10 ways to teach kids to be organized

• Organize your child's room like a preschool classroom.
• Create a "home" for everything important.
• Teach a child to let go of things by helping them donate or consign stuff they no longer need.

Now that kids are back at school, what better time for parents of young children to finally get organized. "You are your child's role model," says professional organizer Charlotte Steill, owner of Simply Put Organizing in Scottsdale.

Steill helps lots of young parents organize everything from childhood photos and artwork to family rooms and playrooms. She says kids will model what you do when it comes to organization. Teach them good habits, and you'll both benefit — even if that means you need to teach yourself better organizing skills — fast. "You may be learning together," she adds.

Erika Gentner, co-owner of Dependable Divas, is a professional organizer in Phoenix who agrees it's "super important" to get kids on the right track early.

"It teaches them responsibility and relieves stress on me when they can go and find their own shoes or get their things together for football practice," says Gentner, a mother of two young sons.

Gentner and Steill share 10 tips for teaching kids to be organized, so they won't battle a lifetime of bad habits.

1. Create systems. Clutter is simply stuff that doesn't have a designated "home," and organizing is all about creating a designated spot for everything you want to keep. Once you create these systems, it's easy to put things where they belong.

Think about a preschool classroom. There are defined spaces, and everything from scissors to building blocks have a designated bin or basket so kids can put things away easily. "That is how any child's room should be," Steill explains. "They have to know where things go." If it's hard for a child to clean his room, he probably needs a better system and guidance to create a place for everything important.

In a child's room, it can be hard to categorize some of their well-loved, random treasures. Gentner's sons, ages 8 and 10, get the top drawer of their dressers for miscellaneous treasures they want to keep.

2. Use the right tools. In her job, Steill comes back to many of the same tools over and over. Ikea's Kallax bookshelves and bins (plus Threshold cubes from Target that fit in Kallax) are great for storing toys, she says. She also loves the canvas Crunch baskets by Umbra from the Container Store for toys and more. Steill and Gentner like the concept of storing stuffed animals in a bean-bag chair cover from Pottery Barn. As tempting as it is to run out and buy fancy organizing stuff that's displayed everywhere this month in stores, Steill recommends sticking with basic, proven organizing tools that don't become part of the clutter you're trying to contain. Nice labels also make it easy for kids to understand where things go.

3. Make an entryway system. Open locker-type cubbies in mudrooms and hallways near the garage entrance are hugely popular right now for a reason. They give kids a place to hang their backpacks and store their shoes without cluttering the rest of the house. Gentner uses this system and swears by it. "If you don't have that, you could buy the cubbies at Ikea," Gentner says. "Pick a place in your house, a centralized place that's easy for them."

4. Keep a family calendar. Teaching kids to organize their time is another big challenge. It helps if the whole family has a command center or an easily accessible calendar everyone can see. Teach early on that if something isn't written down, it can be easily forgotten, Steill says. Gentner likes the whiteboard calendar system from Pottery Barn. She color-codes it using a different color marker for each family member.

5. Introduce the to-do list or daily planner. A to-do list is another valuable tool, Steill says. She's a little old school, keeping paper lists rather than jotting everything in her iPhone. The simple process of writing things down helps one remember, and the practice of sitting down each night to rewrite the day's to-do list is an important organizing tool for her. Your kids may end up with their own system, but having them keep a simple daily or weekly to-do list or getting them a planner is a great start. Genter says she bought her son a children's daily planner from Lakeshore Learning when he was 6 years old.

"Each of my kids has a planner for school," Genter says. "My oldest started when he was 6. He's in fourth grade, and it's been a lifesaver for all of us. ... I know exactly what homework they have. I think it helps them at a glance to see what they need to do, and they like to check it off, too."

6. Teach the concept of letting stuff go. "Kids have a natural tendency to keep everything," Steill says. "If they have too much stuff in their room, it's impossible to be organized." While not against a little retail therapy from time to time, Steill says constantly gaining stuff while not purging your home of the things you no longer need is the basic formula for chaos.

Because it's often difficult for kids — and many adults — to part with things, it's great to introduce the concept of a "halfway house" early on, Steill says. This is a spot to house things you no longer use, but that you're not sure you're ready to part with. Pick a closet shelf or designate a basket or bin to hold these items. After a set time, revisit these things and see if you want to keep them, sell them or donate them. "I always wanted it to be her decision," Steill says of teaching her daughter, now a teenager, to get rid of things she had outgrown.

7. Introduce the donation bag. Steill remembers her daughter was about 2 when Steill took her to a local charity that collected toys for disadvantaged kids. Even getting them to part with a single old toy they no longer play with to give to another child is a big step toward teaching an important life lesson. "There are kids that don't have any toys," Steill would tell her daughter. "It's part of our family values that we give" to others. Steill keeps a donation bag in her house at all times and uses it to collect miscellaneous clothing that no longer fits or items she no longer needs.

8. Create homework space. Gentner believes it's important to create dedicated homework space where kids can easily access all their supplies without constantly getting up to get something, which is too distracting. "If it's your kitchen counter, have a caddy on the counter that has the supplies that they need," she says.

9. Explain consignment and resale. Getting rid of things we no longer want or need can be easier if there's a monetary reward. When Steill's daughter wanted to start buying her own clothing and accessories, she helped her consign things she had outgrown at Hissyfits, a local kids resale shop. You can also introduce them to resale clothing stores that offer cash or credit for trendy clothing, such as Buffalo Exchange and Plato's Closet.

10. Plan an activity. Cook together. Or let your child have a main role in planning a fun weekend or vacation day. Anything that requires organization and completing tasks is a good learning tool. Cooking is a good one because it involves preplanning to have the right ingredients. But pick something that works for both your interests.

Reach the reporter at kara.morrison@arizonarepublic.com.