40 Bags in 40 Days™ Tips and Tricks For Decluttering Kid’s Spaces

We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.”

Fredrick Keoniq

40 Bags in 40 Days-Decluttering Kid’s Spaces Easily

I have found that children’s rooms and spaces become cluttered rooms in the home quickly. From excess clothing that isn’t worn to birthday party favors, on top of too many gifts, room decorations, and a plethora of things in between, they can become unmanageable very quickly. This makes them disorganized, overwhelming to clean, impossible to find things and that in turn leads to angst, frustration and underappreciation by the child and by us, the parents.

We all want grateful children, and we all want our children to appreciate the value of a dollar. We want to teach our children very important life skills like how to clean, organize, and maintain their space and how to take care of what they have.

We can’t accomplish any of that if their rooms are packed full of stuff. I have found over twenty-seven years that cleaning, purging, and organizing kid’s rooms makes a world of difference in the amount of work that we all have to do. It’s less laundry, less toys and books to straighten, less items to dust and rooms that are easier to vacuum.

Tips and Tricks For Decluttering Kid’s Bedrooms

1. With older kids, I have them work alongside me. This is NOT a choice but I can tell you that as my kids got older they would ask me to do with them! They might not love the process but they liked the end result so much! I go through all their clothes and things with them asking, “Do you want this still?” “Do you need this for school anymore?” “Does this fit you?” “Will you ever wear this?”  I will make a hand-me-down pile, and then a garbage pile and then a donate pile.

2. I found that the younger kids are harder to keep on task and also want to keep everything. I go through their room the first time while they are busy or not at home. I do a thorough purge of things I know that are either garbage, they don’t use, or won’t miss.  I do leave things I would love to get rid of but I know I must ask first, just in case. I bring them in and we go through things together…lots of questions, trying on clothes, asking if they like things, if they fit, if they will ever be worn*. I ask them to help me organize things, so they can learn, and also so they know how refreshing an organized room is versus a messy one. They need to see the before and after process.

3. All my kids have special places to keep things. They each have a large “treasure box” (that white suitcase type container above) where they keep mementos…a good place to throw that special rock, or some little object they love. These are left down and easily accessible. If they have a larger collection of something, (Pokemon cards, stuffed animals) I put those things in some type of container.

I also have a large plastic container for each child called a “scrapbook box”. These contain everything from first shoes, to special drawings, baby blankets, old journals, that type of thing. These are up in a closet and not very accessible, but they will often request that special things are put in their boxes. The older kid’s boxes are stored in my attic so they can take them one day to their own homes. (By the time they are 18 they have 2-4 of these boxes.)

4. On hand-me-downs: I have four boys, but there is a 14 year span between youngest and oldest….SO I keep some things, others I know won’t last. I have khakis, blazers, dress shoes, uniforms, sports stuff, dress shirts, ties, and belts…all things that won’t go out of style. Some things can make it to the next in line, some just end up looking too junky. I keep all those hand-me-downs that don’t fit in a separate container or drawer, or closet.

When they were all younger (babies and toddlers), I had big plastic containers labeled and stacked in the basement according to size, but I would go through these with a fine-toothed comb and really think if the item looked nice enough to pass down, or was just too worn or stained or out of style.

*While I am with the kid’s sorting through and organizing their closets, I keep a notebook with me, so I can jot down who needs what for spring/summer. Do they have dress shoes that fit? In need of a couple fresh t-shirts or a new pair of shorts or swim trunks? This way I know what to keep my eye out for or what to get for birthdays with no excess.

Tips and Trick For Decluttering Kid’s Toys

1. Go through toys when the kid’s aren’t around. You probably know what is played with the most. Keep those things in a separate pile.
2. Throw away toys that are broken, donate toys that are not used, or just take up space. Be ruthless!
3. Donate toys that seem to cause more trouble than they are worth if they will not be missed-loud noisy battery toys, toys that do just one thing and don’t promote imaginary play, or toys that don’t meet your ideals.
4. If there are any doubts, put the toys in a box or bag and store them out of sight. They might never be missed, most likely, and then can be donated.
5. Keep in mind what toys you will want to keep around for your grandchildren. These are usually the higher quality, most-used and loved sets of toys, for instance, American Girl Dolls, a special collection of race cars or animals, or train tracks. These are the toys worth treasuring and keeping

A Few Special Points:

• Children feel better with less cluttered rooms, less choices, and more organization. They thrive in a clean organized environment and feel overwhelmed with too much stuff. There is a whole book written about it and it’s genius.
• If you and your child are frustrated with clean-up it is probably because your child is overwhelmed and doesn’t know where to begin because there are too many clothes or toys in the space.
• If you are worried about getting rid of too much, at the very least put things in storage somewhere in the house where they aren’t accessed. The power of less will convince you to get rid of those things! You will see a calmer child that plays with the fewer toys he has, and actually notices things he never was able to see before to play with and take care of.
• I’ve had multiple children in one bedroom. The tip is to create a space for each of them, even if it’s an under the bed drawer or small shelf. When more children share a room, it just has to mean less stuff. Which is NOT a bad thing anyways.
• Our kids all have too many things. They do! Think about Little House on the Prairie! I’m sure all our grandparents tell stories of 4-6 kids in a room. It can be done and it is not a bad thing, in fact, I would argue it might be even better. Our children are lucky to have what they have!

Less is more!

For some bedroom and toy inspiration, please visit this post and this post.