https://www.bin-store.com/blog

If you live in a household with children, you know that kids can equal chaos. It can be very difficult to get children to stay neat and organized, and this problem tends to compound exponentially with every new addition to the household. Children not only have difficulty keeping their own possessions organized, but also keeping them separate from those that belong to their siblings. This can result in squabbles, leading to—you guessed it—a bigger mess. Nothing is worse than watching your kids tear the house apart because they are fighting over ownership of their toys. Way too often you are the one who ends up picking up the mess—and then the quarrel just happens again the next day.

One great way to deal with this problem is to help your kids to get organized by using a color coded organization system. Color coded organizing is used everywhere. It is not only useful in the home, but also in industry and recycling applications. Why? Because it is simple to understand visually at a glance. Many classrooms use color coded bins to help students to keep the classroom in order and remember which supplies belong with which subjects.

You can use a similar system of colored plastic bins in your household. Let each child pick a color that he or she likes (hopefully this won’t lead to a new squabble). If a child feels a personal connection to a color, he or she is more likely to take pride in organizing according to the color system. It instills a feeling of ownership and responsibility. This is key in getting children to get enthusiastic about staying neat.

You can use this system throughout your house. Children’s toys in playrooms and bedrooms can be stored in color coded plastic bins (great for keeping toys sorted according to their owners in playrooms). You can also use color coded laundry baskets to streamline your laundry tasks and keep your children’s clothing organized. Color coded file folders can be used as well to help sort school paperwork and keepsakes.

You may even find the color coding system helpful in the kitchen. Children can be assigned color coded cups and drinking glasses and thermoses for school. Lunchboxes can share the color code, and so can bins in the mudroom for boots and outdoor items. Sports equipment can be stored in more color coded bins in your mudroom.

The color coding system is particularly helpful for very young children who may identify colors before recognizing words and names. Kids love bright colors, and probably already strongly identify with their own favorite colors, which makes them the perfect communication tool in your household. It’s a great idea to also participate in the color coding yourself. Have dishware, bins, and other items in a color of your own choice, and lead by example. Your kids will see you participating and understand why it is important for them to do so, and may have even more fun since you are doing it too.