Organize first and then clean your child's room.
Cleaning a child's room takes finesse. Sort through the room quickly without the child, and then do a second edit with the child so he learns to get rid of items he no longer wants. Let your child help as much as possible with the actual cleaning too, so that she will take pride in her room plus learn some basic cleaning skills.
Instructions
1. Take all of the dishes to the kitchen and quickly put them in the sink or dishwasher. Sort all clothes and linens into two piles: clean and dirty. Put clean items in a closet or drawer; toss dirty items in a hamper and go start a load of wash. Toss any obvious trash in the trash can. Gather all papers in a box for now.
2. Turn your attention to the other items in the room. Sort one item at a time with your child helping you. Place items that belong in a different room in a box or basket that is labeled "Elsewhere." If the item belongs in the child's room, ask him if he loves the item. Explain that you want his room to be filled with items he treasures; if this is not one of them, decide to put it in a trash or recycling bin or stash it into a box or bag labeled "Donate." Beloved items go in a "Keep" pile on the floor.
3. Dash around the house and distribute all "Elsewhere" items to their proper rooms. Take out the trash. Sort the "Keep" pile into these categories: shoes, books, toys and desk items (art or school supplies and papers). Make piles of all the categories to save time and then distribute them when the piles get large. Books go on the bookshelf. Desk items go on the desk. Put writing utensils in a jar, mug or miniature flower pot and keep other items in a small bin or basket. Store toys with those like them in appropriately sized toy bins. Shoes go in the closet on a shoe rack or in a basket.
4. Sort quickly through the paper box. Keep one or two A+ school papers in a single file folder on the desk, and keep only favorite art items in an art portfolio. (You can quickly make one by placing two half sheets of poster board together and stapling around both short sides and one long side.) Snap pictures of your child holding any art items which they are not 100 percent ready to part with. Load the photos, perhaps as a slide show on the computer, and toss the artwork.
5. Dust the room. Sweep or vacuum the floor. Wipe down all windows, glass and other surfaces. Wash bedding and curtains and replace. Make sure the room is stocked with a good-sized trash can, a sturdy lidless hamper, a desk with jars and bins for supplies and a bookshelf with book ends and a magazine holder. Provide some baskets that fit onto bookshelves for younger children's board books and a rack or set of shelves for varying sizes of toy bins.
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