Brightly Green: Decluttering Children's Bedrooms: It Is More than a Battle of Wills

Friday, April 15, 2016

Decluttering Children's Bedrooms: It Is More than a Battle of Wills

Do you dread spring cleaning your children's bedrooms? When helping your child sort, organize and purge their belongings an amazing transformation takes place. Every unused toy magically becomes your child's favorite and he could not possible live without it! So how do you avoid the toy tug-of-war?

DISCOVERING THE BALANCE

Many childhood educators and psychologists report that there are benefits for a child to have less toys and that in reality, a negative impact occurs in a child with large amounts of toys.

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Too many toys: Anxiety sprouts when there are too many toy options in front of a child, he/she becomes overwhelmed. Distractibility occurs when a child has too many toys to play with. Kathy Sylva, professor of educational psychology at Oxford University said, "When they [children] have large numbers of toys there seems to be a distraction element, and when children are distracted they do not learn or play well." In addition, every new toy introduced in the home brings with it sibling rivalry.

Fewer toys: Children learn to interact more through social play. Imagination and creativity blossom. Children take better care of their toys. Children learn patience and gratitude for what they have.

Research done by Michael Malone, professor of early childhood education at the University of Cincinnati, revealed that…"[children] having fewer toys is associated with less solitary play and increased sharing."

Boredom as a gift: "Allow your child to get bore". Let the child be resourceful because out of boredom comes engagement and creativity and adaptability." -Kim John Payne author of "Simplicity Parenting"

Consider your own childhood. What was your most memorable recollection? Was it centered around the toys you played with or an event/activity.

Ok. Now What?

If you "buy in" to the idea that children should not have a large number of toys, what are your next steps?

Beginner Plan: Get rid of all broken toys. Avoid future toy purchases unless for birthdays and holidays.

Intermediate Plan: Create a toy library. Keep the majority of toys out of your child's bedroom. Allow a select number of toys to be "checked out" at one period and then they have to be returned after a determined time period.

Advanced Plan: Allow your child "X" number of toys to keep and then give the rest away or sell at a garage sale. Do not purchase new toys except for a very special occasion. Encourage relatives to do the same.

If your son or daughter really, really wants a new [blank], have him or her earn it. Earned toys can be more valuable than given ones. In addition, you are teaching character building qualities such as patience, and delayed gratification. It is possible that in the waiting period, the interest in the toy will diminish.

STICK-TO-IT MENTALITY

This is counter-cultural and will take work to "stay in the lane."
Keeping a mental note of the benefits of less in your mind will help you stick-to-it!
Live with less yourself and your children will grow to value this simplistic lifestyle.
Be an engaged parent! Getting involved in their creativity through artistic exploration and nature will help them adapt to having less toys and even excel.

Keep up a green cleaning routine! A disciplined lifestyle keeps us on task. Green cleaning routines refresh our sense of order and peace. When we have those components in our lives we will guard them and not give in to unnecessary purchases that will begin to erode the balance!

A green clean simple bedroom is a need for your child too. A child needs a calming place to unwind and relax in just like adults do. Imagination and creativity have room to grow where there is open space!