September is nearly upon us which means getting ready for the start of term for those of us with kids. We’ve all hopefully had a relaxing summer and now it’s time to get back in gear and into that term-time routine. Here are a few handy tips on getting organised at home in preparation for going back to school.

1. Clothing

Make some space in the wardrobes and drawers by decluttering your children’s clothing - let go of anything that they’ve outgrown (or never wear) and either sell, donate to charity or recycle.
If you’re keeping items for a younger sibling, pop them in a vacuum pack and clearly label it with the age and season of the clothes inside.
Make sure you have all the necessary uniform items bought, washed and labelled in advance to avoid a last minute panic!
If you’re using the same wardrobe for school and non-school clothing, it can be useful to separate those two categories by using different coloured hangers so they don’t get mixed up. Velvet hangers are great for saving space and you can get them in children’s sizes too! Different coloured boxes in drawers can also be used to separate items into categories.

2. Living spaces

Bedrooms and living rooms:

Declutter the spaces we’ve all been living in for the summer holidays - especially the living room and children’s bedrooms. Toys, games etc. can all be put away - give everything a home (labelled boxes are great for this purpose) Invite the kids to choose the boxes and create their own labels it will give them ownership and encourage them to keep their belongings tidy.

If you’re short on space, some people like to store games in plastic wallets as the boxes they come in can be quite bulky. Here’s a link to show you how: https://homeandkind.com/game-organization-into-bags/

They’re moving up a year so have a look at old toys and games that they haven’t payed with for a while - talk to them about donating to other children - keep a ‘donation box’ in their room and ask them to pick items each week / month that they don’t play with anymore.

Bathrooms:

Even the bathroom can be decluttered and made ready - make sure empty bottles are thrown away and you’re stocked up on shampoo, soap, toothpaste etc. It will make your school morning routines as easy as possible to get out of the door on time.

Garden:

Outdoor summer toys and games away can be put away e.g. paddling pool, water guns (unless we get that September heatwave in which case keep a few to hand for some weekend fun!)

Hallway:

Think through your routines leaving in the morning and coming home after school. Have a designated space to put school bags, shoes, coats as this will stop them just being dumped. Have a ‘grab and go box’ on the hall table to store your essentials for the school run (keys, mask, umbrella, phone etc)

3. Desks / work stations

Declutter their desks - clearing away anything from the last school year and making sure you are stocked up on stationery (pens, paper, notebooks etc) that they will need for homework. Clear out any old pens and markers that have dried up. Sharpen pencils.

It’s great to have a designated homework space but it doesn’t have to be their own desk, it could be the kitchen table - if so, have a box or cart (the RASKOG trolley from Ikea is great for this) to put away homework items before you all sit down for dinner. It makes the transition from ‘school’ to ‘home’ life a little more defined.

Make decluttering the work space a weekly routine - your child can either do this themselves depending on their age, or help you to do it. It will stop everything piling up and becoming unmanageable.

Having a filing system for completed school projects and ‘current’ / ‘to do‘ projects can help. This could just be different coloured lever arch files or file folders.

Donate or sell old books that are from last year’s reading level, unless you’re keeping them for a younger sibling.

4. School bags

Clear out school bags from last year so they’re empty and ready for the start of the new school year. You can even make it a weekly habit - let your kids take ownership of this.

5. Artwork and creations

The artwork and creations that your kids bring home are lovely but can soon stack up and become overwhelming. It’s a good idea to have a folder for these - think about storing the ‘bests, mosts and favourites’. Going through them as soon as they come home helps you keep on top of it. If you have a lot, you could even make a photo book of the best ones. Just take a snap on your phone and send them off to an app such as Photobooks.

6. Kitchen

Declutter and clear out your fridge to save you time and stress on those busy mornings and evenings.

Snacks - declutter anything that has accumulated over summer, maybe gone out of date. Get snacks ready and organised for taking to school so you don’t waste precious time in the mornings. Keep different snacks in different boxes so they can be easily identified - then they can even get their own ready if they’re old enough to do this.

Tupperware - make sure you have what you need for school lunches and snacks to hand.

Meal planning for the week ahead - we’ve probably relaxed a bit over summer, but time is going to be limited in the weekday afternoons and evenings now. Plan ahead for the week for evening meals, and packed lunches - see my interview about meal planning and kitchen organisation with Rachel from Nutribalance here

7. Planners

Try pinning up a big weekly planner to show all after school activities etc for the family. Then everyone knows what they’re doing. You could use different colours for each child. It could even be a dry wipe board.

8. Action folder

As the parent or guardian, it can be helpful to have a working folder for anything that needs actioning during the week e.g. permission slips, party invites, notes from teachers etc. Drop all documents into the folder and have a quick look through it each evening - then you can have anything ready for the following morning for the kids to take into school.

9. Run through your routine

It can be difficult to get back into the school routine, so those brave enough could try a couple of practice days of getting up, getting dressed and eating breakfast by the time you would need to leave for school. Saves the stress of it all on the first day back.

(You’ll also be up early enough to pack in any last minute holiday activities with the kids - Bonus!)

10. Involve the children in on-going maintenance.

Being organised and tidy is a skill that can be learnt, so why not start from a young age. I often work with clients who have young children and I encourage them to involve the children in decluttering and organising from approximately age 5 and up.

The more ownership you can give a child of their spaces and their belongings, the more they are likely to keep it tidy and treat their items with respect. The more fun you can create out of these tasks, the better - no one likes a ‘chore’.

Some examples of how to involve your children are:

- Inviting them to choose their storage (boxes, hangers, storage units).

- Asking them to create their own labels for storage (for toy boxes, clothes storage etc)

- Talking to them about donating - as I mentioned above, having a donations box in their room can be a great way for them to learn about letting go of items they don’t use any more and letting another child benefit from this. Take them through the whole journey, even taking them to the charity shop with you so they can see how the whole process works.

- Involve them in the laundry! Teach them how to fold and hang their clothes. My 4 year old can fold all her own clothes and put them away….it’s a fun game for her and most importantly it’s HER game. I’m not allowed to do it anymore. Win!

Happy Autumn term!

Aug 28 Top Ten Tips to declutter and organise your home ready for the start of school