Decluttering your home can bring clarity into your living space and your life. But every parent knows that decluttering with your kids involved can be a daunting task. Ask Team Clean is here to tell you that you can do it! You just might need to have a few tricks up your sleeve. With these tips you can simplify your home and keep future clutter manageable.
The first step in decluttering is identifying which toys and other things are truly important to your children. What do they play with? What do they love? Then get rid of as much of the rest as possible, keeping only the items they use and love. In the beginning, that might mean you have to do a big purge. Go through one area at a time, take everything out and put it in a pile. Only pick out what’s important and donate the rest to charity, unless it’s broken. Broken items can be disposed of in the most sustainable way possible.
Pro tip: Don't ask your kids if they want to keep something. Try to get rid of most clutter when they're not home.
The key to keeping it tidy is to contain your kid’s clutter to their room(s) and specific play areas in your home. This will keep your living space simple and minimal. Bins or baskets are the best type of containers for kids' toys that have a lot of little pieces. Make it easy for the kids (and yourself) by tossing their stuff into the bins. You can also label each bin by toy type. Blocks, Legos, and puzzles will all have their very own special place. If your child can’t read yet, you can use picture labels. If you teach your kids that each toy has a “home”, they'll pick up on the idea and eventually internalise it.
Pro tip: Set up the toys in an accessible and visible way and rotate them every once in a while. Your kids will forget about the toys that are out of sight and get excited when they suddenly reappear.
Children helping around the house sounds like a dream! Teaching your offspring to clean up after themselves requires patience but will save you a lot of housework in the long run. Allow them to make a mess as long as they clean it up when they’re done. Whether you cleanup before bedtime, introduce a ‘one toy in, one toy out’ policy, or offer incentives for a tidy room, figure out what works best for your kids and adapt your strategy to their age.
These tips should help you get started on creating a clutter-free play zone. Keeping your house clean will require regular visits from Inspector D. Clutter. With some patience and perseverance, your kids will naturally pick up these habits over time.