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Organizing Kid Spaces – Why Children Should Make Their Beds

Last week, I shared a post I wrote over a year ago, entitled “Why You Should Make Your Bed.”  It soared with popularity yet again. A comment from one of my followers inspired me to write an additional post on why children should make their beds.

In the fall of 2013, my middle child started Kindergarten. My husband and I deemed it time to teach the responsibility of bed making with our children.  Particularly the two oldest. They were 5 and 7 at the time. We decided that as part of the morning routine, we would train them to make their beds before school.

Why? Well for one, I had spent money and time decorating their room. They wanted a pirate room, and I gave them one. Go here to see what I did! If the beds were messy it totally took away from the overall appearance of the room! Therefore, it also took away the room’s VALUE. We want to teach our children to have responsibility and respect for their space.

I can’t remember exactly how long it took them to develop the routine and perform the chore on their own, but I do know it was less than two weeks.  They caught on quicker than we thought they would, and now it takes them less than 5 minutes to make their beds.

If you want to begin this with your children, but don’t know how, read on!

Here are some simple steps:

1. Communicate to your children at a family meal time that you are going to help them develop the habit of making their beds. Tell them the day it will start. The first day of the week is a great time to start a new routine.
2. For at least the first week, help them make the bed. Show them what it should look like when its made. Slowly start helping less and less until they are doing most of the work.
3. When it seems they are ready, let them try solo.

You know your child well and can adapt this to fit their personality. But the key is to FACILITATE their learning so that they feel fully capable of doing it themselves, and are willing to do it everyday.

If you ask my children if they enjoy making their beds, they will tell you, “NO!”  And I think that’s normal.  But they do it on their own, without us even asking. Take note: the bed doesn’t look as glamorous as it would if I had done it, but its made! And it makes the room feel put together. And guess what: just as with our master bedroom, the kids are less likely to leave their room in disarray with their bed’s made.

Please remember this will not work well if YOU are not making your bed daily. If that’s you, take the opportunity to begin yourself. Its a 5 minute investment of time that pays you back for 16 hours plus!

I was able to take some pictures this morning at 6:15am as they were in the process, excuse the poor lighting and bed heads!

Bed making is a great way to teach your child a simple responsibility. The more responsibility we teach them now, the more responsible and organized they will be as adults. Let’s take every opportunity.

Get Organized. Simply Live.