What strategies do you use for your children to be tidy and organised individuals?

Question

for example do you allow s/he to play with only a few toys at one time, is there a certain room for activities such as painting, drawing

Answer 1

The first and best way to get kids to be tidy is to model that behavior yourself. If tidy is the norm, then tidy is the norm.
For very young children, limiting toys to a few at a time is a reasonable request. They can only focus at one or two at a time, everything else is flotsam.
By the time they are walking and learning how to amuse themselves, they need toys AND storage they can get to easily. They are more likely to put toys away if they can see where they go and know they won't have to dig for them. Kid high shelves and some bins are perfect.
This is where you need to pick your battles. For instance, I didn't mind kids leaving a few toys about, but I hated toys left on the floor. They tripped me when my arms were full, and they tripped up the younger kids and got broken. So the house rule was that toys and games left on the floor were Mom's until she got ready to give them back. (The first time or two, this involved doing an extra chore. If it got to be a regular thing, it was mine for a couple of weeks.)
After crying over losing a favorite toy, again, the kids learned that all they had to do to KEEP their toys were to pick them up and put them out of harms way--either on a table or in their rooms.
I never fussed or yelled at them about toys, I simply told them the rule, and asked if they understood. Early on, I would calmly remind them once or twice before I picked up an abandoned something, but everybody understood, if I picked it up, it was mine.
The same thing went for clothes. Anything left on the floor was mine. And the only clothes that got washed were the ones in the laundry basket in their rooms. It made parenting more manageble and taught the kids respondsiblity. One kid still talks about going to school one winter day with no socks, but he did a chore that evening, got his clean socks back, and never forgot the lesson.
The trick is to make it in their interests to do the right thing, whether it is being tidy or whatever behavior you are trying to teach. Think of it as selling, you want the kids to "buy in" because doing so is to their advantage.
Explaining ahead of time is critical, so they know the advantages and consequences of their own behavior. (If you can get them to learn to think things through ahead of time, that is half the battle.) Then if they choose to break a rule, discipline doesn't seem so arbritary or unfair.

Answer 2

www.housefairy.com
and www.flylady.net

These two websites are great. Flylady helps you break up the cleaning into understandable increments. When i used to tell my daughter to "clean her room" she would be paralyzed, not knowing where to start. I finally broke the room into "zones" she first makes her bed, then picks up Barbies, then picks up books, then stuffed animals etc etc. I made a step by step list of how the room gets clean - even put pictures on it for when she was just learning to read. Once she understood HOW to clean it was a matter of motivating her. Housefairy now comes a few times a week to check on my kids' rooms, she leaves a sprinkle of glitter in her wake to let them know she was there. If the room is clean they get a small treat (toy from the dollar store, Pokemon cards, art supplies or once even Spiderman pjs that my son had been asking for - he really needed new pjs anyways lol). If the room isn't clean then she either leaves a note saying that she'll be back later in the week and hopes the room is clean or else just the glitter. My kids are 8,5,3 and 1. They love the housefairy idea and breaking the cleaning into manageable chunkc makes it easy for them to stay clean.

Oh and I do have rules about art supplies - play-doh at the kitchen table only, if my daughter draws a picture when she's finished she has to put the crayons away or baby gets into them lol. So basically when they're done with arts and crafts they put the stuff away for next time. Their rooms just have to be clean before bedtime so if they take out a bunch of toys they have to clean up a bunch of toys - after a while they start to see the benefit of only playing with a few toys at a time.

Answer 3

My children rooms are well organized. They have a place for everything, so picking up is a snap. I use clear bins that are labeled with pictures and words.

I don't use the one toy out at a time. Sometimes they need more than one toy out to play a specific activity. For example; if the dolls are having a picnic they need to have play dishes or if the dinosaurs are crushing buildings they need to have a town. If they've clearly moved on to another activity and left that one behind, I tell them to pick up the first activity.

All messy items such as paints, marker, play dough, glue, glitter and the like are kept out of reach and taken down at specific times. They are played with at the kitchen table or at the children's homework desk.

When teaching my children to organize. I ask them brain storming questions. For example I ask my daughter, "Where should these earrings go?" Her answer should be with my other earrings. "Why?" So, I can find them and put them away easily. If my child gets stuck, I prompt them.

Answer 4

I consider tidying/packing away toys like any other thing you teach your child - reinforcement and consistency make all the difference.

My daughter has a table and chairs which she does her drawing, painting, play doh etc. With these items we pack them away after each use. Her other toys we regularly pack away throughout the day. If it's something like tea party or blocks we pack away immediately due to the number of pieces.

Since the time she's been able to take out the toys she wants, I've reinforced packing away. She can't pack away by herself and I still do most of it. Of course she does at times walk away but I bring her back and get her to help.

This approach may be a bit much for some, but I'm not spending every evening packing away my kids toys like some of my friends.

Answer 5

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Answer 6

Three toys out of the toy box at a time. They must put one toy back to get another toy or game. All drawing/painting is done on a spill mat in the breakfast room near the kitchen.

Answer 7

My children were instructed that when they finished playing, the toys they took out had to be put away again or they would be taken from then for two weeks. It worked very well without argument.

Answer 8

Strategies? It's kids playing not army manoeuvres. Keep an eye on the kids or even join in with the play they wont make a mess. Turn your back at your own peril!!!! They will always get bored quickly so trying to let them play with a few toys at a time is - well - boring.

Answer 9

In addition, twice a year we go through things and have resell them (he gets the money for new things) and donate to charity or freecycle. This prevents too much clutter and imbues a sense of moving on and sharing. It important that we do this together so he takes responsibility for his possessions and also never feels that I have just got rid of his things

Answer 10

a place for everything and the rule of thumb is..nothing else gets taken out untill the first toy is put away..then make boxes with color labels on them in their reach so picking up is easy for them