Get Kids Organized this Summer

Summer can bring a lot of toys, sports gear and swim paraphernalia into the house. It can all start to pile up before you know what to do with it all. Kids are at school for most of the year and your home may have survived the clutter tidal wave so far. Now that they are home all day every day, you may really notice a difference fast.

Getting your summer clutter in order may seem like an insurmountable task. Beach towels are drug out from the bottom of the towel stack, destroying your linen closet. Summer clothes are drug out of storage in a frantic hunt for that swim suit. Winter clothes get mixed with summer clothes and you may not know where to start.

In the spring, you may have noticed the enormous laundry mountain that started to grow in your house. This is mainly because the warm days may call for t-shirts and shorts while chilly nights still require a light jacket and jeans. Double the wardrobe and add on the extra changes of clothes and you have yourself a laundry nightmare.

Now, while you were dealing with that, the kids got out of school. They have started their summer sports activities, as well as brought over numerous neighborhood friends. Swimming creates a whole lot of extra wet clothes and accessory clutter that you were not prepared for. Neighborhood friends and pals can drag out things that your kids have not touched in months.

The bottom line is that you need to prepare before your world is spinning out of control. Start with the laundry problem. Put away and store all winter clothes except for two pairs of pants, two long sleeved shirts and one light jacket. These items can be easily stored in a dresser or hung on clothes hangers in a closet along with summer clothes that are coming out of storage. Encourage children to put their jeans back in the drawer at night if they are only worn for a short while and are still clean. There is no use washing them every day so that they can be worn around the house for an hour.

Next comes summer supplies. Snorkels, diving masks, flip-flops, creek shoes, sun block, sunglasses, beach towels and other outdoor activity supplies. Create a special bin or beach bag to house all of these items where they can be neatly stored and grabbed at a moments notice. Something as simple as hanging your beach towels on childrens clothes hangers can keep your linen closet from being destroyed by choosy children. Get your house in order and summer time can be less work than usual.

About the Author: Ron Maier is the owner of Only Kids Hangers, a leading provider of childrens hangers. The right childrens clothes hangers really make the difference in kid's retail or home organization. For more information, please visit www.onlykidshangers.com.

Motivation for your Kid's Organization

Kid’s closets can be a real challenge. They are usually crammed with toys and clean clothes that have been pulled down off of the hangers and mixed with the dirty ones. Kids are notorious for trying on a few different outfits before they decide on one, leaving a mountain of laundry in their wake. This can be very frustrating for parents that are just trying to keep their household running smoothly. There’s nothing worse than opening your kid’s closet and discovering that everything you hung is now wrinkled up in a heap on the floor, mixed with dirty clothes, and disguising all of those little pointy toys that you are sure to step on in your attempt to fix the mess. Enough is enough already. It’s time to get in there and make a change. Your goal now is to have everything that they need within their reach and create some sort of a system that they’ll be inclined to stick to. This can be a tricky task, but not an impossible one.

Kids thrive on motivation. Keep your child’s personality in mind when tackling their closet. What makes sense to an adult may not be sensible to a child. Simple decorations or signs can motivate them to follow instructions. Try putting signs or pictures that indicate clean or dirty clothes on small laundry baskets near the closet. If they try something on and can’t reach the hanger again, then they should put it in the clean laundry basket. If they wear something for any length of time, it goes in the dirty basket. Be creative by putting a picture of your child covered in chocolate or mud on the dirty basket and an opposing picture of cleanliness, such as a bubble bath photo on the clean basket. If your child thinks that the pictures are funny, then they’re way more likely to stick to the system.

The next step is to put a low bar for hanging clothes down on their level. It’s usually a good idea to keep a high bar for things that you really don’t want them to pull down, such as dresses or suits. Installing a low bar can give them the feeling that it is something special just for them, making them proud of having the responsibility of keeping their clothes on this special bar. Use a plastic shower curtain rod cover to make it a bright color. They’re very inexpensive and can be cut to fit any hanging rod. Dress it up and stress how it’s just for them. You can even get special children’s hangers for their closet. Color coordinated children’s clothes hangers can motivate your child to keep things hung in a color pattern, such as pink, purple, blue, pink, purple, blue. The idea is to make them think that it is fun. Children’s clothes hangers are now available in beaded versions, funky shapes and colors that can make your challenge a little easier. Have fun with it and keep your child involved in the activity. You’ll have a fun project, a little bonding time and maybe make your life a little easier in the process.


About the Author: Ron Maier is the owner of Only Kids Hangers, a leading provider of childrens hangers. The right childrens clothes hangers really make the difference in kid's retail or home organization. For more information, please visit www.onlykidshangers.com.