Organize and Simplify

Ages & Stages

See also Ages and Stages under Responsibility (later) for age-appropriate chores.

Some ideas to help your children organize and simplify with you:

Preschoolers and Kindergartners

• Go on a trash hunt together;
  
• Make a game of putting things away -- “You put the red ones away, and I’ll put the blue ones away.”
  
• Involve you child in housekeeping. [See Responsibility -- later]

Elementary Age Children

• Use a checklist to help them develop before-school routines;
  
• Do your routines with your children. Instead of directing them to hang up their coats, do it with them;
  
• Set the timer to spend 15 minutes together organizing your child’s room.

Middleschoolers

• Get your child accustomed to using calendars, homework journals, or day planners (see ADHD Resources);
  
• Teach your child how to sort through his things and give away what he doesn’t want;
  
• Collaborate with your middle-schooler to create routines that help her accomplish her daily responsibilities.

Pre-Adolescents and Adolescents

• Teach children your organization methods to prepare them to be independent adults;
  
• Cement the habit of using calendars and planning tools;
  
• Teenagers appreciate independence. Hand them the responsibility for taking care of their things and minimizing clutter.