Organizing Your Children’s Room: 7 Questions that Will Help
November 3rd, 2006 (Organization)
Below are questions to consider when organizing your kids’ room:
1. Is there a place for books? Perhaps the answer is a headboard with a bookcase, a set of brick-and-board shelves, or shelves in the closet. If you want your child to read for pleasure, have a place for books in the bedroom.
2. Is there a table or desk? It is especially important, after the child has entered middle school or junior high, to have a place to do homework; however, it could be done in another designated area in your home. I have pondered the remark made by one father when he described his daughter’s turnabout toward doing her homework. “We gave her grandpa’s desk with all the drawers and cubbyholes. She just loved to be there, loved to organize everything.” The way you arrange things can make it easier to succeed at school.
3. Is there a place to put school books and pending homework?
4. Is there a place to keep finished papers and reports? Maybe a real file cabinet or just a box in the closet is the solution.
5. Is there a place for trash?
6. Is there a place to keep toys? Toy boxes are the worst for storage. Every time the children want a toy, they dump out the whole box and make a big mess. Games and puzzles with many pieces seldom get back together after being dumped in a toy box. Consider separating the games, building blocks, and puzzles into net bags like the ones grapefruit come in, or boxes.
Put a large rubber band or elastic band around the box in case it should be dropped, so everything doesn’t come out. Hooks in the closet, a pegged mug rack, pegboard, or game tree can hold these toy bags. For stuffed animals, a suspension pole could be set in the corner, holes drilled for hooks, and each animal, with a ribbon around its neck, hung from the pole.
7. Is there a place for display? Little things that are important to the child need a place, especially if there are younger siblings who might ruin them. A simple shelf or a corner shelf might be the solution. If there are more items than will fit neatly, rotate them. A bulletin board or clothesline along a wall could be used to display posters or art papers and reports.
There are pictures and mementos that are nice to put in a scrapbook to be shown to future generations. Guide the child in knowing what to keep. Old blurred, or dark pictures have no value. Label pictures with names and dates for easy identification.