Organize Kids' Bedrooms Before the Holidays: Make Room for What's Coming

In a few weeks, a small avalanche of new toys, games, books, clothes and gadgets is headed for your child's room. The room already holds 173 objects, 42 stuffed animals and a three-foot dollhouse nobody's touched since spring.

The math doesn't work. So before the gifts arrive, make some room. Here's how to clear out what's done, set up storage your kids can actually use, and save a spot for what's coming, without a meltdown (theirs or yours).

1. Start Before the Gifts Arrive

The best time to organize a kid's room is before Christmas morning covers the floor in boxes, wrapping paper and batteries. Even one hour in early December makes a difference.

2. Don't Empty the Entire Room

Dumping everything onto the floor makes the room look like it was hit by a tornado, and you'll lose your nerve (and your kid's cooperation) halfway through. Work one category at a time: clothes, then stuffed animals, then books. Containment is our friend.

3. Begin With the Easy Trash

Start with the stuff nobody's going to fight for: empty packaging, paper scraps, dried-out markers, broken crayons and toys that can't be fixed. Quick wins build momentum.

Save the sentimental stuff for later. The bear has attorneys.

4. Remove Clothes That Don't Fit

5. Let Kids Help Decide What Goes

If you purge their room while they're at school, you'll get a cleaner room today. It can also make your child suspicious of you for the next decade.

Ask them instead:

•      "Do you still play with this?"

•      "If you saw it in a store today, would you want it?"

•      "Would another kid have fun with this?"

•      "Do you want to make room for new things?"

Kids surprise you. Most will happily let go of baby toys if it means there's room for something new.

For ideas on what kids can do at each age, see Chores for Kids by Age.

6. Don't Ask About Every Single Toy

Asking a six-year-old to decide about 173 individual toys is a 40-minute negotiation that ends in tears. Group things by category first: all the cars together, all the dolls, all the blocks. Seeing all of it at once makes the duplicates obvious.

Four toy cars are a collection. Thirty-eight constitute a transportation department.

7. Use Four Decisions

Every item gets one of four destinations:

•      Keep: They play with it, love it or it's a current favorite.

•      Donate: It's in good shape, but they're done with it.

•      Sell: Only if it's worth the hassle, like big-ticket toys, bikes or complete sets.

•      Toss: Broken, missing pieces, or too worn to donate.

No "maybe" piles. Those are storage systems for indecision.

8. Be Ruthless About Broken Toys

Fix it only if you will actually fix it, this week, and your child still wants it. Otherwise it goes. The toy you've been planning to repair "later"? Later has submitted its resignation.

9. Find the Toys Your Child Has Outgrown

Your child has moved beyond:

•      Baby toys and rattles

•      Preschool puzzles with chunky pieces

•      Board books and early readers

•      Toddler building sets

•      Toys labeled for a much younger age

These make great donations if they're clean and complete. Wipe them down before they go. Check that donated toys aren't on a recall list at CPSC.gov.

10. Tame the Stuffed-Animal Population

Gather every stuffed animal in the house onto the bed. Seeing all 42 at once is persuasive. Let your child pick their favorites, then go through the rest together. The ones nobody's hugged in a year, or that are worn, stained or missing an eye, can go.

You don't need a fixed number. The goal isn't to limit love. It's to prevent the bed from becoming a wildlife preserve.

Keep the favorites in one place: a hammock in the corner, a basket, or a net hung from a hook.

11. By the Book

Pull out the books your child has outgrown, the duplicates, and any with ripped pages or missing covers. Keep the favorites and the ones they're growing into. Then put the books where they can reach them, face-out if possible so they can see the covers.

You'll find at least one library book, a lost homework sheet, and a cup that has been missing since June.

Donate books in good condition to a school, library book sale, children's hospital or Little Free Library.

12. Reduce Art and Craft Supplies

Test the markers and toss the dried-out ones. Combine the crayons into one container. Do the same with the glue sticks, the stickers and the scissors. Toss dried-up Play-Doh and paint.

You don't need seven containers with four crayons in each. This is organization, not crayon franchising.

13. Deal With Tiny Toy Pieces

Put stray pieces back with their sets as you go. For the ones you can't match right away, use one small "parts" container, and match them up or toss them by January.

Do not dedicate half a drawer to a plastic piece whose identity has been under investigation since 2024.

