How To Keep A Tidy Home With Little Children

Simple steps for keeping a cozy, tidy home—quick cleanups, smart storage, and easy routines that work even with little children around.

Let’s face it. We’ve all been there when the laundry is piling high, the kitchen floor has last nights noodles crunchy under the table and you’d rather nap than clean. But here’s the good news: keeping a tidy home with little kids is possible, and it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. With a few simple, doable habits, you can maintain a space that feels calm, cozy, and lived-in—in the best way.

Why You’ll Love This

Simple Steps – No crazy “to do” lists. Clear, simple steps to creating an intentional home that is easy to tidy.

Versatile – Every tip can be fully customized to fit your family’s needs.

Tips To Keeping A Tidy Home With Little Children

1. Decide What Is “Good Enough”

This may seem silly but often as moms we spend so much of our days fixing things until they are perfect. Stressing to figure out a solution that may not come to mind for months down the road.

Decide what is good enough for your family. This can vary every day if needed. Maybe once a week it’s good enough to clean the bathrooms and mop the floors, but daily “good enough” is all the toys get cleaned up before dinner. Be flexible and find a standard that fits both you and your family.

2. What Keeps Your Home Feeling Tidy?

Take a moment to think about what makes you feel like your home is tidy and under control. For me, every morning I make my bed. Having a clean and tidy master bedroom brings me so much peace. The rest of our house can be overflowing with toddler toys but as long as the bed is made I feel like I’ve accomplished something. It’s simple, it’s quick, and at the end of a long day, it feels like stepping into a peaceful hotel room. (Let’s be real—sheets do feel better when the bed is made.)

The second thing that relieves stress from my mind is a clean kitchen table. The kitchen table is notorious for being a clutter magnet – dishes, colored pencils, my purse, perhaps a random baby shoe, mail… you name it, you can find it on a kitchen table.

Spend a few minutes after every meal tidying the kitchen table. You’ll love the visual of a clutter free space as it brings calm to your busiest room plus it will make the next meal run smoothly. Win-win.

3. Minimize What Can Become Overwhelming

I am not a minimalist, though I do love some of the principles they use especially when you’re in the thick of it with kids. The truth is, you’re one person managing a whole household’s worth of stuff. And when that stuff piles up, it gets overwhelming fast. Simplifying where you can makes tidying the home so much easier.

Decrease things that often build up and become overwhelming.

• Laundry – Donate the outgrown items, toss anything that has met its match with stains or holes, decrease the volume wherever possible. (my daughter once had 15 dresses) Less clothing = fewer piles and less loads = less stress
• Shoes – Just like laundry, keep only what fits and gets used. My Hot Tip: purchase shoes that do double duty. Examples are tennis shoes for summer play, silicone Birkenstock – style sandals for the park or beach, and duck boots for rain and winter snow.
• Toys – Let’s be honest—most kids have way too many toys, and ironically, more toys can actually lead to less play. Too many options = overwhelmed kids.
  • Set clear limits. We have one toy box in our play area, and I do a big declutter around December 1st each year. Anything broken, missing pieces, or no longer played with? Gone. My rule is: if the lid doesn’t close, the toys got to goes. One exception – Magna-tiles! They live in their own basket in the living room and are always available—the one toy every visiting kid plays with, no matter their age.
• Dishes – Yeah the dishes can become overwhelming and make the kitchen feel cluttered quickly. My tip? Keep only twice the number of dishes as there are people in your household. (Unless you host frequently – Keep the amount you need) This way when the dishwasher is running from breakfast, you don’t need to open it to steal a plate for lunch.

4. Storage Solutions

Take a step back and look at your home objectively: where does clutter collect most often? Where am I constantly trying to tidy my home? Is it crayons and coloring books all over the table? Magnatiles in every corner of the living room? Shoes piled by the front door? Books on every surface? Towels on the bathroom floor?

Here’s the thing—clutter usually tells us where life is happening. Instead of fighting it, ask two questions:

1. Can I embrace and incorporate this into my decor?
2. How can I organize it in a way that works for our routine?

Let me walk you through how we solved these exact issues in our home:

• Coloring Supplies: My kids love to color at the kitchen table, so I cleaned out a low kitchen cabinet and made it their art and homeschool space. Coloring books and pencils are right where they use them—easy to grab and just as easy to tidy up.
• Magna-Tiles: I tucked a basket under a living room chair that houses all the magna-tiles we own. Out of sight when I need but within arms reach for the toddler.
• Books Everywhere: The books were not just children books but literature my husband and I read as well. I incorporated stacks into our bay window (Cozy lived in decor) and purchased a side table that doubles as a book shelf. Now it’s intentional, not messy.
• Shoes by the Door: I got a bench with space underneath and added two baskets—one for adult shoes, one for the kids. They’re still next to the door (because let’s be real, no one takes shoes to the closet), but they’re no longer a tripping hazard or eye sore.
• Bathroom Towels and Clothes: I added a lidded laundry hamper under the pedestal sink. Now everything has a place, toss in dirty towels and random kid clothes that get left after bath time. Tidies up in no time.

5. Delegate Age Appropriate Tasks

Children can be quite helpful and generate self worth when they help out around the home. It teaches them the value of teamwork, importance of housework and the joy of free time when the task is completed. Set the foundation for habits by starting small and keeping it fun!

Here’s a simple guide based on what’s worked in our home:

• Ages 1-2 – You’ll do most of the work as a parent but begin teaching them to clean up toys. My 2-year-old knows how to clean up his Magna-tiles because the basket is right next to where he plays—easy win.
• Age 2-3 – Cleaning up toys and helping to pick up dirty clothes and putting them in the laundry hamper. You’ll still supervise everything but they are learning to be helpful.
• Ages 4-5 – By this age they should be able to begin cleaning their room, putting clothes in the hamper, toys in baskets, shoes away and possibly making a messy bed. Trust your instincts! You’ll know what your child is capable of.
• Ages 6+ – Help unload the dishwasher, make their bed, clean rooms, put away clean clothes. Good enough for me is my oldest putting her clothes in the drawer. I don’t care if they are folded.

Maybe you have a child that is extra helpful and wants to help clean while you clean. Perfect, give them a damp washcloth and ask them to clean baseboards. They can’t ruin them and you won’t need to deep clean for a while afterwards. Again you’re developing self-worth.

Another thing that we do in our home is “5 minute clean up”. I set a timer for 5 minutes and we focus on one area: main living room, kitchen, play room or a bedroom. There is always an incentive reward at the end of 5 minutes. Some days it’s a chocolate chip, or a fun family walk or bike ride, other days a cartoon or a trip to the park. Make it fun. This isn’t a “5 minutes to clean or time out” activity, it’s silly.

Final Thoughts On Keeping A Tidy Home

My house is not perfect—and that’s okay. But a quick 5-minute clean-up can work wonders. It’s just enough to reset the space and get us back on track with our day. More importantly, it shifts the focus away from the mess and back to what really matters: enjoying the people who make this house a home.

Create a home that works for your family—one that’s manageable because there will always be clutter and mess. Set your version of “good enough,” simplify where you can, and bring your little ones along for the ride.

Leave a Comment with what tip has helped you or that you do in your home to keep it tidy with children.