Organizing Tips For Parents

November 8, 2024

I often get home organizing requests from parents who want guidance on how to wrangle toys, stick with routines, organize clothes, keep up with school paperwork, and more. Being a parent is a lot of work! In this post, I’ll give you some of my top tips on how to keep your home organized with kids.

Rotate Toys

Instead of overwhelming your kids with a bunch of options all at once, I recommend keeping a few toys out, and storing the rest in a place where they can easily be swapped out. Use clearly labeled bins to store similar types of toys if it doesn’t make sense to store them in their original boxes. On a regular basis (at least once a year), sort through all the toys and give away what’s no longer wanted. If you’re not ready to throw them out yet, establish a location for toys that are broken or toys with missing pieces. Make sure to date items that go into this area so you’ll have an idea of how long you’ve been hanging on to them. Store toys that are too young for your older kids, but your younger ones aren’t ready for yet. If you’re feeling sentimental, store the special keepers in a place that you’ve deliberately designated for sentimental toys. Once a year, re-assess what you’ve deemed to be special, and decide if they really need to stay.

Manage Art Supplies

Art supplies can be hard to keep organized without help from parents. They’re messy, can dry out, and since there are so many types that need to be sorted and stored, they are somewhat more advanced to organize than toys. If your kids like making art, this area may need to get tidied up each time it’s used. Use appropriately sized shelving or drawers to store all your supplies, and have a designated place for everything. Supervise kids as needed with messier mediums like paint and glitter.

Organize School Supplies

Keep a backstock of school supplies in a separate area where kids can get them when they run out, but create a desk area where they can store and retrieve their basic supplies. Use shelves with containers or drawers that are clearly labeled so it’s easy for kids to access what they need.

Celebrate Masterpieces

Create a gallery for finished artwork to be displayed, and rotate items out as new ones are made. Take photos of larger items that can’t easily be stored. Use boxes or portfolio bags to preserve favorite pieces. Depending on how quickly these get filled up, start a new box or bag each school year. Declutter previous years collections on a yearly basis to make sure you’re only saving the best.

Saving School Assignments

Similar to preserving artwork, if you want to save school assignments, store them by school year. Declutter previous years assignments when you’re ready to let them go. Use boxes, bags, folders, or 3-ring binders. Digitize as much as possible. Save these photos on your computer in a folder by school year, or create an album in the photo app on your phone so they’re easy to sift through later.

Archive Keepsakes

Besides artwork and school assignments, your kids may have awards, uniforms, jewelry, or other special items they want to keep. You could create a display case to show them off, but it may take up more room than you’re willing to allot. Instead of letting these items clutter up your kid’s rooms, store them safely and label the box. Make sure to keep the boxes of keepsakes stored in a temperature-controlled environment. I’ve seen way too many toys and keepsakes get destroyed by heat, moisture, and rodents.

Delegate Chores

As soon as your kids are able, give them specific tasks that they can accomplish on their own on a regular basis. Start with very simple jobs with clear instructions. They may need a reminder to get the job done. Give them lots of positive reinforcement, and slowly add on more responsibilities as they gain competence.

Organizing Clothes

Kids need their own drawers to organize their clothes. Kids dressers are designed to accommodate smaller sizes of clothes. Little bins for clothes are an inexpensive solution which works for kids who need to see everything, but they are inconvenient to maneuver. Use labels on the outside of drawers or bins so your kids (and you!) know where their stuff is. Even as an adult, I like using labels on my drawers. Use drawer dividers as necessary. Declutter clothes seasonally. Store by size for younger kiddos or donate to charity.

…and Doing Laundry

Keeping clean and dirty clothes separated and putting laundry away are the two biggest issues people have with laundry. When you don’t have enough space for all your clothes, it creates a major bottleneck in the cycle. Tackle one problem at a time. Keep things very simple. Encourage kids to be responsible for their own laundry as soon as they are capable. Read this post for more tips on putting laundry away.

Create a Command Center for Clear Communication

This area will need to get refreshed often to stay up to date. Use a wall calendar to help everyone stay on the same page about schedules and commitments. If you’re using a digital calendar as well, develop a reliable way to make sure information gets updated accurately in both places.

Stay Fueled

For a balanced diet, meals and snacks take quite a bit of effort to maintain. Depending on how quickly things fall into disarray, tidy up your cabinets, pantry, and fridge on a weekly or monthly basis. Since tastes seem to change with the seasons, stay flexible with your storage systems, and rearrange as needed. Keep a digital note to help you remember what you need to shop for. Gadgets like can organizers, shelf risers, storage bins, and lazy susans can help maximize space, but nothing will take the place of a good decluttering.

Help Your Kids Declutter

Since I don’t have kids myself, I surveyed other professional organizers with kids for parenting advice about decluttering. Here’s the post I put together.

Schedule Your “Once a Year” Purge

It’s fun to daydream about going through things once a year, but unless you commit to a definitive date and get it on your calendar, this to-do is likely to fall through the cracks.

Take Care of Yourself

Lead by example. If your stuff is a mess, you’re going to have a hard time motivating your kids to keep their spaces tidy. Reduce the overall stress on the house by saying no when you feel overcommitted, making time for yourself, and prioritizing the things that you know help you be the best version of yourself.