Keeping Kids' Toys to a MinimumWhen your child receives something new, they should have to give one of their old toys to a thrift store, or a friend. It keeps clutter down to a minimum. It also teaches them to not overdo it as they get older.
Children's Shower ChartI have three children who share a common bathroom. They used to argue over who showered first. We had an old dry erase calendar that wasn't being utilized so made a chart giving each child a number oldest to youngest.
Clutter JailUse a clutter jail to help kids pick up their stuff. If you pick something of theirs off the floor they then have to pick a card from a jar, and complete the task before they get their item returned. Here is some card ideas:
Keeping Scout Stuff ContainedMy son is a Life Scout in Boy Scouts. He is in his 9th year now, having started in first grade as a Tiger Cub. We have a plastic bin in his bedroom where all of his Scout "stuff" goes.
Use Mesh Bag For Barbie ClothesBarbie clothes are actually very easy to clean. When my daughter was little and had Barbies, I put the clothes in a mesh bag like what you'd put lingerie in.
Tickets for ChoresWhen my kids (and fosters) were young, I bought a roll of tickets (like those at a carnival). They are available at places like WalMart. I made lists of chores, age appropriate for each child.
Getting Kids to Keep Their Rooms CleanDuring their high school years, our sons seemed to have a problem keeping their room clean and neat. My wife threatened to clean the room and throw out everything that wasn't put away properly - clothing, books, etc.
Girl's Fashion Show to Clean Out ClosetHere is a fun way to get your girls ages 7 and up to clean out their closest. Hold a "Fashion" show, where they model each of their summer/winter outfits.
Children's Activity BoxKeep an "activity box" on hand. Organizing one day, I took a big cardboard box and filled it with the things that I had available for children to play with.
Add Bag to Dress Hanger for Matching BloomersWhen I had my daughter, we had all these dresses with matching bloomers. I added clear sandwich bags to all of the hangers for the dresses and put the bloomers in them so they were always together and easy to find.
Organizing Families with Hectic SchedulesFor each child, hang a labeled mesh basket in ladder style to organize papers, permission slips etc.
Puff Paint for Marking UnderwearIf your underwear doesn't have sizing tags, it's a very good idea to label them yourself. It makes it easier for you to know where to place it, in which child's drawer it belongs.
Store Parenting Essentials in a Separate BackpackI'm a mom of four young kids and I'm constantly packing a ton of stuff with me. When I started feeling like a pack mule in the grocery store, I decided I needed to do something different.
Using Last Year's CalendarLast year's calendar makes a great chore chart or reward chart for young kids. For example, to motivate a child for potty training, let them put a sticker or draw a star in one of the boxes each time they use the toilet. When they have filled up a month's worth of boxes, they get a prize.
Numbering Puzzle Pieces for Easier SortingIf your children or grandchildren have several board puzzles, here is a great way to know which piece goes to which puzzle, when two or more are out at once. This works great in preschools also.
System For Kids To Choose ChoresThis is a great way to organize your kids to do chores.
Velcro on the Back of Puzzle PiecesMy daughter has TONS of puzzles and at the end of the day, it'd take me a half hour to find all of the pieces. So I attached small Velcro circles onto the back of every piece along with their matching space on the puzzle board.
Mark Puzzle Pieces For Easy SortingToddlers love to play with puzzles and of course they will always mix the pieces in the same box. I have a three year old boy that just started with the 24 pieces and he will put the pieces together and want someone to sort the puzzle.
Emergency NumbersTips for organizing emergency numbers.
Dressing Kids in Matching OutfitsBecause of our work schedules, my husband usually gets our 2 year old son dressed in the morning. To make things easier, I made up a set of hangers with the days of the week on them.
