Kids sometimes feel like an organization disaster that is just about to happen. They will leave bags lying all over the floor, and this might not faze them at all. As a parent, however, the onus is upon you to train your kids to be more organized.

While you might manage to do all the organization tasks for them when they are at home, you will not be present once they go to school or college. As a result, the earlier you can train them on being organized, the better.

Here are three easy organization tips to both keep your kids organized and train them to do the same:

Walk the Talk

Kids tend to learn from what their parents do. Who can blame them? You are typically their world. As a result, the best way to train kids to remain organized would be to do so yourself.

This translates to even the nitty-gritty details of how you handle your life, from how you store utility bill statement to how often you clean your home. If they notice that you are committed to keeping your home organized, you might even find them offering to help you in tidying up the place. Ideally, this is the best way to keep them organized as it comes intrinsically, instead of them feeling forced to remain tidy.

Declutter Your Home

More often than not, people choose to store sentimental items that their kids no longer use with the aim of preserving some memories. If you do this, you might also notice that your kids will try and hold on to toys and clothes that they no longer need. In most cases, this ends up making your home cluttered.

Start by throwing away anything that might not be necessary for both you and your kids to hold on to. For instance, you can get rid of any piece of cloth or toy that hasn’t been used in the last year. Hoarding also starts with the nitty-gritty details of your kid’s play time.

They might feel the urge to have five toys in their play area even though they will only use one of them. Train your kids to only use with toys that they need to play with at the moment. This will also reflect in their school life in the long term as they will only carry the exact number of books they need for school.

Store Like Items Together

If you often store toys and clothes in the same drawer, your kids will see this as the norm. In the process, it will seem normal for them to leave shoes and toys lying anywhere in the house. Designate specific storage locations for every item you kids own. For instance, you can have a separate drawer for toys and another one for books.

Ideally, these storage locations should be easily accessible by your kids. Otherwise, they will leave their items anywhere. You can diversify your storage locations by using storage baskets and unused spaces such as under the bed. To fortify the habit of placing everything in its respective storage location, correct the kids whenever they fail to follow the rules. It might also help to label the storage areas using stickers, preferably those that have cartoons on them.

Keep Organization Fun

The last thing you want is making organization feel like a chore for your kids. They will resist being organized, and this can be translated into the later stages of their lives. Look for ways to induce some fun into doing chores. For instance, you can create a challenge by timing how long they can get their toys into the toy basket.

You should also consider rewarding them for a job well-done. Offer them sweets or take them to a movie once they keep their room tidy for a week or a month. Ideally, the rewards you are to use will depend on what your kid likes. As they grow up, however, you can retract the rewards. Keeping themselves organized is bound to become something they value rather than feeling like a chore.

Among the best time to train them on organization would be during play time. Challenge them to organize their play areas and teach them how to store the toys away.

Establish a Routine

Kids are quite forgetful, especially for tasks such as organizing their rooms. With a routine, however, it becomes pretty easy to remind them of what needs to be done. The routine can outline every organization task that needs to be accomplished by the end of the day, from brushing their teeth to storing their clothes in the laundry bin.

Write down the daily routine. If possible, you can form a chart in which they are to tick off their task of the day once they are done. Since autonomy will increase their motivation to remain organized, you can let them make tweaks to the routine. The more they feel independent, the more they will value organization.

Keeping kids organized starts with the small details, and it requires a step by step approach. With enough consistency, you might not even need to put any effort into keeping them organized. Furthermore, such small lessons end up teaching them to be better adults.