8 Easy Tips On How To Declutter Your Home For Summer Fun

Chill out this summer and get organized with these 8 easy tips. With a little planning ahead it is a snap to organize your home for summer fun.

In the days before freeways when I was a child my mother would load up the car with two kids and everything we would need for the summer and travel about 600 miles to our grandmother's home. Summer wasn't exactly lazy as we would get up at 4:00 a.m. and pick raspberries in my uncle's patch until all the rows were done. We usually got through about 1:00 p.m. I swore I would never eat another raspberry in my life. I didn't eat them in the patch but I got so hot and tired picking them.

Today my thoughts turn from picking berries to having an organized summer so I can relax and take it a bit easier. With a little planning ahead it is a snap to organize your home for summer activities and just chilling out.

1. What's for dinner? Plan summer dinners ahead of time instead of dreading every day and not knowing what to cook for dinner. If meat for the grill is on the menu take it out the night before and put it in the refrigerator. Make simple desserts or buy fresh fruit and berries. Become an expert cooking Crockpot meals.

2. Plan one day a week to have a pre-cooked meal such as a rotisserie chicken or pizza from the freezer. Make extra meals when cooking, freeze the extra and cook it on a busy or lazy day. Assign each child a day to cook dinner once a week. This is a fun way for them to learn to cook and they have the time in the summer. Plan picnic lunches or dinners and serve simple sandwiches and chips along with veggies.

3. Don't over schedule your kids with summer activities. Limit activities so you don't have to be running them around from place to place all day every day. You need some down time too. Children need to chill out too and enjoy being children, dreaming and creating.

4.To cut down on the washing and folding of clothes teach children to use their bath towels more than one time and hang it up after using it. Make a family laundry schedule. When children are encouraged to wash and fold laundry they may be motivated to hang their clothes up after wearing them only once if they aren't dirty. They will find other ways to cut down on laundry being thrown in the laundry bin.

5. Encourage everyone to declutter your home starting with their bedrooms. Help younger children sort through their clothes and donate those that don't fit or put away seasonal clothes if this haven't been done already and pair down on the number of toys they have.

6. After their bedrooms are de-cluttered schedule one or two mornings a week to declutter different places in your home. With children home for the summer it is a good time to teach them the value of work and pitching in to help the family. Start with a small project first and work your way up to larger projects like the garage. This may also mean getting up early to organize before it gets too hot to work outside. It is important to reward everyone with a treat after each project is completed. Let the children decide what kind of treat they will have--either something to eat or a field trip someplace in town.

7. When scheduling time to de-clutter also schedule time to do nothing. Declare sleep-in days or reading and craft days. When children know summer will not just be all work and no play they will be more cooperative when asked to work.

8. When planning a field trip to a local museum, farmers market, or other activity plan ahead by checking to see if you have food you plan on taking, the car has gas and the kids clothes and bags are laid out the night before.

Organizing will help you have a terrific summer you and your children can enjoy and look back on as one of the best ever.