Follow this complete kids’ bedroom organization plan to get things cleaned and organized in no time! It’s not as hard as you think! This post is part of The Household Organization Diet.
Organizing Kids’ Bedrooms
Getting things organized in the kids’ spaces will help make those morning routines run a little smoother and make post-play clean-ups a lot quicker. For me, back to school time is the perfect time to work on the kids’ bedroom organization. While you may need to do a few tune-ups throughout the year, this is the most efficient time to go through everything. Here’s why I like to organize the kids’ bedrooms just before we head back to school…
- You need to go through their clothing anyways for the new school year {and due to the change of seasons}. Make a donation pile {or hand-me downs for younger siblings} as you sort through everything. Knowing what you have already will help you figure out what’s really needed for back to school clothes.
- Art and school supplies need to be organized for the homework station and to figure out what back to school supplies you need. There’s no need to buy a new pack of felts when you already have two!
- After a summer of play, it’s easy to see what toys your kids did and didn’t play with. If they didn’t use it while they were off of school for two months, they probably won’t be using it in the future!
- The kids are home more and have a more free time than during the busy school year. Use this opportunity to get the kids involved more in cleaning and organizing their own spaces! Even 15 minutes per day can make a BIG impact on the space!
How to get kids involved in organizing.
I know it can be tempting to organize playrooms and the kids’ bedrooms when they’re out of the house, but I always recommend involving your children as much as possible in the process {based on their age and maturity level}. I think that kids are more likely to follow through with the plan if they have helped to set it up and it teaches them organization skills from an early age. My kids have actually come up with some pretty good ideas, so try to run with their suggestions if you can. They might not totally get it at first, but it will come!
Tips for teaching kids about organizing and decluttering.
As we all know, every child is a little bit different. Some will be right into helping you organize their rooms, and others not so much. Regardless of your child’s initial interest, you have to start somewhere! I’ve put together some tips below to help you out. They may not all work for your and your family, but it should give you a good starting point. I encourage you to give everything a try – your kids might surprise you!
Keep the tasks short.
Kids don’t always have the longest attention spans – especially for organizing tasks! Be sure to pick reasonable tasks that can be completed in a relatively short amount of time. You could also set a timer for a designated period of time to give your child more of a visual about how much time is left. One day you may declutter a drawer or two, one day you might sort through and organize their books, and the next day you might go through their clothes. Just keep things do-able!
Give your kids input.
Let your kids help out when deciding what to keep and what to give away. I find that my kids are pretty good at letting go of things that they have outgrown {I think I actually have the harder time!}, but some kids may need a little more guidance. If your child has difficulty, set up choices for them to still give them some control. For example, if there are a few toys that you think your child no longer uses or needs, let them choose one that they can keep and donate the rest. You might not get rid of everything that you were hoping to, but you can always try again in a month or two!
Explain why you’re decluttering.
Kids are often more agreeable to parting with their items if they understand why, or what benefit it would be to them. Younger kids often understand the concept of giving their toys to other kids that don’t have as many toys as they do or would use them more. As kids get older, they’ll start to understand that the more toys and items they have, the more cleaning and tidying they have to do.
Have a designated space allowance.
If you still have difficulty paring down your kids’ items, focus on the space limitations. Show your kids what space they have for their items, and then let them choose what they would like to fit into that space. The rest will need to go. Baskets, bins, or toy storage drawers are perfect for this. For example, have a designated basket for all of the stuffies and have your child prioritize which stuffies she would like to keep. Anything that doesn’t fit would need to be donated. If your child wants room in the future for a new stuffed animal, something would have to go to create more space.
Other Ideas to keep kids’ bedrooms organized.
Limit the items coming into the house.
Let’s face it. A lot of us have way more toys than our kids really need. Between birthday parties, Christmases, and visits with family, kids can accumulate a lot of stuff! Too many toys can actually be overwhelming for kids, so don’t feel bad about limiting items to what you think they will truly love and use. Suggest family members give experiences rather than gifts for holidays. This could be a zoo pass, a trip to the local amusement park, swimming lessons, or any other activity that your child would be interested in.
Display favorite keepsakes.
If your kids play sports {or have other activities that they participate in}, they likely have a big collection of momentos and awards that they’re proud of. It’s amazing how quickly all of the ribbons and medals can accumulate so have a designated spot where your child can choose what he wants to display {and limit it to that area}. I think this really helps them to think about what items are important to them and what items aren’t.
We keep the sports team photos in a picture frame and just update the front photo each year with the current team picture. {The old ones stay in the frame behind the most recent one.} This keeps them all organized in one spot and it’s fun to look back at the old team photos each year when we add the new one. Each season, we also go through the medals and trophies displayed and see which ones he still wants to keep up and which ones can go.
Try a toy rotating system.
For younger kids, you may want to look at having a toy rotating system where you keep out a few favorite toys and place the other toys away out of sight in a closet or other storage area. Every few weeks {or however often you like} you can rotate the toys around so they are periodically getting “new” toys to play with. I find that this can help kids stay more focused on the toys that they are playing with {instead of jumping around from toy to toy!}, keeps them stimulated by regularly getting new activities to play with, and helps to keep their rooms much more organized and easier to clean.
