How to Teach Kids to Declutter
In this post: Learn 6 tips to help teach your kids to declutter without getting stressed out, along with the reasons kids should help declutter their toys.
We all know kids come with a lot of stuff. Every birthday and Christmas they are bombarded with more toys. Pretty soon, toys can be taking over your whole house (or at least the playroom). Decluttering toys is necessary to keep the chaos under control. Have you ever thought about involving your kids when decluttering toys?
Keep reading to learn some tips to teach kids to declutter, and also look at why kids should help declutter their toys.
There are a lot of benefits to teaching kids to declutter, but I want to note that decluttering toys isn’t about getting rid of everything. It’s about creating space for what your children really love and value.
I’m not advocating for a completely minimalist approach to toys, where your kids only have five toys each or anything like that. Decluttering is an ongoing process, and teaching your kids to declutter is a valuable skill they will have for life!
What Age Should a Child Learn to Declutter?
It’s hard for really young children to learn to declutter because they just don’t really understand what is happening with their toys, but around age 5-6, most kids can start to be a part of the process. Every family is different though, and there is no hard or fast rule.
If you have kids under 6, you might also be interested in The Toy Chucker Workshop that addresses how to manage toys for younger children. It is also great if you have never decluttered toys yourself and need some help getting started.
Tips to Teach Kids to Declutter
1. Make sure your kids see you decluttering
It’s really hard to ask someone else in your home (child or adult) to declutter when you haven’t decluttered your own items. You don’t have to have your whole home decluttered before you start on toys, but it is best if your kids see that you are getting rid of your own things as well. Children definitely learn by seeing an example.
If you need help learning how to declutter yourself, check out this post.
2. Help them with the process of decluttering
Remember that kids are not born knowing how to declutter. Many adults (myself included!) were never taught how to declutter when they were children. Give your kids and yourself some grace through this process.
Teach your kids how to look at a toy and ask themselves if they love it or if they still play with it? If they don’t, suggest it is something they can get rid of.
This sounds simple, but you will likely be met with resistance when you are starting out. But just like adults need to build a decluttering muscle, so do kids, and it will get easier as they get more practice. So start with easy things. Go through trash in the room, broken toys, or toys with missing pieces first.
Once you get through the easy things, you can move on to toys they might have outgrown or never play with.
3. Have a regular cycle of decluttering toys
Have a regular cycle of decluttering toys so they get used to the process. Before Christmas is a good time to do it. I usually can motivate my kids because I say we have to make room for the new toys they will be getting.
We also go through toys in the Fall and Spring. We participate in a local semi-annual kids consignment sale. So the weeks leading up to it we start going through old toys and clothes and finding what we can sell at the sale. It is something my kids know to expect, and they are eager to help when the time comes. It helps that they know we let them pick a new toy at the sale as a reward.
You might be interested in: Clutter-Free Gift Ideas for Kids
4. Give them a place for their things
We’re not trying to get rid of all of our kids’ toys when we declutter, but we want to make them manageable. When you have a designated space for each toy, you know what you have room to keep.
If you have a bin for Hot Wheels cars, but the bin is full, then you can help your child choose their favorite Hot Wheels to keep.
Bonus tip: to help make cleaning up toys easier. Clear bins with picture labels on them make it easy for kids to put away their own toys.
5. Talk to them about giving to others
If you are planning to donate your old toys, talk to your kids about where they will be going. It’s a great way for your kids to learn about generosity.
Kids have big hearts and they get excited when they think about who will get to enjoy them in the future (My kids always think about Andy giving away his toys in Toy Story).
Whether you are giving toys to children in need or a younger friend, it’s exciting for kids to get to be a part of that.
6. Make Decluttering Fun!
Stay positive and relaxed when you declutter with your kids. If you are stressed out, they will be stressed out.
You can make decluttering fun by turning on some upbeat music or making it into a game. For example, see who can choose 5 toys to give away first.
You can also have incentives for their hard work. My kids are really motivated by getting to rearrange bedroom furniture. I remember being the same way as a kid!
I tell my kids that we need to get rid of some of their old things, and then we can rearrange their room, and they get really excited and ready to work!
What if Your Child Wants to Keep Everything?
Every kid is different, and some are more sentimental than others. You need to do what works for your family. That might mean you have to declutter toys when your kids are not around. That is totally okay if that works for you!
Like I mentioned, I like to involve my kids in the process, so here is what I do when they really want to keep things that they have outgrown and they aren’t special toys with a sentimental reason to keep them.
Let Them Rediscover Their Toys
Just the other day, I was pulling out some old toys to donate and my 7-year-old saw an old Melissa and Doug wooden toy and said, “I remember that! You’re not getting rid of it are you?”
When I explained that he never even played with the toy even when he was younger, he said he still liked it. I told him he could go ahead and play with it for a few days, and if he likes it we can keep it. Guess what? He played with it for a few minutes, then he was done with it. A few days later, he was willing to let it go.
This trick has worked over and over for me. When a child rediscovers a toy, let them try it out again, and they may realize it’s not as cool as they thought it was.
I also tell them a lot, “You get the stuff, or you get the space.” Sometimes they choose the stuff, but as they have gotten older they choose the space more often.
If they decide they really do want to keep the toy, that is okay too. If my kids are going to play with something, I don’t mind keeping it. We can reevaluate in a few months.
Why Kids Should Help with Decluttering
1. Getting rid of excess toys makes tidying up and keeping their room clean easier
Just like it’s easier for us to clean the house with less clutter around, it’s easier to keep a child’s bedroom or playroom clean with less toys to manage.
2. Gives them a sense of ownership and pride in what they keep
When a child has removed the toys they don’t care about, they find more value in the toys they choose to keep. They are special to them, and they can also find them when they want to play with them.
3. Teaches them a lifelong habit of decluttering
Decluttering is a habit that gets easier with practice. This is true for adults, and it’s also true for children. When kids are familiar with decluttering at a younger age, it’s something they can take into adulthood.
4. They learn to like a tidier space
This is something I have seen in my two oldest boys. There’s still hope for the youngest!
They have both decided they prefer having clean bedrooms. This isn’t to say they always have clean rooms, but they know they like it when their rooms are clean so it doesn’t take much convincing when I tell them it’s time to clean their rooms and do some decluttering.
5. Having fewer toys reduces overwhelm and stress (for kids and parents!)
We know that clutter can be overwhelming for adults, but too many toys can also stress out our kids. Have you ever heard a child say they are bored, even when they are in a room surrounded by a ton of toys?
When they have too many choices, they become overwhelmed and can’t make a decision about what to play with. There is a study that found that kids with fewer toys played with them longer and in more varied ways.
Teaching Kids to Declutter is Worth It
Decluttering with kids takes work, but it is worth it. You are teaching your kids a valuable skill that many adults struggle with. You are teaching them to value what they choose to keep, and helping them work their decluttering muscles.
It will get easier with the more practice they get, they will learn to value the items they choose to keep, and they will learn responsibility. They might even decide they prefer a tidy room, and work hard to keep it that way!
More Posts about Decluttering Toys
- How Many Toys Should Your Kids Have
- Overwhelmed by Too Many Toys?
- How to Speed Clean the Playroom
- Why You Should Purge Toys Now
