Teaching children respect for their rooms, toys and stuff is important. Skills learned as a child will affect their behavior in this area as they grow older.
One key factor in teaching this respect to children of any age is to remember that our children “do what we do, not what we say.” If we want our children to show respect for their environments, we must model this for them: picking up after ourselves, being organized, cleaning up one thing before moving on to the next, and showing appreciation for our homes and the things we own.
As parents, we can set our kids up for success by using a few simple ideas:
- Limit the number of toys that are available to your child at a given time. Less toys for younger kids, but you can increase the amount as they get older and are able to take greater responsibility for their things. A good way to do this is to keep some toys in storage and to switch them around every once in a while or to put toys in separate bins and have your child select one or two bins to play with at a time.
- Design your child’s area tastefully. Keep it simple but fun - a space your child can feel is theirs (sense of ownership) and is worth keeping nice.
- Assign a place to each thing. This keeps a space from becoming cluttered and overwhelming. It lets your child feel empowered to clean up. Set things up so that your child is able to follow through. If your method of organization is too complicated or detailed, your child may not even attempt to clean up for fear of failure/not doing it right.
- Show your child the correct way to use their things. Sometimes children break things or do not care properly for them because they have no idea what the item really is nor how to use it properly.
These tips are a great start. But remember, children are curious and adventurous; they learn by experimenting and exploring. Things are bound to get broken or mixed up sometimes. Next week I’ll share some further tips on how to involve your kids in tidying up and caring for their spaces.