How to get your children to love decluttering

With kids at home, your bedroom is never just a bedroom, it is their playroom. Toys strewn around, clothes all over the floor and books upturned – that is the life. And for parents, much of their time goes into cleaning the room only to see it back into its former condition within hours. Instead of taking all the hassle, parents can save time, energy, as well as inculcate good practices in their children by teaching them the art of decluttering.

The word decluttering may not bring cheer to children. However, the activity can be made fun. Children can form an important part of the decluttering life by understanding that things need to be removed or replaced from time to time.

With the pandemic-struck life that everyone is leading, there are more important things to look at than just hassling over clutter in the home. When you have to juggle home chores with office work and also look after kids, getting your kids to do part of the decluttering can take a lot of the burden off the shoulders of parents.

As easy as it sounds, it will not be that easy to get your children used to the idea of decluttering. To them, it may just feel like mommy wants to make us work. So, the idea is to turn decluttering into a fun activity that also makes sense to them.

Here are some ways you can get your kids excited:

1.     Tell them why it is important

What makes sense to parents may not make sense to kids. Although decluttering for you is to make more space and keep the place clean, you will have to tweak the message when you speak to the younger ones.

When you approach them with this topic, show them how decluttering will help them. What is in it for them? Why should they do it? What do they get out of it? The answers could range from more space to play to having a clean home when the neighbor’s kids come over to prevent a bad accident.

Whatever is your reason, it should be motivating enough for the kid to declutter themselves rather than wait for the parents to tell them.

2.     Create space for all items

Children love organizing. Even when they are playing, they ensure to keep all their playthings nearby within reach. Use this inherent talent as the base for decluttering. Create boxes or compartments that will house different types of toys or items.

Most homes have just one box where everything is thrown. While the idea may work for adults, it will not work for kids. Make it fun by labeling different boxes so that children know what goes where. It also makes it easier for them to clear out things as well as find them when needed. So, dolls go into one box, cars into another, Lego and Jenga pieces into another, etc.

Show them that by creating segregations, they can easily find things when they need to play rather than dig deep into one box and turn it inside out.

3.     Sharing is caring

Even if it is a toy your child has not used in years, the moment you show that it is going to be given away, the tears will start rolling. Here, strong value-building will work as a motivating factor. Teach children the art of sharing their toys with those who need it more than them.

If your child has a lot of toys, tell them that there are children who don’t even have one and how happy they would be if your kid shared his toy. This will automatically create a sense of decluttering in your child. They will feel more responsible and frequently find out which toys can be given away. It even makes sense to create a separate box for this.

4.     Act according to their personalities

Not all kids will find the same reasons motivating. To one kid, you may have to create a reward mechanism. A reward for every time he declutters. For another kid, it may be a goal-based system. For another kid, it may be about sharing with others. If there is a much younger sibling, it can be about being a good elder sibling and setting the right values for the other one. Elder children can even be taught to be more responsible and act as adults by decluttering and teaching their younger siblings to do the same.

Make decluttering a fun family activity every week. Put on some music, gather things, and stack them into their places. Turn it into a useful habit that your kids can shake a leg to.

5.     Set an example

Children tend to copy a lot of things elders do, especially their parents. The habits that parents have is what can easily be inculcated into children. So, consciously undertake decluttering activities yourself from time to time. Show them what it means to declutter and how it helps in improving the quality of the home and the room.

Parents can talk amongst each other while children are listening to indicate its importance. Whenever you find something in the wrong place, take it to its labeled contained or marked corner. Soon, you will see your children doing this with it. Add a fun element by turning it into a competition amongst the family members as well.

While it may sound boring to kids, there are many ways parents can make it awesome. With the world reeling from the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is important to create a habit of decluttering. Not only does it help in keeping the place clean, but it also helps in realizing what items are frequently used and what can be discarded to make room. Regular acts of decluttering can make it easier to take these calls.

As parents, decluttering also has the benefit of enabling you to understand your kid better. What toys do they take the most care of? What toys do they not want anymore? Was there something you loved that they did not like?

When you start to train them to declutter from an early age, you instill the habit in them for years to come. Tell them how proud you are of their new way of living. Reward them for it. In the end, you, the parent, will benefit. 

By Manjali Khosla