Organizing a child’s closet can get a little tricky. You are not just dealing with clothes here – chances are a fair amount of toys are going to have to be dealt with too. You will have to tailor the organizational system you choose to the age of your child and no matter the system or the age you have to be prepared to step in and help out. By the time a child is old enough to put their toys and clothes away they are developing their own sense of independence. Let your child help you decide where everything belongs to give them a sense of ownership over their things and the buy-in you will need to get them to want to help keep things neat and tidy.
Labels are the best way to teach your children what to put where. Whether or not your child can read yet, a combination of pictures and words are a great way to label bins, drawers, and shelves inside a closet. If you have a plastic drawer unit in the closet you might label the first drawer with a picture of some dinky cars and the word “CARS” underneath. Hangers can be tricky for younger children, if they are at an age where they can get dressed on their own consider putting in shelves instead of a rod for hanging. This will make things easier for getting dressed and to begin teaching them to put away their own laundry.
To get off to the right start after you put a new system in place for your child’s closet help them each day to put things where they belong to give them an understanding of the system. As time passes, they will get used to the system and it may only require a weekly clean-up from you to make sure everything is staying on track.