As your kids get older you may find yourself being constantly bombarded with new toys, games, and other necessities to put away. And while your child’s collection of fun things may continue to get bigger, your home may not. Not to worry. All it takes is a little time and preparation, and you can get your home more organized and tidy before the Christmas mother load takes over. Best of all, you may just teach your kids and thing or two about helping others and the true meaning of while you’re at it!
Here are a few great ways to free up more space in your home and make room for those new Christmas goodies.
It’s a fact: most children have more toys than they will ever need. Odd are, in fact, that the majority of playthings cluttering up your child’s room are no longer being used. The solution? Get rid of stuff. If your kids are a little older, they may be fine with the idea of gathering up some of their old toys and donating them to Goodwill or another venue where less fortunate families can get what they need for less. You may even know of a family who could use them, and let your children deliver the items themselves. This will show them that doing nice things for others feels good. For younger children who will become upset at the mention of losing a toy, played with or not; gather up all the toys they have outgrown or that they no longer use. Put them in a basket or box and hide them away for a few weeks. If they don’t miss them within that time frame, donate them.
Don’t limit yourself by only using available floor space. There are several spacious and attractive wall units available, including cubbies and baskets. By using these in combination with your toy boxes, you can save valuable room for other things like activity tables or extra seating. Remember to choose items that are sturdy because young children tend to climb and hang all over furniture and storage units. Also be sure to check the weight limit for all storage units, and to be on the safe side, keep heavier items closer to the ground. Otherwise, your kids might try and pull it down and get hurt.
Place wall cubbies and other kids storage pieces low enough for children to read their belongings (or high enough where young babies and toddlers can’t get into things.)
You may also consider separating all toys by type and keeping them in personalized or labeled toy boxes. This will not only make things easier for children to find and encourage them to read simple words, but while you are going through and separating all your child’s toys, it will be easier to locate those that are no longer being used or toys that are broken.
Personalizing chests with your children’s names is also a good idea, especially if your children have many of the same toys. Have each of them go through their things, make a pile of those that they don’t play with anymore, and put the rest in their own toy box.
