Keeping a tidy and clean home can sometimes feel overwhelming. If you have children, then you'll know how much mess they can create, and this mess isn't just contained to their bedrooms either. Crumbs on the carpets, fingerprints on the glass doors, toys absolutely everywhere and clothes on the floor. Insult is also added to injury if you were expecting otherwise, imagining that there would be no way that your child would be capable of creating such a mess or that you'd even allow it to happen in the first place. It might be time to enlist some help, and we're not talking about hired help, we're talking about your children! There are many ways in which you can teach kids to keep a tidy room and we will be exploring some of them in this blog post, so if you want some tips and tricks then keep on reading.

1. Show your child what to do

It's easy to assume that your child knows how to clean and tidy their room, given that they will have watched you do it for them so many times beforehand. However, this will probably not be the case, especially if they are on the younger side. To get things going, try and focus on one particular task and show them exactly how to do it. For example, if you want your child to start picking up clothes from their floor and folding them away, show them how to do the first few items and give praise and encouragement when they get it right. If your child is older, you could focus on a new task every week, starting with the easier chores and building up to the more difficult ones.

2. Focus on one part of the room at a time

In the same way that we feel overwhelmed with an untidy and unclean home, our children might feel the same way and not know where to begin, especially if your child's room is a disaster zone. To tackle this and to break a large task down into smaller, more manageable tasks, divide the room into sections and have them clean up one section at a time. Perhaps they could clean up the bed area on a Monday and the desk area on a Tuesday, for example.

3. Turn tidying up into a game

If your child has a competitive spirit, then they might enjoy racing their sibling to see how fast they can tidy up a section of their room. You can set a timer and see who wins! You can also race them if they don't have a sibling or have a sibling who is old enough to participate.

4. Rewards and consequences

If your child is on the younger side, then it might be a good idea to implement a reward system. As an example, if they put away all of their stuffed toys into the hamper every day for a week then they get a star. If they get five stars at the end of the week, then they will receive a treat.

If your child is older, then you might still have some luck with a similar reward system where you give out pocket money for chores well done. If that doesn't work, then it might be time to show them the consequences of their actions (or non-actions!). For example, if they fail to hang up their clothes and leave them lying around on the floor, then they don't get to play on computer games until the task has been completed.

How Can We Help?

Here at the Children's Bed Shop, we have plenty of beds that can help with keeping clutter at bay. Many of our beds have excellent storage capabilities. Some have under bed drawers, some have pull-out desks, some have inbuilt shelves, some have inbuilt wardrobes, and some come with a mixture of options.

Some of our most popular beds have a large space between the mattress and the floor (mid sleeper and high sleeper beds) which can be used as a storage space. Think of all of the places that your child can safely store away their belongings. Consider how much extra floor space their room will suddenly gain if you purchase an all-in-one unit as opposed to separate pieces of furniture.

In fact, the only thing that there won't be any room for is excuses as to why they haven't kept their bedroom tidy!