Spring Cleaning As A Family-How Get Kids to Declutter

Spring is usually the time when a declutter bug bites us. We want to have a minimalist home, as it’s easier to clean and maintain spotless. However, this can be tough, if you have young kids. Kids are not familiar with the concept of clutter and they often don’t understand it. That’s why you’re here to help them out learn how to be organized and how to declutter. Over time, things pile up. We keep things we don’t use, things that are broken and unnecessary things. And even for us, it’s difficult to declutter. Imagine how it is with kids then, when they are not even aware of these things. 

When you decide to declutter, you should think about including your kids as well. It’s going to be beneficial both for you and them. Start by talking to kids and explain why decluttering is necessary. Lay the ground and introduce them to the process gently. Before the process, you should limit sentimental items and apply different strategies to prevent clutter along the way. Also, you should set an example.

Talk to kids and explain why decluttering is necessary

This is generally a good strategy to employ in parenting. It’s often better and easier to overcome certain things if we give reasonable explanations to kids. Then we get less resistance. Try to explain why we need to declutter from time to time. Tell the kids how when we have too many things, we need to spend more time cleaning and organizing things, which leaves us less time for fun activities. Say how we can be generous and donate things to people in need, how they have more use of certain things than we do. In that way, you teach them to be emphatic. Also, you can raise their eco-awareness by introducing them to recycling. Explain that certain clothes shops that sell wholesale boho dresses, cute skirts for little girls, trendy clothes for boys, and other stuff recycle old clothes.

Involve the kids in the process

Involving kids in the decluttering process and giving them an opportunity to decide what goes and what stays is a learning experience you should take advantage of. When kids are not sure whether to keep something, you can help them out with some questions such as how often they use it, what they use it for, how keeping it helps them and so on. You get the idea. In that way, you teach them how to do that on their own in future. What should definitely go are broken things. They just occupy space and we don’t even use them.

Limit sentimental items

Kids can often be sentimental about different things. You should provide them with a bin or a box, where they can keep some stuff that is important to them. However, you should limit what they can keep. When the bin or the box is full, they need to go through it one more time and decide what stays and what goes. Be mindful of stuffed animals as they can create quite a clutter. Limit them by saying, for instance, that they can keep the ones that can stay on their bed.

Apply different techniques to prevent clutter

There are different techniques you can apply to prevent cluttering. There are two highly popular ones, including ‘one in one out’ and ‘toy rotation.’ The first one is all about making balance. Set a rule that when the kids get something, they need to get rid of something they already have. In that way, you can avoid cluttering. The second one, toy rotation, refers to storing some toys away and leaving some for playing. When kids get bored with the toys in their room, you can simply exchange them for those stored away.

Set an example

Kids are very observant and they watch every step we make and everything we do. So, try to set an example yourself by following the rules you set for them. In that way, they see what you do and they follow along, without too many questions and concerns. 

Decluttering doesn’t have to be a tedious process – play some music and add some snacks to make it amusing for kids.

About The Author

Jess Cooper is a part-time journalist and blogger based in Sydney, Australia. She is an energetic, creative, highly motivated person with plenty of interests. The most prominent areas of interest include makeup and cosmetics, fashion, style, event organization and decoration, healthy food, fitness, learning languages as well as home improvement. Jess loves learning about new things and having the chance to combine those insights with her ideas and spread them to the world. She enjoys having a mindful and well-organized, healthy life, filled with all kinds of different activities and interwoven with close friendships.