If there's a toddler in the house, keep small parts, marbles, Lego and anything that fits through a toilet-paper tube up high and out of reach. If it fits through the tube, it's a choking hazard for kids under 3.

14. Match the Storage to the Child

The best storage is the kind your child can use without your help. Keep it simple: books go here, blocks go here, cars go here. Complicated systems with 14 labeled bins fall apart in a week.

For more ideas, see my Tips for Organizing Kids' Rooms.

15. Use Open Bins for Frequently Used Toys

Open bins and baskets without lids are easiest for kids to use. Toss it in, done. Pick bins small enough for your child to carry. Not every Lego brick requires its own administrative district.

16. Label Where It Helps

For kids who can't read yet, use picture labels: a photo or drawing of what goes in each bin. For older kids, words work. Keep the categories broad, like "Cars," "Blocks" and "Animals." If you've labeled a bin "Medium-Sized Plastic Animals," you've gone too far.

17. Keep Everyday Things Within A Child's Reach

Put current favorites on low shelves and in low bins, where your child can reach them. Store less-used toys higher, farther back, under the bed or in a closet, and rotate them in every few weeks.

Storage should reflect use. Not archaeological age.

18. Don't Let the Closet Become the Dumping Ground

Give the closet specific jobs: clothes that fit now, shoes, a limited amount of toy storage, and the off-season stuff. Hang a second rod lower so kids can reach their own clothes, and add hooks at their height for backpacks and pajamas.

A closed door is an excellent short-term cleaning technique. It is not a long-term storage plan.

19. Clear the Floor

A clear floor makes the room easier to clean, easier to walk through without stepping on a Lego, and easier to play in. Everything on the floor either gets a home or gets a decision.

20. Clear the Top of the Dresser

The dresser top collects outgrown clothes, papers, cups, coins, rocks, wrappers and a single sock. Clear it off. Children are resourceful. Every flat surface is a shelf to them.

21. Create a Home for New Gifts Before Christmas

Leave one bin, one shelf, one drawer or a section of the closet completely empty. It's not wasted space. When the new toys arrive, they have somewhere to go. Empty space is doing a job.

22. Don't Buy Organizers Until You've Decluttered

If you buy six new bins before you declutter, you'll just store the same excess in nicer containers. Now color-coordinated.

Declutter first. Then see what you actually need. You'll usually find you already own enough storage.

23. Create a Donation Box Before the Holidays

Set a box in the room, and fill it as you go. When you're done, put it in the car, and drop it off within the week. A donation box that sits in the hallway for a month starts getting un-donated.

One more reason to do it now: charities need toys before the holidays, not after.

24. Stop When the Room Works

You're done when:

•      Your child can find things, and put them away without you

•      You can walk across the room without stepping on anything

•      The clothes in the closet fit

•      There's room for the new gifts

It doesn't need to look like a catalog. It needs to work.

Make the Room Safe While You're In There

•      Anchor the furniture. Bolt dressers, bookcases and TVs to the wall with anti-tip kits (around $10 at hardware stores). Kids climb drawers like ladders, and tip-overs cause thousands of injuries every year, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

•      Check the toy chest. Use one with no lid, or a lid with a support hinge that holds it open at any angle. That way it can't slam shut on fingers or heads, or trap a child inside.

•      Watch for button batteries and magnets. Check remotes, light-up toys and new gifts for battery covers that screw shut. Swallowed button batteries and high-powered magnets cause serious internal injuries. Go to the ER right away if you think a child swallowed one.

•      Keep cords from blinds and curtains out of reach of young children.

The One-Hour Pre-Christmas Kids' Room Reset

•      Minutes 1–10: Easy trash

•      Minutes 11–20: Clothes that don't fit

•      Minutes 21–35: Toys: broken, outgrown and unplayed-with

•      Minutes 36–45: Books and art supplies

•      Minutes 46–55: Put everything back where it belongs

•      Minutes 56–60: Empty one bin or shelf for new gifts

Then stop. Do not wander into the sibling's room. Rest.

