5 Steps to Easily Organize a Child’s Room

Instead of telling your child “Go clean your room” teach these 5 steps to easily cleanup a child’s room. Now they can focus on one task & get it done!

Telling a child to “Go clean your room” is like telling an adult, “Go clean the garage before dinner!” It is overwhelming and impossible. Break it down into small steps and get it done

Instead direct your child to one specific task: “Go make your bed,” or “Put away all your clothes,” or “Clean everything off the floor.”

Follow these Easy Step-by-Step Directions 

1) Make the bed first.

Since this is the largest surface, the room is now 50-70% clean!

2) Put everything away on the floor.
Start at the doorway and move everything (besides obvious trash) from the floor to the bed.

3) Clean up the rest by three categories:

* Clothes: put in hamper, or away in drawers and closet.
* Papers and books: organize papers in notebooks or a file, and books on shelves.
* Toys or favorite collections: place on open shelves.

4) Add one extra cleaning area per week after the above three steps:

* Desktop
* Dresser top
* Nightstand
* Closet

5) Empty the wastebasket often.

Organizing expert Emily Barnes says, “Children don’t do what you expect, but what you inspect.” So check on any cleaning they do.

I am a firm believer that “If you work orderly, you will think orderly.” What a great academic help orderly habits at home can be for kids!

Excerpted and adapted with permission from speaker and author Marcia Ramsland’s, “Ages and Stages of Getting Children Organized” booklet.