If your children leave a mess wherever they go, see if you can get them more interested in organizing by following these tips:
1. If your children have no experience putting things in order, you may have to start with baby steps to get them used to the idea of putting things away every day. A baby step might be cleaning just the toys off their bed each night or putting just the books back on the bookshelf.
2. Let them pick out containers in their favorite colors, shapes and sizes at places like Storables.
3. Encourage them to “put the dollies to bed” and “put the trucks in the garage” at the end of playtime. Make it fun by telling them the toys are “going home” or “going to bed.”
4. Limit the number of toys in the play area. I can’t stress this enough! The fewer toys, the fewer there are to put back. Put extraneous toys away in a closet and bring them out in six months. They will seem like brand new.
5. Demonstrate interest or at least respect for organizing and order yourself. Remember you are your child’s most influential teacher and they will model your behavior.
Image courtesy of Surviving and Thriving on Pennies.