Have ONE keepsake storage box.
The Household Organization Diet Plan
If you’re not familiar with The Household Organization Diet, it’s basically a year-long plan to work on decluttering, deep cleaning, and organizing every space in your home. Each month we work on a different room. Some spaces may need a lot of time and others will be easier. Just work at your own pace, do what you can, and feel free to adapt the plan to make it work for you. The key is to just get started!
At the beginning of each month, I post a free set of printables for the month including a task list, a blank task list for you to add your own tasks, a calendar, and a notes sheet. I recommend that you print these out and put them in a binder for frequent reference. You might even want to print two copies of the task sheet so you can hang one up on the fridge or other visible area of your home. You can read a little more below about how to use them.
I also always post some helpful tutorials and tips to help you complete each of your tasks. Be sure to pin or bookmark this post so you can read these over before you get started. I’ll be updating them throughout the month with any changes I’ve made and will be sure to let you know when I’m working on anything new. Please leave me a comment or email me if you have specific questions or ideas that you would find helpful to complete the tasks and keep you on track. I love to hear from you!
Kids’ Bedroom Organization and Cleaning Tasks
Are you ready to get started? Here are the tasks that we’ll be tackling in our kids’ bedrooms this month. You can print out the list as shown below or print out a blank one and customize your own to do list. I also had a reader request a printable for the spare bedroom. So, if you don’t have kids, {or have a spare bedroom as well!}, there’s another printable below for that too! Be sure to give everything a GOOD CLEANING as you empty out the space. You can print out the list as shown below or print out a blank one and customize your own to do list.
DOWNLOAD THE SEPTEMBER TASK LIST HERE
DOWNLOAD THE BLANK SEPTEMBER TASK LIST HERE
GET THE SPARE BEDROOM PRINTABLE HERE
SEPTEMBER CALENDAR
I like to keep track of when I’m going to do what on a monthly calendar. Make your {realistic!} monthly plan and stick to it! Some people like to do a little each day and others would like to block off a longer time period once per week. Do whatever works best for your time schedule and personality.
DOWNLOAD THE SEPTEMBER CALENDAR HERE
September Notes
Keep a notes sheet {or two!} handy to jot down any projects, home improvement ideas, extra tasks, etc. that you would like to do. You might want to use one for tasks that you would like to do this month and a second sheet for future projects that you would like to do.
DOWNLOAD THE SEPTEMBER NOTES HERE
More ideas for kids’ room organization.
Lego Mini-Figure Display
Lego Organization Ideas
Fun Ways to Display and Organize Kids’ Artwork
How to Create a Homework Station
How to Organize Kids’ Closets
THE HOME DECLUTTERING DIET BOOK
Let me know if you have any questions or need any further ideas! If you like this plan, be sure to grab my book, The Home Decluttering Diet, for more organization tips and tricks. It’s so nice to have everything in one place!
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THE HOUSEHOLD ORGANIZATION DIET
This post is part of The Household Organization Diet. If you need some organization inspiration, check out THIS POST to learn more about the plan and THIS POST for all of the 2019 updates.
The post is updated on the first of every month with the new plan so don’t forget to bookmark it! You CAN get that house cleaned and organized once and for all! You can find all of the previous posts click the Get Organized tab at the top of the blog and go to The Household Organization Diet. I also have all of the posts pinned to my Household Organization Diet Pinterest Board. If you like the plan, you can order my book, The Home Decluttering Diet, for full room-by-room decluttering and organization guides, DIY organization projects, and lots of extra tips and tricks! Start at any time and make sure you are following along so you don’t miss out…
INSTAGRAM / FACEBOOK / PINTEREST / NEWSLETTER
{P.S. The WHOLE YEAR of printables for The Household Organization Diet is available to my email subscribers, so be sure to sign up if this plan is for you!}
Happy Organizing!
Great ideas here for organizing! What a cute reading nook too! Thank you for sharing on Merry Monday! Hope to see ya next week!
Kim
Great post. I could have really used this information when my kids were little. They are grown now, and my organizational skills have grown with time. When my kids were little, though, I was totally overwhelmed with trying to organize their stuff! Thanks for sharing at Thursday Favorite Things!
It’s such a good feeling to get the kids rooms in order before they head back to school! I no longer have kids at home, but I still get in the cleaning and every fall. Thanks for sharing with SYC.
hugs,
Jann
Love the trophy and medal display area! My kids have so many of these, and I just want to throw them all away because they get so clutter-y! Ha!
Aloha,
Charlee
I know – and they get so many! This way makes them pick their favorites and really evaluate if they still want them displayed.
Great ideas! Love the ABC quilt. May I ask where you purchased it? Thank you!
My talented sister-in-law made it for us. 🙂
I love the quilt on the wall. Where did you get it/did you make it?
My talented sister-in-law made it when my son was born. 🙂
Where did you get the shelves to display the trophys and medals?
We made them. They’re one of the projects in my book and a super easy DIY. Basically just made from 2×4’s, 1×2’s, and screws. The hooks for the medals are just mug hooks.:)