Teaching kids to declutter is never an easy task but it is something every child needs to learn.  In what is becoming an extended period of transition for my family, we downsized by 2000 square feet, so we’ve had to do some extensive decluttering to avoid looking like hoarders.

Change is hard for all of us and even though getting rid of a broken toy or worn out clothes may seem trivial to us, to a child it is a very real trial and may be the first time they’ve experienced loss. As a parent, your job is to help your child get through what can be a hard experience for her so that she can gain important life skills that she’ll need to let go of clutter and deal with change in the future.

Make Decluttering Fun

No one wants to suffer through a tedious cleaning project. Make decluttering fun by turning it into a game. You can give each of your kids a small basket and have them race to declutter it (and put the rest of the things in their place).

Give rewards for small victories like decluttering for a set period of time or cleaning a pre-determined area. This gives kids something to look forward to and ends the job on a positive note.

Break the Job up into Small Parts

Decluttering can be overwhelming when you try and tackle too much at once. For my kids’ room, where the bulk of the clutter is, I like to fill laundry baskets full of things to sort and tackle one basket at a time. We often end up with tiny odds and ends that go to various toys and those can be the most tedious things to sort through. For those, I find a smaller container, like a plastic shoebox, to keep them in while we declutter the rest of the room so we know where to look when we find the toy they go with.

Set a timer to break the job up into smaller pieces. I’ve found that my kids can usually go for about 10 minutes without losing interest so we set the timer for 10 minutes and then reward ourselves for a job well done at the end by playing a game together or having a snack. It gives all of us something to look forward to and provides motivation to keep giving the job our best until the timer goes off.

Donate to Someone Specific

It may help some kids to know where their old things are going. If you are getting rid of baby toys or outgrown clothes, try asking a friend or family member if they would be interested in having your hand-me-downs before you start to declutter. Then, as you declutter with your child you can remind him where his things are going and how much they will mean to the other child. Kids that are struggling to let go of old toys may appreciate taking their things to the other child at the end of the process so they can see their toys making another child happy.

Don’t Wait To Get Clutter Out of the House

A garage sale has been on our to-do list for months and knowing one was in our future I slowly decluttered the house and added the rejects to an ever-growing pile in our garage. I made one major mistake though. Despite the fact that I had carefully sorted through toys WITH my children to be sure that they were on board, I simply waited too long to actually get them out of the house.

By the time we finally got around to having a garage sale, my children had forgotten that they even owned the toys they had agreed to get rid of. It was the equivalent of packing half their toys away in boxes and then bringing them out in a rotation so the toys stay exciting. What could have been a great lesson on using money and bartering turned into a nearly traumatic event.

Lesson learned – when you’re getting rid of clutter, be sure you actually get it out of the house.

Create a Holding Area

On the flip side, not every trick will work with every child. Some kids may experience some anxiety at the thought of getting rid of things immediately. For those kids, it may help to create a holding area for toys that they are considering getting rid of. Fill a box with toys that your children are willing to consider parting with and put the box in a holding area that is out of sight. Give your child a week or so to ask to remove specific toys from the box. At the end of whatever time period you set, donate the box without letting your child see it. If he hasn’t asked for a toy back then it isn’t one that is important to him, but certainly do not let your child browse through the box before you remove it from the house because then he’s likely to want all of his toys back.

 

Decluttering takes a bit of practice, especially when kids are involved. How have you gotten your kids onboard with decluttering their things?