How to Involve Kids in Keeping Their Play Areas Tidy

You may want your kids' play areas to stay neat and tidy, but every time you turn around, there are toys all over the floor. The only way you are going to keep that area neat is with your child’s help. And it’s good for them! Focus on making the ‘cleaning up’ process fun and manageable. If it’s easy, with the use of kids’ storage furniture, your kids are a lot more likely to participate in clean-up time.

Play area organization might be important to you, but it’s your children’s toys. Shouldn’t they be putting them away? Of course! Cleaning is a life skill that will benefit your children as they get older.  When they are in charge of their own belongings, they will learn to be accountable and probably behave differently. This life skill even helps to bolster their self-esteem as they realize that even though they are young, they can contribute to the household and accomplish things.

The New York Times states that adding bins and baskets is far more useful for keeping a child’s room tidy than other options. Once you decide you want your child to be in charge of tidying up their play area, you have to figure out how to organize things to make it efficient and easy for them to do so in the space they have for play.

As you look into playroom storage solutions, you might wonder how much you can expect from your child of a certain age. Forbes says that kids crave structure, and that’s one reason why they need chores in their lives. Tidying their room is a great chore for them to tackle. But what is age-appropriate for each age group? Here’s a short guide to help:

• Toddlers

Children ages one to three do best on simple tasks.  For instance, after supper, they can put their dishes in the sink and retrieve their books and toys. Starting early helps build their responsibility, and you can add to their tidying chores later.

• Preschoolers

Apart from tidying up toys, books, and other items, preschoolers might also be tasked with cleaning up spills, sorting clothes, and making their beds.

• School-Aged

A child who is ready to go to school can also use a vacuum cleaner in their room and dust their shelves. They should be able to put away their own laundry, as long as they can reach hangers and shelves.

Kids just want to have fun, and cleaning up, in general, is not fun. But if you can make it fun, it’s more engaging and will help them to have the desire to get the job done until it becomes a habit. Here are a few strategies that can help you make it a fun process.

• Make it a Game

Cleaning may be made into a game in a variety of ways, and you can occasionally change up your approach. One time, set a timer and challenge your child to tidy up their space in that amount of time. Another time, choose an item on the floor as the “special item” and challenge your child to find it. Celebrate when he does. That cleaning scavenger hunt helps him clean quickly. You could also have a dance party by turning on upbeat music and putting dancing items into their proper places.

• Use Motion

Kids are often in full motion at all times, and using activity can help them want to clean up after they’re done playing. See how many steps they can take while they clean up, for example, or have them do a jumping jack after every toy they place in its bin.

Play area organization greatly depends on the storage system you have in place. Little Partners® has plenty of options to consider, and you want to make sure whatever you choose is kid-friendly. Any taller shelves should be anchored to the wall, for example. Consider soft bins, under-bed storage, and stools that open into storage space. Choose colors they like to personalize the space.

The right playroom storage solutions help your child to clean up in an efficient way. When you start allowing them to be responsible for their items young in a consistent manner, they build a lifelong habit that allows them to keep things clean as they grow.

When your child plays with their toys, it only makes sense that they be the one to tidy up their area. Since kids like fun, making the process a game is a great way to engage your child. You will want kid-friendly storage systems that he can easily access to succeed in taking responsibility for his belongings. Having your child clean up helps him to gain self-esteem and create a life-long habit that will serve him well into adulthood. Find the right storage and start a fun process to begin a new habit.