In and of itself, keeping the house tidy can be a complicated task in everyday life. And this feeling is amplified if we have young children at home, because toys tend to be a magnet for clutter. In fact, their size hardly matters, because children often use them and then leave them scattered throughout the rooms.

Any mother or father knows this all too well. In fact, the Japanese “guru” of home organization, Marie Kondo, has also gone through this as a mother of three. She has even admitted that, with her young children, she can’t keep her house exactly the way she’d like it to be.

Despite this, she has incorporated new strategies for organizing toys using the Konmari method, and in this article we’ll share her new tips with you.

With kids, there’s no such thing as perfect order

Having a family has changed Marie Kondo’s priorities, as she herself admits.“When I first started, I worked very hard to live up to my ideal. I took many cleaning lessons and tried to help a lot of people while gaining a lot of experience. But now I want to spend more time with my family,” she said in an interview with the *Daily Mail*.

That’s why she says, “When it was just the two of us, my house was pretty close to that ideal of order (…). But now we have different priorities, and what brings us joy is playing with our kids and having fun with them. So if it’s messy, it’s no big deal—I don’t want to waste my time getting upset.” This has led her to take a new approach to her Konmari method: “Your children are only little once, so don’t worry and enjoy the moment.”

Happiness is found in everyday life

The evolution of his outlook on life has led to the creation of a new method, the kurashi. This method aims to organize personal space so that each person can create their own personal lifestyle. It brings together several simple ideas for finding happiness in everyday things, since“the ultimate goal of organizing is to awaken everyday joy and lead a happy life.”

Thus, it is not just a matter of creating physical order, but something more:“A blockage in a specific area of the organizational process always corresponds to another in some aspect of a person’s life, such as their relationships or work,” notes the Japanese writer.

The goal is to develop a series of daily routines that provide a combination of peace of mind and happiness, while avoiding the pressure to maintain a perfect home at all times where everything is in order. “We must organize our hearts and minds to know what we truly want,,” she concludes.

Recommendations for organizing toys using the Konmari method

In any case, it’s not about abandoning your previous philosophy, but rather adapting it to the new needs that may arise when you have children at home. That’s why, first and foremost, if you’re not already familiar with them, we invite you to discover in this article the basic principles of the Konmari method for organizing your home. Not only will you find them very practical in your day-to-day life, but they’ll also help you better understand the tips for organizing toys according to this comprehensive system.

After that, you can start applying the four main recommendations for organizing toys using the Konmari method as proposed by its creator.

Help children understand the importance of being organized

First of all, it’s essential to involve children in the process of putting their toys away. So we should try to help them understand that this is a positive activity that offers various benefits, because it will allow them to:

• Knowing where everything is kept.
• To have more space in their room to play.
• To move more freely within their own space.
• Focus better when they have to do exercises or schoolwork.

Treat the task like a game

Usually, organizing a room is seen as something boring or tedious. That’s why, when it comes to tidying up toys using the Konmari method, we want to instill in children the idea that it’s a positive task that can even be fun. To do this, we can try to gamify it—that is, turn it into a little game to make it more enjoyable for them.

This should be done practically from their first year of life, ideally always with a smile on our faces, so they can see that tidying up is rewarding. That way, by tidying up with them in a fun way, they’ll learn its importance and also discover how to do it best: using boxes, baskets, shelves, etc.

Assign a specific place for everything

Cleaning up a child’s room can become a daily chore. What we’ve put away today will probably be out of place again tomorrow, so it’s also essential to designate a specific spot for each object or toy. Doing so will ensure that we always know exactly where to put each item when putting it away.

In addition, it’s important to keep in mind that it’s not just crucial for us to know where everything belongs. The child needs to know this, too, because that way, he or she will be able to more easily get into the habit of putting toys back where they belong once they’re done playing with them.

Probably the easiest way for you and your children will be to establish a set of guidelines for organizing. The Konmari method for organizing toys suggests sorting them by category, not by location, since this will allow them to be more independent when it comes to taking them out and putting them away. In fact,make sure the items they use most often are kept in low, easily accessibleareas!

Please understand that space is limited

A child’s room tends to be a place where things pile up. Gifts from the Three Kings, birthday presents, things we give them, or gifts from relatives… can cause things to gradually pile up until the space becomes too small and everything spills out.

To organize toys using the Konmari method, we also need to understand that there’s a limit to how organized things can be—and once that limit is exceeded, clutter ends up taking over. So it’s not about putting things away or moving them around, but simply getting rid of them.

In this regard, we should pay attention to all the toys that the child no longer uses or that, due to their age, are no longer appropriate for them. And we should help them understand that it’s necessary to give them away, donate them, or throw them out so they’ll have room to make way for new ones. In fact, it might be a good idea to do this kind of cleanup at the beginning or end of each year, thereby making it a habit.

Learn to organize toys using the Konmari method for a more organized future

In short, tidiness is a value that it is essential for every person to learn during childhood. That’s why it’s so important to do this together with our children on a daily basis—because, in addition to helping them enjoy their bedroom space more, they’ll gradually develop the habit and actively participate in the process, allowing them to learn and eventually apply this organizational skill to other aspects of their lives.

We recommend:

• 10 Ideas for Organizing Your Pantry
• 5 Feng Shui Tips for Your New Home
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