Keeping Kids Organized: Tips for all Ages and Stages

One of the most important things you can do as a parent is to help your child become more organized. No matter what their age, you can teach them organizational skills that will be important to them as they grow older. Instilling them with organizational skills now will help them later on in life. Here are a few tips for your children, broken down by age group.

Preschoolers

Before preschool age, children have a hard time being organized but there are some definite techniques you can start teaching them as this age.

With preschoolers it's important to keep their instructions short and easy to understand. Choose one thing to work with them on at a time: picking up their toys at the end of the day, for example.

Label a series of different containers with pictures of the type of toy that goes in that container. For example, have them sort all the blocks to go into one container and all of the cars in another.

Having an organization system in place for toys will keep them from overwhelming their room and getting out of control, especially as they grow older and accumulate more toys.

Grade Schoolers

Grade-school age children can adapt to more complex rules and responsibilities. Once they've mastered picking up their toys, they can start tackling their clothing. Put labels on each of your child's drawers so they know where items go. When you fold laundry, you can hand your child their piles of clothes (folded or unfolded depending on their age) and have them put the clothing away.

You can also give them a station to put their book bag and coat when they come home from school. Keeping things in one place will make it easy to head out the door in the morning.

It's also important, at this age, to start giving them weekly chores that they can do to help around the house. They can clean the mirror while you clean the bathroom, or dust while you vacuum the floor. Your example will teach them basic cleaning skills that they can rely on later in life.

'Tweens

'Tweens should be responsible for cleaning their own room, but you can help them out in order to make it an organized process. Buying organization drawers and cubbies will make it easy for them to keep all of their stuff out of the way.

Show them that everything has a place in their room and they'll be able to put it away by themselves in the future. Check in with their progress on their room each week so you can be sure that they are staying in line with your expectations.

'Tweens should also be able to take on some additional family responsibilities, like putting away the dishes or folding towels. Having chores will help them stay organized as they get older and it will allow them to be more responsible adults. Linking their chores and responsibilities with a chore chart (and related awards) will make the process more fun and motivating for them.