What did I do? Picture labels so the girls can learn to put away and organize their own toys, and a way to organize their art and memories!
The locked closet idea is still in place for things like their dress up box for one (because that is a terror to clean up at random moments that they decide to dump it all out... so.. it comes out only upon request.) But I wanted to have some more things out in their room that they could learn to clean up and put away on their own. 
How did I do it? I took pictures of the "sets" of things that were going to go in each tub. The picture above has toys that all sort of "go together" so I taped the picture on a little tub from the dollar store, filled it with those toys, and put it on their shelf. I also have a basket for each girl (from the dollar store) that goes on our stairs. I taped their name to their own basket and I can fill it with the toys that they leave downstairs. Well, at the end of the day I can help them learn to put their own things away (ALL the way away! Into the containers and with the lids CLOSED and so on.) This is a super great habit to help them develop.
The next thing that I did was take all their art off the walls in my dining room. The visual "clutter" was just getting to me, and I needed to make some white space. I got a couple three ring binders at Walmart (under $2 each) and bought some page protectors (I think it was like 25 for 3.50 or something) and took down their art and asked them which ones they wanted to keep and which they wanted to throw away. The ones that they wanted went in their albums!
The other use for these notebooks is that they are not "scrapbooks" as well. When the girls want to scrapbook with me I just have to print out a picture for them (or choose from the stash that I've saved for them) and they can glue and add stickers onto the pages that they already painted or colored. 
Lily enjoyed this and I think they will enjoy their art even more with pictures and memories attached to them too!
1 comment:
Lynne'you do such wonderful things with and for the girls! You are a natural mama and they are very blessed to have you. Thank you for your example of continual growth in your walk with the Lord and in how you mother your kids. Love you!
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