Helping kids keep their rooms neat

If you would like to read a tip that relates to the suggested WFMW theme of a holiday tip, you can read my post about storage of toys/large items as well as strings of lights.

Earlier this week, I spent three hours helping my 8 year old rearrange the bedroom he shares with his little sister.

Three hours.

After three hours of work, I wanted to make sure it stayed looking nice and neat. So...I took pictures of the various areas on the room (including the closet), put all of the pictures on one page, and printed it off. I also wrote instructions on the page, such "LEGOS go here" with an arrow pointing to the box under the dresser, and "Tall books go here" with an arrow pointing to the spot between the wall and the dresser.

This was my dresser when I was little. My parents let me pick out new drawer pulls when they bought the piece, and I choose little sunflowers (top drawers) and lion heads with large rings through the mouths (bottom drawers). ???

The page of pictures is posted on the wall behind the bedroom door for both Josiah (8) and Grace (4) to see. Their job is to make the room look like the pictures again, which is easier to do than to follow the directions of "Clean up your room!" They can refer to the pictures as much as they need to (and I have an objective picture to point to if they still have work to do)...and that works for me!

This idea could also be used to show the way the other rooms, such as a bathroom or kitchen, should look after being cleaned.


Check out other tips at We Are THAT Family! This week's suggested theme is holiday gifts or tip ideas.