Simple Ways to Teach Children How to Organize

Being organized is a quality that affects many aspects of life. Teaching children how to organize their things from an early age is a great investment in their future.

Showing a child how to be well organized is no easy task. As parents, our perspective of a tidy room is most likely not the same perspective that our child has.

That’s why it’s important to teach them what it means to be responsible. How can this be achieved? We’ll explain in this article.

Be understanding in order to motivate the child

The goal you’re aiming for is to teach your child how to keep their room organized, and for this to turn into a habit that they use later in life.

In other words, their room shouldn’t always look like a battle ground, nor should they go all around the house leaving traces of thrown or forgotten things.

You can’t, however, hope to achieve this objective through punishments, nor in record time.

You’ll have to use patience as a tool to reach your objective. Something that can be helpful is giving them a hand as they organize.

If your child sees you helping them pick up their toys, this might motivate them to do so as well. This also goes for their clothes, shoes, bicycle, books, crayons, etc.

This way the child will start getting used to the fact that things should be put back into their place after they’re used.

You shouldn’t do all of the work for your child, however. In order for them to adopt the habit of being organized, you’ll have to act as a role model. They’ll pay attention to your example.

6 tips to teach children how to organize

As your child grows, they’ll start to develop their personality. This is why it’s important to promote the habit of picking up and putting away their things.

Little children require more than motivation; they also need to learn by example and through games.

1. Make it a challenge

Why don’t you challenge them to a game? Ask your child: “Who will be able to pick up more things in one minute?

If your child feels like they’re in a race against time with you, this will surely motivate them to pick up most of their things.

2. Pick a place where things go

If your child has their own room, try to organize the room in a way for them to have a lot of storage space to put things away.

In order to do this, you can place boxes in places that are accessible to the child.

If it’s a shared room, it’s good to have a corner where the child’s belongings can go. For example, there can be a corner for toys and another for books.

3. Make the space attractive

If you have a shelf in their room, you can paint it or clearly point out where things go. A place for their balls, another for their crayons and another for their masks, etc.

This way your child will be able to easily identify where each one of their objects goes.

The toys they use the most should be within their reach. This way when they want to pick up their toy, they don’t have to take out everything from their boxes in order to find it.

4. Make it a bit easier for them

If there’s another room in the house that your child is accustomed to playing in, create another space in that room where your child can store their toys.

This way they won’t have to pick everything up and then take it to another room which is more challenging.

5. Reduce the amount of things they have

Teaching children to be organized also implies encouraging them to give away things they don’t use.

Many places accept used clothes or toys. You don’t have to throw their used things into the trash.

6. Create a relaxing atmosphere

Try to see things through your child’s eyes. Remember they’re in a constant process of learning and development.

Their curiosity level is always quite high. That’s why it’s normal for them to play with everything they find.

Allow the child to create their own environment – it can get messy sometimes but they should be allowed complete freedom. They should simply have to take part in cleanup time when they’re done playing.

Benefits of teaching your child to be organized

Parents can lose their patience quite easily when it comes to this. Teaching a child to be organized takes time and effort but it’s worth it due to all of the benefits it brings.

• It contributes to making the child organized both on the inside and outside.
• They’ll be able to place their things where they belong.
• It helps with other habits such as hygiene.
• It prepares them for other stages of life.

Finally, remember that teaching a child goes hand in hand with leading by example. This lesson has more of an impact if your child sees you doing what you tell them to do.

If you lead by example, your child will surely learn how to take better care of their things.