The 20-Minute Emergency Version

•      5 minutes: Toss the trash

•      5 minutes: Pull out clothes that don't fit

•      5 minutes: Pick 5 to 10 toys or books nobody uses for the donation box

•      5 minutes: Clear the floor, and empty one shelf or bin

What to Do on Christmas Morning

•      Keep one big trash bag and one recycling bag right by the tree

•      Keep each gift's pieces together, in its own box or a zip-top bag

•      Keep the instructions with the toy

•      Put small parts and button batteries up high right away, especially with toddlers around

•      Toss the excess packaging and twist ties as you go

And prepare yourself for the question of the day: "Where is this supposed to go?" The answer is the empty bin you saved.

The One-In, One-Out Rule: Optional, Not Law

For every new toy, one old toy goes. It works for some families and feels like a punishment in others. Use it if it helps, skip it if it causes tears. Your child's bedroom is not an inventory-controlled warehouse.

After Christmas: The 15-Minute Gift Reset

A few days after the holiday, check:

•      Does every new gift have a home?

•      Do the new clothes fit? (Return or exchange the ones that don't, before the return window closes.)

•      Did anything arrive in duplicate?

•      Are the small parts stored safely?

•      Are the batteries and instructions where they belong?

Do it soon. New things develop permanent squatting rights surprisingly quickly.

What About Sentimental Toys?

Know the difference between "My child loves this" and "I remember when my child loved this." The first one stays in the room. The second one is your keepsake, so keep a few in a labeled memory box in the closet or the attic, not on the toy shelf. Take a photo of the rest before they go.

What About Gifts A Child Doesn't Want?

You can exchange it, return it, donate it, pass it along to a cousin or friend, or keep it for a little while until your child decides. A gift is not a lifetime storage contract.

Five Things to Organize Before Christmas

1.     Outgrown clothes

2.     Toys nobody plays with

3.     Broken toys

4.     Outgrown books

5.     The floor

Pre-Holiday Kids' Bedroom Checklist

Declutter

•      Toss trash, dried-out markers and broken toys

•      Pull clothes that don't fit

•      Pull outgrown toys and books

•      Cull the stuffed animals with your child

•      Fill the donation box, and drop it off

Organize

•      Group toys by category

•      Use open bins with picture labels

•      Put favorites within reach

•      Clear the floor and the dresser top

•      Anchor dressers and bookcases to the wall

Prepare for Gifts

•      Empty one bin, shelf or drawer

•      Set out trash and recycling bags for Christmas morning

•      Plan a spot for small parts and batteries, up high

Kids' Room Holiday Organizing FAQ

How do I declutter my kid's toys before Christmas?

Group the toys by category so you can see the duplicates. Then let your child help decide what to keep, donate, sell or toss. Start with the easy stuff: trash, broken toys and things they've outgrown. Donate before the holidays, when charities need toys most.

How many stuffed animals should a child keep?

There's no magic number. Put them all on the bed, let your child pick the favorites, and let go of the ones nobody hugs anymore. Keep the rest in one basket or hammock.

How do I make room for new toys?

Clear out the outgrown and broken toys, then leave one bin, shelf or drawer completely empty before Christmas. The new gifts go there.

Don't Aim for the Perfect Kids' Room

There will be a sock on the floor. There will be Lego in the hallway. That's normal. You're not trying to create a room that never gets messy. You're trying to create one that's easy to reset in five minutes.

The Bottom Line

Remove what your child is finished with. Organize what's left simply enough that they can put it away themselves. And leave some space empty.

Something new is coming. Give it somewhere to land.

Keep the Kids' Room Under Control All Year

The Daily Home Reset gives you a 15-minute daily routine, including a quick nightly pickup kids can do on their own, so the room doesn't need a big purge every December.

And for the rest of the house, Room by Room gives you a no-guilt plan to declutter every space, one room at a time.

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Keep Going

The kids' room is ready for Santa. Keep the rest of the house on track with these related guides:

•      Tips for Organizing Kids' Rooms: Simple storage ideas that work all year long.

•      How to Declutter Your Home: The four-pile method for every room in the house.

•      How to Organize Your Home Room by Room: My complete guide to giving everything a home.

•      Teaching Kids Household Chores: Get kids helping all year, not just before the holidays.

•      Chores for Kids by Age: Real jobs for kids at every age.

•      Holiday Family Cleaning: Get the whole house ready without doing it all yourself.

•      25 Easy Christmas Tips: Simplify gifts, decorating, dinner and guests.

•      After-Holiday Green Cleaning: Clean up after Christmas without the waste.