5 Tips for Tidiness - How to Ensure you Child's Room Remains Clutter Free

Guest post by Ella Hendrix, a freelance writer.

As a parent, it can often be impossible to find time to keep a constant check on the orderliness of your child’s room, especially if they are continuously hauling out toys to play with. However, with a little attentiveness you can quickly ensure that your child’s bedroom retains its space and is not overwhelmed by colourful clutter. 1. Clean with Kids The rigmarole of ensuring that your child keeps a tidy bedroom can be exhausting. However, there are plenty of methods that can be applied to keep cleaning fun for your little ones. Firstly, cleaning can be a great way to bond with your child. Set aside some time daily or a few times a week as “tidy up time”. Together, you can bond and use the time to interact, turning the monotony of cleaning into a rewarding team activity. Even if this lasts 10 minutes, it will start to become a habit and your child will begin to understand the importance of a clean space. In time, your children may even learn to tidy up after themselves, without any direction from yourself – bonus!

2. Clear the Clutter As your child gets older and accumulates more and more toys, books and teddies from relatives at Christmas and on their birthday, a mountain of clutter can slowly start to build. In the majority of cases, children won’t even be able to remember most of the toys they have, let alone play with them. When the time is right and the amount of things in your child’s room becomes too much, take some time to clear away some of the older items. Whether you want to face this challenge alone or with your child by your side is entirely up to you. While completing this task on your own may take half the time, you may be on the receiving end of a tantrum or two if you accidently throw away a prized toy! Spend some time in the weeks leading up to the clear out to find out what toys your child plays with on a daily or weekly basis, while also being aware of which toys are gathering dust. You should then be able to make an informed decision as to what goes to the charity shop and what stays in the room. 3. Box Clever For the majority of households, the children’s bedroom tends to be one of the smallest areas in the house. While this has its benefits, it can also mean that space runs out very quickly and piles of miscellaneous items can start to gather in the corners of the room, leaving very little floor space for your child to actually play in. One way of organising the mess is to utilise boxes of various description to store away toys. Not only will this create far more space in the room, it will also enable you to compartmentalise your child’s toys. Soon, your child will learn where each toy, book etc. is stored and why, which can be a handy tool for developing organisational skills. 4. Less is More As obvious as this point may seem, it can often be irresistible not to laden your child with toys and other items, especially in their younger years. Relatives who idolise your child can also add to the problem, with sporadic visits often coming with a present or two for your little one. The way to combat this is simply to buy your child less and let others know exactly the same. Your child will likely be unaware of the reduction of toys and relatives will understand the situation if you explain that you are simply running out of room! 5. Clean-as-you-go Simply the best way to guarantee that your child’s room remains clutter free is to clean up the stuffed animals and toys after every play session. If you have followed the aforementioned advice of utilizing storage boxes to keep your child’s room clean, this is a practice which should take hold extremely quickly. Once your child has chosen the toys they would like to play with, allow them to make as much mess as they like. Then, once they have finished playing, instruct them to place the toys back in the appropriate boxes, which you can help with at the beginning. This on-the-go method applies to almost any clutter that your child accumulates in the house and will ensure that your baby’s bedroom is as aesthetically pleasing as it can possibly be!

Ella Hendrix is a versatile freelance writer who specialises in content ranging from parenting strategy and family psychology to children's activities and bedroom design.