As much as we want our kids to clean their own rooms, it always ends up being more of a disaster than it was before they started cleaning their room! For whatever reason, they have no problem making the mess, but cleaning it up again? Well, that's a horse of a different color. Suddenly they don't know where anything goes, where it came from, or which pieces go together. You may send your kid to their room to clean it up only to come back a short time later and see an even bigger mess! Sure, they might have cleaned one small area. But they usually accomplished that by moving the mess around to other parts of their room. It's so important that kids learn to clean up after themselves and respect their own spaces enough to keep them clean and organized. But how can we get them to do it right? You might want to try the Mountain Method. Once they've mastered this method, keeping their room clean and organized will come naturally to them!
To use the Mountain Method in your kids' rooms, you start by bringing all of the clutter and mess to the middle of the room. Under the bed, on top of the dresser or and desk, wherever the debris has piled up - bring it all into one focal spot right in the middle of the room. Sounds like it's making a bigger mess, right? But when kids can see everything, it becomes more manageable. One big mess is easier to tackle than a bunch of smaller messes.
Once you have the mountain, then they can start sorting. It's helpful to have a trash bag or bin nearby, as well as a bin for toys and stuff to donate. Every item in the pile should have a place to go; if it doesn't, it's either trash or goes in the donate pile. Kids might have a hard time decided what goes in which pile at first. But once they get in the habit of putting things back in their place, it'll be easy to tell what doesn't belong!
You may need to do the Mountain Method with your kids a couple of times before they get the hang of it. But once they do, it should come in handy for helping them keep their rooms clean and organized.
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