The Rainy Day Solution: Clean Kids’ Rooms

You don’t have to wonder what to do on a rainy day. Think of it as less distractions and more time to get your projects done and your house cleaned.

One such project that’s easy to put off is cleaning your kids’ rooms. This can get a little tricky if your kids are around (donating and throwing away does not always come easily to little ones!), but here are some tips that may help. Whether you’re doing this alone or with little people, here are some ideas on how to take advantage of a rainy day and clean your kids’ rooms.

Before we get to the heavy cleaning tips this video has a tip for everyday clean up that helps keep toys in check:

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Categorize

It can get overwhelming if you try to tackle clothes, toys, and books all at once. Go for one item category to start with, like clothes. Then move into toys if you have time that day.

Pull It All Out

Once you’ve decided what category of items you’re going to clean out, go for it: pull out all items into an open space (living room, garage, etc.) where you can see everything. This can get tricky if you have a small living space; you can do it in segments if it makes it easier.

Categorize Again

Now you can move into categorizing within your category! Here are some ideas for sorting through the clothes, toys, or whatever you are organizing.

* Clear plastic bins with lids can be used for items you want to keep. Be sure to label them clearly.

* Black plastic garbage bags can be used for items you want to throw away. Make sure they’re black – you don’t want your kids to start “rescuing” items they can see in there!

* For items you want to donate, you can use black plastic garbage bags as well, but you might prefer to use something distinctive so you don’t get things mixed up. Maybe cardboard boxes or white plastic bags would work well. Some people find it works better to have opaque containers for donations for the same reason as the trash items – it prevents small people from recovering items when you’re not looking.

Help Them Choose

If your kids are present, help them make choices about what is going to get donated or thrown away. You can give them a choice between two items, for instance, one to keep and one to donate/throw away. If they are having trouble with this, talk about how some kids really need donated items because they won’t have any clothes or toys unless we give ours away. You could also show them the limited space – if there’s no room for it in the clear plastic bins, it has to go.

Move It Out

If you are donating items, get those items to the second-hand store as soon as possible. The longer they sit around, the more likely it is that you’ll start pulling things back out – and so will your kids.

Now you might even look forward to the rainy day when you get your house cleaned out – especially your kids rooms!