How to organise your child's room

Well many parents, especially approching christmas or a child's birthday, will look at the child's room and wonder if anything else will even fit in the room! With preschoolers, the toys can accumulate very quickly and as they are often not the best at cleaning up, it is usually another job for mum or dad. Here is a few simple hints that I have used to help organise my childrens rooms;

1) Lots of boxes - I love boxes, they are cheap, easy and can be colour coded to the child's room, or type of toy. I find the children like having their own special colours and even in a shared room, the two colours give the child some ownership. These boxes dont need to be big, but it does help if they have some lids so they can be stacked. I use about 10 - 15 litre boxes and there hold all the smaller and commonly used toys. Easy for the children to pull out and pack up fast. I have tried to keep things in similar boxes - so a lego/blocks box, cars box, dolls box... you get the idea... helps stop little bits going missing as one box is sure to be enough for a good play!

2) Mat in the centre - the mat gives the children a set play spot, being boys mine have a car mat, and in order to be able to play on it, they need to put the other toys away!! great incentive to pack away!! Mats also help catch any textra/chalk/food/water and are much easier to clean and to replace than the carpet or floors!

3) Shelves - This can be on the wall shelves, on a tall boy, or high table, or wardrobe. The idea of shelf is a high space that the children can not reach, or can not easily reach. I uses these areas for displaying creations, and storing games and toys that need adult assistance, or are really messy!

4) One more thing I regularly check is the furniture I use in the rooms. Check for things such as under the bed space - clothes can be stored in vac sealed bags or larger toys (such as trucks) can be parked. We managed to get a fold out train table (and when folded up the trains fit inside) and when it is folded up it is a chalk board. Multi use tables which can be used for play and hidden storage help keep the clutter out of sight!

5) If there is too many big toys to fit into boxes, try and keep all to on side of the room. Large areas of clear floor space make rooms look cleaner!

Lastly, I try and go through either childrens toys or clothes every month to six weeks. Being a very busy mother, with 3 children, i tend to do one child's clothes at a time, but by removing a few each time, it helps keep the amount under control! These clothes are sorted into 3 piles - keep for the next child, sell on ebay (in lots if there is enough) or good will.

Good luck with your child's room, if they start with learning to organise and tidy it, then hopefully they will continue it!