I’m sure this will feel obvious to some and revelatory to others, but if your child cannot keep up with an organizational system, make sure it is visible to them.
That might sound silly, but when I say “visible” I mean they should *always* know what is in a given space, because otherwise it may feel like they know where nothing is.
Although my brain would love an excuse to spend $300 on clear acrylic bins, my wallet would not, so instead, use whatever system you have, but find ways of making the contents of bins, drawers, shelves, etc. visible to kids.
This can be as simple as slapping a label on things. When my child was little, I did this by taking IKEA drawer organizing cubes, printing out generic pictures of clothing, and taping the pictures to the outside of the cubes (or the bottom of the inside of the drawer) with clear packing tape.
This made several things easier: it was easier for the adults to keep the drawers organized since we knew where to put things, it made it possible for my child to learn the system of where things go without an adult doing it for them, and it also helped my child learn the names and categories of items with consistent, neutral repetition.
As they got older, we used this system for things like toys and objects. And as their interests changed, the labels changed and became more intentional, even more abstract. We used to have a bin labeled “balls” for all the bouncy balls, NERF balls, etc but now we have a bin called “feeling bored?” where we put things that might help a child who needs to direct their attention. As kids grow up they may move from more concrete to more abstract categorization, and by making these nebulous concepts more visible, we’re also modeling how to organize a space and change it over time to meet our needs as kids grow into adults.
