Organize + Energize: 10-Minute Organizing Projects You Can Tackle with Your Kids

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Monday, November 09, 2015

Kristin MacRae, GoLocalPDX Organizing Expert

Mini organizing projects are a great way to get your kids involved in the organizing process. Talk to your kids about how they want to function going forward. You may be surprised that they will have answers. Create the systems according to how they want to function and you’ll be amazed to see that they will maintain their organization!

Here are 8 quick projects you can tackle with your kids: 

Shoes. Empty out their entire shoe closet and start decluttering. Have them decide what fits and what doesn’t. Decide whether to toss or donate and then place the shoes back in the closet in an organized fashion. Was there an organized system before? If not, ask your child how they want to function going forward with their shoes. Purchase the necessary shoe organizers if you must and create that working system.

Hair accessories.  If your daughter’s bows, barrettes, elastics, and headbands are a disorganized mess, you know it can sometimes be a challenge in the morning when getting ready. Gather all of the hair accessories that are scattered all over the home. Bring them to one area and make a plan to keep them in that area. Declutter, categorize, itemize and then purchase containers to hold the accessories. Be sure to measure the space and purchase containers to match exactly what you own.

Games. For this project, gather all of the kids that play with the games. Pull all of the games out of the space where they are located. Declutter and make piles of keep and toss. If each child plays with certain games, create a space for each child’s games. It will make it easier for them to go to their section when looking for a game.

Winter coats. We are heading into cold weather and what a great time to go through your kid’s winter coats. This is a quick easy project. Just focus on their coats. Declutter, toss, donate, and organize.

Dance/sports gear. Whether your child is in dance or sports related activities, at some point they will outgrow the clothes that correspond with that activity. Just focus on the activity related clothes and declutter anything that no longer fits. Dedicate a drawer or a space in their closet to activity related gear. 

Under the bed. Depending on how much your child has under the bed, this could take 10 minutes or 3 hours. Hopefully they don’t have much under the bed. Look at what’s under there. Are there already organized systems in place for what was under there? Once the space is clear, think about what was under there and how to avoid the clutter from building again.

Books. Tackle this project with one child at a time. Head over to their book shelf and go through every book with them. Decide what to keep, toss, or donate. You may find that your kids are ready to get rid of many books that they’ve outgrown. Don’t keep them on their shelves because you want them. Take out the ones they don’t want and if you want to keep certain ones for the memories, create a memorabilia bin and store them there. 

Markers/Crayons. Do you have an abundance of markers and crayons all over the house? Your kids can actually tackle this project alone. Give them scrap paper and all the writing instruments you’ve gathered from all over the house and have them test each one and throw out broken crayons and dry markers. Have them make categories and keep them in one designated spot in the home. 

Because kids do outgrow things quickly, decluttering plays a huge role in this process. Even if you just focus on decluttering and then make a plan to go back and organize, that’s ok. You can break this process down and tackle it one step at a time. Get your kids involved and transfer the organizing skill set to them at a young age. 

Kristin Carcieri-MacRae, the founder and owner of Organizing in RI, has always enjoyed finding creative ways to streamline the environment around her. She has appeared on air on Patricia Raskin's Positive Business Radio and her articles have been published in the Rhode Island Small Business Journal and New England Home Life. Kristin's CD, Organizing Basics, is a 1-hour guide for the person who wants to get organized but doesn't know where to start. She is also available for organizing workshops. Tune into her weekly radio show, Organize, Energize! on talkstreamradio.com.

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