Organizing Holiday Decorations with Kids’ Help

Last December, I pulled our holiday decoration bins out of the attic and opened one to find a tangled mess of lights wrapped around a crushed papier-mâché ornament my son made in kindergarten. Half the lights didn’t work, the tree skirt smelled musty, and my daughter immediately asked, “Where’s the reindeer I painted?” It was somewhere in one of those six unmarked bins—but which one? That was the year I vowed to overhaul our holiday storage system, and the twist that made it actually work was enlisting the kids to help. When children have ownership over the organization process, they treat decorations more carefully and the whole family enjoys the traditions more deeply.

Taking Inventory: The Holiday Decoration Audit

Before you buy a single storage bin, you need to see what you actually have. Spread everything out—every ornament, string of lights, wreath, garland, stocking, and tabletop figurine—across the living room floor. This is where the kids come in. Turn it into an event: put on holiday music (even in July, nobody’s judging), make hot chocolate, and let the kids rediscover treasures they’d forgotten about.

Sort everything into three piles: Keep, Donate/Gift, and Toss. Be honest about broken items, decorations that no longer match your style, and duplicates. That said, let kids advocate for their favorites—if your eight-year-old is passionate about the glitter-covered pinecone from preschool, it stays.

As you sort, create a simple inventory on your phone or a piece of paper. Note what you have for each holiday: Christmas/Hanukkah, Halloween, Easter, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day. This prevents over-buying at post-holiday sales (we’ve all been guilty) and helps you spot gaps before the season arrives.

• Test every string of lights before storing—toss any that flicker or have frayed wires
• Check candles for cracks or melting damage
• Wash fabric items (stockings, table runners) before packing away
• Let each child choose 3–5 ornaments that are “theirs” to be responsible for

The Best Storage Systems for Holiday Decorations

Generic cardboard boxes are the enemy of holiday organization. They collapse, they absorb moisture, and you can’t see what’s inside. Invest in proper storage containers and you’ll protect your decorations for decades.

For ornaments, the Sterilite 80-quart ornament storage box with adjustable dividers (around $15 at Walmart) holds up to 45 ornaments safely. For nicer or heirloom ornaments, the Container Store’s Ornament Storage Box ($25–40) has individual padded compartments. Assign kids the job of wrapping delicate ornaments in tissue paper and placing them in their designated slots—they take this responsibility very seriously.

For lights, the Honey-Can-Do Holiday Light Storage Reel ($10 at Target) keeps strings untangled and testable. Wrap each strand around a reel and plug the end into the built-in holder. Even a five-year-old can do this. Alternatively, wrap lights around pieces of cardboard cut from cereal boxes—free, effective, and a great kid project.

For wreaths, a wreath storage bag ($8–15 at Target or Amazon) protects the shape and keeps dust out. Hang it on a hook in the attic or garage rather than stacking heavy bins on top of it.

The IRIS USA 3-Drawer Holiday Storage Cart (about $35 at Target) is perfect for smaller decorations like figurines, candle holders, and table scatter. Label each drawer by room or by holiday, and kids can pull open drawers to find exactly what they need during decorating day.

Color-Coding by Holiday: A System Kids Can Follow

Here’s the organizing trick that transformed our system: assign a bin color to each holiday. This is so intuitive that even toddlers can help put things away correctly.

Red bins = Christmas/winter holidays. Orange bins = Halloween and fall. Pastel bins = Easter and spring. Blue bins = Hanukkah. Clear bins = multi-holiday items like generic string lights and battery-operated candles. You can find colored storage bins at Walmart, Target, or the Container Store for $8–15 each in the 66-quart size.

If you don’t want to buy new colored bins, use the bins you have and add large colored labels or duct tape strips to the lids. Duck Brand colored duct tape ($5 per roll at Home Depot) comes in every color and makes lids immediately identifiable from across the garage.

Let kids create the labels. Give them index cards, markers, and stickers, and have them draw or write what’s inside each bin. A six-year-old’s drawing of a Christmas tree on the bin lid is both functional and adorable. Laminate the cards with clear packing tape so they last for years.

1. Assign one color per holiday or season
2. Number the bins within each color (Red Bin 1, Red Bin 2)
3. Create a master inventory list that maps bin numbers to contents
4. Tape a copy of the inventory to the inside of a cabinet door or store it digitally
5. Update the list each year when you pack up

Kid-Friendly Roles During Decorating and Pack-Up

The reason most holiday organization systems fail is that only one person (usually Mom) does the packing up, and she’s exhausted and rushing. Making it a family activity means it gets done right and everyone knows where things live.

Assign age-appropriate roles. Ages 3–5: Wrap soft ornaments in tissue paper, sort decorations by color, carry lightweight bins, and place unbreakable items in bins. Ages 6–9: Wind lights onto reels, label bins, organize small items into drawer dividers, and update the inventory list. Ages 10+: Test electronics, climb the step stool to reach high storage, and take photos of each bin’s contents for a digital inventory.

Make pack-up day as special as decorating day. Play music, serve snacks, and take a “last photo” with favorite decorations before they go into storage. Some families write a note to their future selves and tuck it into the first bin they’ll open next year—kids love finding these time capsule messages.

Assign each child a “special ornament box.” This is a small container (a shoebox works) where they keep the ornaments that are personally meaningful to them. When they eventually move out, this box goes with them—it’s the beginning of their own holiday collection.

Smart Storage Locations and Climate Considerations

Where you store holiday decorations matters as much as how you store them. Extreme heat, cold, and humidity can destroy decorations over time.

Attics work for sturdy, non-heat-sensitive items like artificial wreaths, plastic bins of lights, and fabric stockings. Avoid storing candles, chocolate advent calendars, or delicate glass ornaments in attics where summer temperatures can exceed 140°F.

Garages are fine for durable items but watch out for moisture and pests. Elevate bins off the floor on shelving units. The IKEA BROR shelving unit ($70–$115) is heavy-duty enough for loaded holiday bins and keeps everything visible and off the concrete.

Under-bed storage is ideal for flat items like table runners, tree skirts, and wrapping paper. The Sterilite 41-quart underbed box ($8 at Walmart) fits under most bed frames and keeps items dust-free.

Closet top shelves work well for one or two bins of the most-used decorations. Keep the current season’s decorations most accessible, and rotate bins so the next upcoming holiday is always in front.

Building Traditions Around Organization

The most beautiful thing about involving kids in holiday organization is that it becomes a tradition in itself. My kids now look forward to “Decoration Day”—the Saturday after Thanksgiving when we open the red bins together—as much as they look forward to Christmas morning. They remember which ornament goes where, they notice if something is missing, and they handle Grandma’s vintage glass balls with genuine care because they’re the ones who wrapped them in tissue paper last January.

Start a new tradition this year: when you pack away decorations, have each child write or draw their favorite holiday memory from that season on a card and tuck it into the bin. Next year, reading those cards becomes the first activity of decorating day. Over the years, you’ll build a collection of memories that’s worth more than any ornament.

Organization isn’t just about neat bins and labeled shelves. It’s about creating systems that make the joyful moments easier to reach and the stressful moments easier to handle. When your decorations are organized and your kids know the system, the holidays become less about logistics and more about magic—which is really the whole point.