ADHD Organization Tips for Your Child"s Room
To say that children with ADHD have messy bedrooms is a wild understatement.
Their rooms often look like they just got hit by a tornado; there are clothes and toys all over the floor, and nothing is ever kept where they should be.
How do you help your child clean up his or her room and make sure it stays clean? Here are six common organizing challenges faced by kids with ADHD, and simple solutions for each.
Toys Children accumulate toys faster than anything else.
Unless you and your child make time to organize and reduce the collection, your child's bedroom or your whole house will be filled with these toys.
Together, pick the toys up from the floor and organize them in two piles - one for toys he or she still plays with, another pile for broken toys or old toys to be given away.
Keep the toys from the first pile in clear bins so it's easier to spot them.
You can also organize them in color-coded boxes - blue for cars, yellow for stuffed animals, and so on.
Tape a label in front of the box for easier retrieval and storage.
Clothes To keep the floor clear of clothes, explain to your child that clothes should only be kept in three places - in the closet, in the wash, or on the body.
Allocate shelves or drawers for each type of clothing - one shelf for shirts, another for socks and underwear, etc.
If your child needs more closet space, do the same thing you did with the toys - separate the clothes your child wears from the ones he or she outgrew.
Keep off-season clothing like down jackets in storage drawers you can keep under the bed.
Shoes Children own fewer shoes than adults, but keeping them neatly stored can be difficult.
Try a rotating shoe tree to keep your child's shoes out of the way without taking too much space.
Books The only way to keep books organized is to provide shelf space.
If one book case isn't enough to contain all your child's books, install a large shelf that hugs an entire wall and keep a stool nearby so your child can reach the upper shelf.
It's also good to purge the bookshelf every once in a while if you're running out of space for new titles.
Donate old books to your local library or a charity.
Artwork As much as you'd like to save every piece of artwork your child takes home from school, it's impossible and impractical to do so.
Even if your child only takes home one masterpiece each week, you'll have hundreds of them after six years - and this is just from a single child!Try storing artwork in folders or drawers, and ask your child to discard a few drawings and paintings.
You can also store these in boxes to keep under the bed.
Sports equipment Are you tired of watching your little athlete toss his or her gear and dirty clothes onto the floor? Make it a sport to throw in sports equipment in a large hamper.
You can also invest in duffel bags to store bulky items in.
Another great option is to get a pegboard for the basement wall or garage, which can hole a wide range of sports equipment.
Their rooms often look like they just got hit by a tornado; there are clothes and toys all over the floor, and nothing is ever kept where they should be.
How do you help your child clean up his or her room and make sure it stays clean? Here are six common organizing challenges faced by kids with ADHD, and simple solutions for each.
Toys Children accumulate toys faster than anything else.
Unless you and your child make time to organize and reduce the collection, your child's bedroom or your whole house will be filled with these toys.
Together, pick the toys up from the floor and organize them in two piles - one for toys he or she still plays with, another pile for broken toys or old toys to be given away.
Keep the toys from the first pile in clear bins so it's easier to spot them.
You can also organize them in color-coded boxes - blue for cars, yellow for stuffed animals, and so on.
Tape a label in front of the box for easier retrieval and storage.
Clothes To keep the floor clear of clothes, explain to your child that clothes should only be kept in three places - in the closet, in the wash, or on the body.
Allocate shelves or drawers for each type of clothing - one shelf for shirts, another for socks and underwear, etc.
If your child needs more closet space, do the same thing you did with the toys - separate the clothes your child wears from the ones he or she outgrew.
Keep off-season clothing like down jackets in storage drawers you can keep under the bed.
Shoes Children own fewer shoes than adults, but keeping them neatly stored can be difficult.
Try a rotating shoe tree to keep your child's shoes out of the way without taking too much space.
Books The only way to keep books organized is to provide shelf space.
If one book case isn't enough to contain all your child's books, install a large shelf that hugs an entire wall and keep a stool nearby so your child can reach the upper shelf.
It's also good to purge the bookshelf every once in a while if you're running out of space for new titles.
Donate old books to your local library or a charity.
Artwork As much as you'd like to save every piece of artwork your child takes home from school, it's impossible and impractical to do so.
Even if your child only takes home one masterpiece each week, you'll have hundreds of them after six years - and this is just from a single child!Try storing artwork in folders or drawers, and ask your child to discard a few drawings and paintings.
You can also store these in boxes to keep under the bed.
Sports equipment Are you tired of watching your little athlete toss his or her gear and dirty clothes onto the floor? Make it a sport to throw in sports equipment in a large hamper.
You can also invest in duffel bags to store bulky items in.
Another great option is to get a pegboard for the basement wall or garage, which can hole a wide range of sports equipment.
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