Organization is a Basic Life Skill-Make it Second Nature to Learn

Remember before you had children? You could have a nice vase on a delicate table and even put exotic flowers in it once in a while and never once worry about a curious hand pulling it off or simply tipping the table when running past. There weren’t toys strewn from one end of the room to the other and you had a space to call your own.
Fast forward to the present and you find you have the odd toy here and there, lots of laughter and running (even though they aren’t supposed to run in the house) and you realize you wouldn’t have it any other way. But you do want your kids to learn the basics of being neat and organized.
Where do you start? As early as possible according to most child behavior experts. Even a small baby can listen as you say, “Mommy is putting up this toy and getting another one out for us to play with” and as your child is older, make simple rules he can follow. A good example is one toy at a time in the living room and he needs to put up the toy he has out before getting out another one. The earlier you start this practice, the more second nature it will become.
Then expand the practice to your child’s bedroom. Your child will never learn to keep his room picked up if you don’t give him a little help. You can also put a bookshelf and a Natural Wood Children’s Captains Chest in his room to help keep the clutter to a minimum and also you can have it personalized with his name to further the specialness of this made in America toy box.

Visual reminders are one of the best ways kids take cues and having a toy box handy will remind him to keep his toys in their place and off the floor. Start early and teach your kids the valuable life skill of organization.

About Sensory Edge 544 Articles
At SensoryEdge our focus is to educate, inform, and inspire each person caring for children to be and do their very best. It is not always easy and sometimes we don't take action (or we take the wrong action) because of a lack of understanding the real issues. We hope that the conversations that occur here will help in some small way better the lives of children, their families, and the professionals who work with them. We are always looking for valuable contributions to our site so if you are interested in becoming a contributor contact us.