Declutter your space
Half-term is a great opportunity to sort through your old things and tidy up your room. That might not sound like the most exciting half-term activity but once the floor is clear you’ll have lots of space to do the things you really want to do, like playing with your toys, drawing or reading. Lots of people see tidying up as a never-ending chore – but it doesn’t have to be. The secret is to go into it with the right frame of mind. You don’t have to do it all in one day, either – just do a bit at a time. By tidying up you rediscover old treasures so you don’t need to buy new; you find things you don’t want any more and can pass them on for other children to enjoy; and you sort out anything broken by either fixing it or getting rid of it. Reuse, reduce and recycle – who knew that tidying up could actually be good for the planet? Follow these simple steps to make decluttering your space easier, and learn some skills to keep clutter under control, forever.
What you need
Three big boxes or bags
Sticky labels
Old delivery boxes or shoe boxes Clean jars
Paint, stickers or wrapping paper
1 Get in the right mindset
Be positive. The aim is to organise the things you love or use every day into containers, cupboards, drawers or even displayed on a shelf. Think of decluttering as treating your favourite belongings with respect. You want to enjoy the things you love without tripping over the ones you don’t.
2 Start small
Focus on a small pile of books, one drawer or one shelf in a cupboard. Starting with a large space and expecting to tidy it all in one day is overwhelming. Once this first space is tidied, you’ll feel energised and ready to tackle another one.
3 Tackle hidden areas
The things you can see are the things you use most often. Instead, tackle cupboards, drawers and under the bed – that’s where you’ll find the things that you haven’t used in a while or no longer need. Clearing out these hidden spaces will free up room to store the things you want to keep when they’re not being used.
4 Create organised spaces
At the start, line up three boxes or bags and label them “keep”, “donate” and “rubbish”. Then you will know exactly where to put things as you’re going through them and it will stop you getting distracted. Think about how you use a space. Where do you drop your school bag? Leave a space for it. Where do you do art? Store your art things nearby.
5 Try things out
When working out what to store where, put things in old delivery boxes or shoe boxes. Jars are perfect for storing art supplies and pens (make sure that each pen works before you decide to keep it). Move things around until you are happy with new arrangements. Later, you can decorate the containers with paint, stickers or fun wrapping paper.
6 Donate your old belongings
When you find any toys, books or clothes that you no longer need, put them in a “donate” box. They could be passed on to a family member, a friend or a local charity shop to be enjoyed by someone else.