How to help children keep their rooms tidy

Getting children to get their bedrooms clean can be the cause of much stress in a household.

Oh, what a mess it is a wonder that they can even find their beds, as a grandmother of teenagers and older it is unbelievable, I have never come across such an unsightly mess, clothes in every direction.

What I cannot understand is why, it is not the way I brought up my own children.

Dear me how times have changed.

Children these days have far too many clothes and toys, they do not know what to do with them.

How many times a day does a child change their clothes?

Not only changing their clothes every two hours, they are left laying on the floor, as a result they are not wearable again until they have been washed, in the meanwhile if they are needed, especially school clothes there's a mad cleanup job to be done in a couple of hours, with many tears and tantrums because they are dirty and who's fault is it they are dirty?

Mom is to blame of course.

Well, I have had my rant, now time to help them get this mess cleaned up.

Maybe some child reading this will put in some time to get their rooms uncluttered and organised.

Here are some tips for creating tidy children, hopefully, they may get some valuable skills for running their own homes later in life.

Start early, even a toddler can pick up some toys and put them in a box.

Establish an everyday routine for picking up their toys and putting them away.

(My children put all their toys away every evening before going to bed, and I never heard any complaints, as they knew from a very young age, that that was what was required of them to do before going to bed).

Have clear places for the toys to go, otherwise your child will just become overwhelmed and confused about how to tidy them up.

Have a box for Lego, a box for soft toys, a box or shelf for their books etc.

If you just have one big toy box, that is where things go wrong because when they are searching for something that is missing, they can't find it, everything gets thrown onto the floor and makes twice as much work to pick them up.

That way is the way to create a mess, when asked to clear it up, they are already annoyed because they could not find what they wanted, that is where the stress builds up, they refuse to pick up the toys, then tears and tantrums build up and everything becomes unmanageable, which could have been avoided in the first place.

Establish clear areas for your child's various belongings.

My children knew they were never to bring their toys in the kitchen area where I was cooking as it was dangerous, someone may trip up, and have boiling water or very hot food land on them. Play in the lounge, not in the kitchen.

Don't worry too much about clothes being shoved in their drawers, as long as they are clean, in the right drawer and off the floor, that will be good enough for now as they grow older they will learn to fold them better, if they want their clothes to look nice when they get dressed.

If it is a mess all the time maybe they need more containers, take them shopping for some plastic storage box and let them choose their favorite colour.

The more you include them in how their room is organized, the more likely they are to keep it tidy.

Encourage them to pick some nice kids posters and put them on their bedroom wall, make them feel that, that's their room, to do what they want to do, by helping them to make it nice and tidy, you will find they will have more respect for their room and keep it tidy, without having, to be nagged at all the time to tidy it up.

Don't forget to reward them, if you have set up the room properly, with designated areas and sensible storage systems, then challenge your child to keep it tidy.

If they succeed, reward them with cash or buy them something they want for their bedroom.

They will learn the habits and skills they need to be tidy for life.

Hopefully, they may get some valuable skills for running their own homes later in life.

Most children are not untidy, it is easy if you teach them very young, they love to help you tidy up.

Make it a habit every day.

By having removable containers, it makes it easy for quick clean up.

Rounded safety corners in nice pastel colors for storing different types of blocks, doll clothes, crayons, costumes, makes a tidy and safe room because they will not pull all the toys out on the floor looking for one special toy as they can clearly see that toys are in each container, less likely to fall over on toys laying on the floor and injure themselves.

They are very easy to keep clean, just a clean cloth and wipe out all the nasties that seem to creep into the corners.

Helps develop organization skills, by group the same toys together and in no time at all they will be having that tidy room that every mom strides for.