Lockdown Day 18 – AEL – Cleaning out cupboards
The end of the Easter weekend is a good a time as any to ‘purge’ one’s cupboards. We mostly have far too many clothes for what we need and tend to hang on to clothes that we have outgrown or will probably never wear again… just in case.
In this time of community need, use this opportunity to have a discussion with your children (and yourselves!) about the clothing that we truly ‘need’ and what we could re-home to a person in need. This could also be a good time to talk about not giving away dirty or broken items of clothing. After all, we would not like to receive these ourselves!
* CUPBOARD REORGANISATION *
Have a discussion as a family group about the children (and adults) currently in need, especially as the colder winter months are approaching. Discuss with the children what they think that people will need, and steer the conversation towards clothing. (For those needing an academic undertone – the ‘needs of man’ are part of all education curricula!
Young children can be extremely empathetic and willing to ‘join a cause’, so you may need to guide them a little when you get to their cupboards so that they do retain some of their clothing for their own needs!
- Unpack one shelf or drawer of clothing at a time.
- Tackle one item of clothing at a time – T-Shirts, shorts, skirts, dresses, trousers, socks etc.
- Separate the clothes into two piles – a keeping and a gifting pile.
- As each set of clothing has been allocated, engage the child in a folding exercise to replace the ‘keeping’ clothes back into the cupboard, and the ‘gifting’ clothes into a bag.
- Once each person’s clothes have been sorted and allocated, you will have neat and tidy cupboards, the children (and adults) will have learned new folding and sorting skills, and you will have a couple of bags of clothing donations for communities in need.
A winner all around!
* Contact your local neighbourhood community action group to find out where you can drop the clothing donations during the lockdown time, or hold on to them until the restrictions have been lifted.
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