything more will be excessive, overwhelming, and difficult to store. Emphasize that because the child only has so much space, he or she only needs so many things. Encourage your preschooler to keep only toys that are loved and used.
Group Like Objects
Once you have taken out the trash and taken the give-away bag out of the room, you can deal with the objects to be kept. Books can be stacked neatly in a bookshelf; stuffed animals tucked into the bed; clothing laundered, folded, and put away in drawers; and toys separated into the bins. Although toy organization will not be a huge task with only two bins of toys, make sure that toys are logically grouped according to what they are played with. For example, keep doll clothes with the dolls, and cars with trucks. Last, label the bins with a picture of what is inside, cut from a magazine or catalog. This will allow the child to remember where her belongings go.
Set Up Routines
You can organize all day, but your little one will have their room un-organized by nightfall if they don’t learn how to take care of their belongings. This is where routines come into play. Every morning, take your preschooler through the motions of making their bed, clearing bedroom surfaces, and putting dirty clothes into the hamper. Every evening, put away toys and books together. After a few weeks, this will become a routine, and the bedroom will never need more than an occasional dusting and floor cleaning.
Your children will need less supervision and guidance as they catch on to the routine. While they are cutting their cleaning teeth on their bedrooms, you can take your own newfound skills to the rest of the house and develop routines of your own. An organized bedroom can be the beginning of an organized house and an organized life.
