Organizing a child’s room can be very over whelming and seem like an impossible task. Toys, books and clothes everywhere and no sooner do you tidy up and your child is pulling everything back out again.

Here are some basic steps to cleaning a child’s room:

1. Get rid of excess toys. Give away anything that your child has outgrown. The more stuff your child has the harder it is to keep the room clean and tidy.
    
2. Put some toys away and rotate their toys periodically, especially with younger children. Not only will this help eliminate mess, your child will be excited to see new toys and it will prevent them from getting bored with the same toys. Plus, if there is too much choice a child can become overwhelmed and wont play with anything.
    
3. Organize. Buy stackable baskets or bins that allow you to give everything a home. Have separate containers for cars, dolls, lego, characters etc and clearly label them.
    
4. Have your child help organize and tidy their room. Give them their own part of the room to organize. This will allow you to put things away without them pulling it out again. Even if it’s sorting and putting lego in a box, it will keep them busy, out of your hair and it teaches them responsibility and to respect and look after their toys.
    
5. Have a laundry hamper for dirty clothes.
    
6. Make cleaning up fun and not so much of a chore. Making up games or singing songs can be a really fun way to encourage your child to tidy up . One of my favorite clean up songs is “clean up clean up everybody everywhere, clean up clean up everybody do your share”.

You have spent all this time and energy organizing and cleaning your child’s room, I know you’re almost afraid to let your child back into their own room again. Just the thought of them making a mess is too much to bear. Here are a few basic tips to keeping it tidy:

1. Encourage your child to take out one thing at a time. They should put away whatever they were playing with before they are allowed to get something new out.
    
2. Give your child age appropriate responsibilities. They will be less likely to make a huge mess if they are the ones responsible to clean it all up again. For example, suggest they put their own clothes in the hamper as soon as they take them off.
    
3. Have your child tidy up at the end of each day. Especially at the end of a play date, all children should help to put things away.
    
4. Don’t allow food or drink in the bedroom with the exception of water at nighttime if needed.