Creating a Lean,
Mean Cleaning Machine
Quick Tips for Helping
Kids Keep Their Rooms CLEAN!
 by Jessica Fisher
1 Find a home for each possession and communicate it to
the kids. Designate specific spots for clothes,
books, toys, towels and toiletries. Repeat this many
times over. Check for understanding by encouraging kids
to tell you where something should go. Have young ones
demonstrate where to place certain items. Labeling (with
words or pictures) is helpful for everyone, including
those outside the family, like grandparents or
babysitters who come to help out.
2 Make it easy to put things away. An already crammed
drawer makes it virtually impossible for a youngster to
put his clothes away. Most kids don’t need more than
five outfits per week. Help your children choose their
favorites and then store or give away the extras. Fewer
items of clothing results in fewer things to pick up,
wash and put away. Less work for you and easier work for
the kids is a win-win situation.
3 Do not hesitate to renovate closets, build shelves or
add hooks and pegs to increase the quantity or ease of
storage. Mount them to walls and above doorways to
provide storage for books, clothing, towels and CDs.
Examine decorating or organization books for storage
ideas. Some simple ones to consider:
 Lower the bar in the closet so little ones can reach
it.
Install a bank of shelves in the closet for shoes,
book bags, sweaters, toys, books and folded clothes.
Transform blank, unused wall space into storage by
hanging cubbies and shelves.
Use attractive baskets and boxes to create necessary
storage that is also pleasing to the eye.
Hooks and pegs make it easier for kids to hang up wet
towels than towel bars.
4 Design an effective laundry system. One of the main
ingredients of kid clutter is dirty clothes. Having an
effective laundry system requires a receptacle for dirty
clothes, a method for transporting it to the laundry
room, and a regular practice of children putting their
clean clothes away. Teaching kids to participate in this
process is a life skill that they need to know.
5 Eliminate what’s not useful in the way of furniture
and storage. Consider the maxim: function over form. No
matter how cute it is, if it doesn’t work or if it makes
it difficult for kids to keep tidy, get rid of it. For
example, many laundry hampers have removable lids. That
setup requires one more step to get the dirty clothes
where they belong. Ditch the lid and make it a lot
easier for everyone.
6 Consider a happy place for toys outside the bedroom.
This reduces clutter in the bedroom. If the space in
your home requires keeping toys in the bedroom, place
them in small clear boxes with lids, according to type.
Keep the boxes on shelves or slide them under the bed.
Avoid large toy chests, which can get emptied searching
for one thing.
7 Be consistent in expecting, reminding, encouraging
and rewarding. Learning a new skill takes time, even if
the new skill is simply remembering to do one’s chores.
Require them to do this job for their good and yours.
Your patience and kindness will make this process easier
for your kids. Complement your children on jobs well
done. Surprise them with a spontaneous ice cream run for
a clean room. Admonish when needed, but try to catch
them “being good.” Build on success, and pretty soon
your kids will be lean, mean cleaning machines.
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