How to Keep Children’s Personal Clutter and Toys in Order
What do you do if you have young children who love to keep all their papers, crafts, trinkets, and memorabilia? How do you keep from filling your house with what you consider junk, while at the same time not getting rid of stuff they truly hold dear? What about all the toys?
In my small house I came up with a system that works for us, and it might work for you. Let’s learn about keeping the clutter of toys and trinkets under control!
When your child keeps everything…
Some children love to hang on to everything. If you want to pitch a broken block (even when they have a hundred more) they will claim that is their absolute favorite toy!
I have one daughter who especially loves to keep everything. She would have filled up our whole house with papers and trinkets if I had let her. So I had to come up with a system to keep my small house from overflowing.
I also know that I did not want to pitch things that she truly holds dear, even if they looked worthless to me. Who am I to say what holds sentimental value to someone else, even if decluttering is important to me?
The Solution to Personal Clutter
I found a solution that may be helpful for you. It places the responsibility of what is kept or not on your children while letting them keep as much as they want in a contained space. It is a personal dresser, drawer, or storage bin for each child.
We have a dresser, that doesn’t even fit in the children’s room, that had one vertical row of four big drawers. I told my children it would be their own treasure dresser. Each child gets their own drawer.
While at these stages I still manage a lot of my children’s personal things like clothing and such, I want them to be able to take care of their own personal trinkets and things. Our house is also quite small, so it’s not like they can have a room to themselves to fill up.
Each child’s drawer is the place where they can store all the pebbles, crafts, little gifts, and other things they hold dear. I try to take care of the stuff I truly want them to keep for when they are big.
Teaching Decluttering to Your Children
Most of the time I just let them add whatever they want to their drawers. Once in a while, especially for my pack rat daughter, their drawer gets full and doesn’t hold more. Then I tell them it is time to get rid of some stuff to make room for more.
We go through it together and I ask them about each paper and trinket and if they truly want to keep it. They often end up pitching a bunch of stuff.
I try to model decluttering with my children by showing them when I get rid of things (and making sure they don’t salvage everything I want to pitch!) and also remind them over and over when they want to keep something (like the boxes that hold the toothpaste tubes!) that it will fill up their drawers.
I ask them to think about if something is really special or not before putting it in their drawer. With time they are learning to not keep everything.
Decluttering Toys and Things
My children’s play area, or where we store their toys at least, seems to be another sore spot for home organization. We can collect so much stuff and with so little room it usually ends up all over the living room any time they pull something out.
Stuffed animals are a big problem, and sometimes I decide some of them simply need a new home. I have one set shelf for their dolls and teddy bears, and if it gets too full we go through it all and get rid of some things.
I have a simple system for toy storage in a small closet we have. I store toys, especially small toys, in plastic boxes. Again, if they get too full to close properly, we get rid of some of them.
They always get to keep their favorite toys, but we always just keep what fits in the designated storage areas.
Board games and art supplies are another sore point. But like usual I just limit them to a designated amount of space.
Often when we are going to get new toys or the children ask for something else, I tell them that we first need to get rid of some of their old toys to make more room. That helps them to let go of some things they would otherwise hold on to.
Sometimes I think a toy room would be so nice, but it is actually good for children to limit the number of toys so they can work on their creativity instead.
A Few More Tips
I also do like to keep a few of my children’s arts and crafts or school papers, which I store in their yearly portfolios. The rest I let them keep, and pitch when they are tired of them, because my girls go through lots of paper, and it is just too much to keep it all.
Another tip if you don’t have much (or any!) play space but don’t want to get rid of things is to rotate toys. Some of them can be stored somewhere else and then just eventually gotten out and replaced.
If you don’t have drawer space, some families have a storage box for each child in some part of their home. It does the same thing. You can find links for storage totes and portfolio binders on my shop page.
Benefits of Limiting Storage Space
Learning the skill of letting go.
Some of my children don’t have nearly that problem with hoarding everything. I want to be considerate of the ones who have a harder time letting go of things. But I know that in the future the skill of letting things go will be of a lot of value. For now, I try to be very patient, and I know they are learning.
Mom is not the bad one.
One other blessing of having their own personal drawers or limited storage space is that I am not the one directly responsible for getting rid of their stuff. If the drawer is too full they need to see how they make room if they want to store more, but mom is not the one getting rid of their personal things.
A clutter-free home
Because most of what I would consider my children’s personal clutter is in their drawers, our home has a more clutter-free look to me. That makes for a happier mom, and who doesn’t like that?
One of the best tips for having a home that looks clutter-free is to clear off flat surfaces such as the floor and table tops. Don’t allow random clutter in sight!
If everything has a proper place and you get rid of the extras, it helps so much to make it feel like you have a clean house, even if it’s small.
Frequently Asked Questions
First you show them by example how you get rid of things. Then you also give them a drawer or box that is a set size to keep what they want. When it gets too full to add more, they have to get rid of something.
No, I do not. It is just too much. Save some of the best or most interesting ones in their portfolios. The rest can hang on the fridge for a while, but then it goes into their personal drawers or gets pitched right away. We pitch some when their drawers get too full.
Save it for later!
In Conclusion
It is not always easy, and takes constant effort to stay on top of your children’s clutter. Find ways to keep it contained within a certain area like a box or drawer, but don’t get rid of things just because you consider them junk. They might hold sentimental value for your child.
Model minimalism or decluttering for them, and teach them by words and actions to let go of some things. In the end, you both will be happier without all that clutter lying around.
Read More
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