• Keeping a stamp collection is a fun way to develop organizational skills.collection de timbres image by Magalice from Fotolia.com
  
  He lost his homework--again. He didn't remember that big project until the night before it was due. He wore the same dirty shirt all week because he couldn't find any clean clothes. Youth who have poor organizational skills often do poorly in school and struggle with situations at home as well. Most strategies for teaching organizational skills, such as helping children keep a day planner and organize their class notebooks, are really strategies for helping children be organized in a specific area; they don't teach children how to organize themselves. But there are fun ways that parents and teachers can help youth build organizational skills and develop their own systems for organization that will last a lifetime.
  
  

Collecting

• Collecting anything can help young people develop organizational skills. For a youth who enjoys collecting, provide him with all the tools he needs to classify, organize and display his treasures. Whether it's a book for his stamp collection or enough shelves to display all his Star Wars figures, organizing something he loves will help him build the skills he needs to organize other areas of his life as well.
  
  

Making Scrapbooks

• For a youth who loves to take pictures or remember events with family and friends, making scrapbooks can be a fun way to strengthen organizational skills. She'll learn to organize pictures by event and date, to choose decorations and even to organize and match colors and themes. When she's finished with her own pictures, put her in charge of organizing the old pictures you've been storing in a box in the closet--she'll be helping the entire family get more organized as she builds her own skills.
  
  

Cooking

• Cooking is full of opportunities to exercise organizational skills. From planning menus and making shopping lists to measuring ingredients and timing the cooking time, cooking will teach a teen many organizational skills that he can apply to other areas of his life.
  
  

Shopping

• For a youth who loves to shop, put her in charge of shopping for the whole family. Have her write shopping lists by talking to every member of the family about what they need. She'll need to organize the items by store and keep track of everything she's purchased.
  
  

Vacations

• Planning and preparing for a vacation is another opportunity for a youth to develop his own organizational skills while helping the entire family be more organized. A teen can be in charge of organizing the family vacation from start to finish. He can choose the destination (with guidelines), plan the budget, determine transportation and create packing lists. Most youth will be very motivated to organize a vacation that they'll be able to enjoy.