Moms love life hacks, but what about life hacks for kids? These 11 tips are going to give your kids independence and pride in being all grown up because they can master things that previously made them feel stuck.
It’s amazing how quickly kids go from toddlers to teens, and helping them grow up independently and with a sense of confidence is an important component of each stage. These simple life hacks for kids ages 6-9 will help your early elementary students feel more confident and capable every day!
Life Hacks For Kids: Left From Right
Is your child still learning left from right? That can be so frustrating, but also embarrassing when they are around their peers who already know better. These simple ideas will help them master it every single time!
Look On The Left
Give your child a friendship bracelet or loom band bracelet for their left wrist. The alliteration of look on your left will help them remember which side it’s on, and they can always confirm when they get confused.
Shoes On The Right Feet
Take a sticker, cut it in half, and place half in each shoe for them. They put the shoes side by side, look at the “complete” sticker and know if they have the shoes lined up correctly.
Another way to do this is put a charm on the laces of the left shoe (another look on the left tip) and that helps them not only their shoes on the right feet, but also keep their left and right straight throughout the day.
Life Hacks For Kids: School & Routines
School life keeps kids busy and it can quickly get overwhelming with lunchboxes, school papers, homework, coats, hats, and more. How do you keep it all straight?
Have A Kid Command Center
Having a place to gather all of their things each morning and put them all when they come home in the afternoon is key! Homeschool? This works for you, too.
Kids do great when they know where to put things and where to find things; this will help them be able to get ready to leave the house each day without all the chaos of missing shoes or backpacks or permission slips.
Have a basket for anything that needs mom’s attention. Empty lunchboxes and put in your cubby/on your shelf. Hats, gloves, sunglasses, etc. go in their labeled basket.
Chores can be posted here, checklists for special events, and more! Take a peek at this clever one by Creating Mary’s Home.
Color Code Items
Having more than one child can make things confusing. How many times has one grabbed a folder or hat (or whatever else!) that belonged to a sibling and there was either a mini-crisis or a fight? That doesn’t have to happen.
Make it even easier on your Miss-I-Want-To-Be-Independent or Mr-I-Can-Do-It-Myself and color code their belongings. One child has a red hat, scarf, mittens, folders, binders, lunchbox, and even backpack. And their bins would have a red ribbon on them in the command center and any notes or chores for them could have a red dot by them.
You can take it a step farther and go all the way: red scissors, ruler, bedsheets, and anything else. This works great if they have a favorite color.
I’m such a fan of color coding, I use it for my whole family. Check out these tips for how to color code your family.
Life Hacks For Kids: Laundry
Teaching kids to help with the laundry is never easy, but it’s nice when they can pick out their own clothes. Kids love to have a vote and it’s great for them to help, too.
Mark Their Socks (and anything else!) With A Sharpie
Have more than one child? Take a sharpie and mark tags, toes, and/or seams with dots. 1 dot for the oldest, 2 for the second child, and so on. When something gets passed down to the next child, just add a dot.
This is super for large families, but even if you only have two children it can help them pair socks and put away their own clothes.
Lingerie Bags For Socks
No more laundry monster eating socks in your home! Get lingerie bags and tie a ribbon with each child’s unique color on the zipper. Have them take their socks off their feet and put them into the bag each night. You can wash and dry them right in the bags! Makes pairing their own socks a breeze.
Over The Door or Hanging Organizers
Hang up an organizer over the door or in their closet so that they can have their outfits already set each morning. Every weekend, roll up their pants with their undies and socks inside and match with their top and put in a cubby.
Each day they can pick the outfit they want from a cubby and you know it will match and be complete because you set them up for success over the weekend.
Life Hacks For Kids: Play Time
Playing in a clean room is always more fun. Finding what you want to play with? Priceless! Plus, it helps keep mom sane, too. Here are some great life hacks for kids that they can put to work in their bedrooms or play areas.
Magnetic Strips
Stick matchbox cars to magnetic strips mounted on the wall. Easy to put away, fun to organize, and simple to grab when you’re ready to play.
Command Hooks
Mount some command hooks on the wall and hang Dollar Tree baskets from them. Use them to sort/store any toys you like. Great for imaginative play items, crayons, and more.
Plastic Shoeboxes
Every child loves their treasures. Simple, inexpensive clear plastic shoeboxes allow them to sort them “like with like” and just grab what they need instead of dumping out a toybox. Have one box for army men, one for Polly Pocket, one for puzzles, and so on.
Water Balloons
Keep an old soap or shampoo dispenser and fill with water to pump water into balloons. So quick and easy…and free!
Simple & Effective Life Hacks For Kids
These simple and effective life hacks for kids from kindergarten through third grade will make your life easier and empower your children to be independent, equip them to be responsible, and add to their fun!
What’s your favorite life hack for kids?
Be sure to check out these parenting hacks to make your life easier, too!