--- title: Watch Marie Kondo Tidying Up Video description: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up guru taught TIME for Kids reporters how to keep their backpacks tidy. canonical: https://time.com/5027301/marie-kondo-tidying-video/ author: Lucy Feldman article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-11-16T16:24:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T18:16:25.244Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Watch Marie Kondo Prove Your Kid’s Backpack Can Be Gloriously Tidy og:description: The professional organizer taught TIME for Kids reporters how to make cleaning up fun og:url: https://time.com/5027301/marie-kondo-tidying-video/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt143b3f9d0384b344/6988e61ffb4eac310d894981/marie-kondo-video.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 2016 Time 100 Gala og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch Marie Kondo Prove Your Kid’s Backpack Can Be Gloriously Tidy twitter:description: The professional organizer taught TIME for Kids reporters how to make cleaning up fun twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt143b3f9d0384b344/6988e61ffb4eac310d894981/marie-kondo-video.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch Marie Kondo Prove Your Kid’s Backpack Can Be Gloriously Tidy  by [Lucy Feldman](https://time.com/author/lucy-feldman/)  ## Lucy Feldman Editorial Director Nov 16, 2017 4:24 PM UTC  NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 26: Author Marie Kondo attends the 2016 Time 100 Gala at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 26, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Mark Sagliocco/Getty Images) NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 26: Author Marie Kondo attends the 2016 Time 100 Gala at Frederick P. Rose Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 26, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Mark Sagliocco/Getty Images)Mark Sagliocco—Getty Images  by [Lucy Feldman](https://time.com/author/lucy-feldman/)  ## Lucy Feldman Editorial Director Nov 16, 2017 4:24 PM UTC As a child, [Marie Kondo](http://motto.time.com/4178119/marie-kondo-journaling/?iid=sr-link1) always gravitated toward tidying. When her teacher called for volunteers to organize a classroom shelf, she yearned for the job (as the only volunteer, she landed the gig). But not all kids have an innate devotion to keeping their spaces clean. Kondo, one of the world’s foremost [experts on home organization](https://konmari.com/education/online-course/) and author of the mega-bestseller [_The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up_](https://www.amazon.com/Life-Changing-Magic-Tidying-Decluttering-Organizing/dp/1607747308/?tag=mottocom-20), stopped by our offices to meet with TIME For Kids reporters Alexa and Cameron, 14 and 13, and answer their questions about folding t-shirts and sweatshirts, organizing their book bags and keeping their moms off their backs. “My mom always tells me to clean my room, and it drives me crazy,” Cameron says. “How can you make tidying up fun?” Imagine your ideal lifestyle and think about how your room can help you attain it, Kondo suggests. Start with the objects that surround you: “Look at the items and decide for yourself whether they actually make you happy – whether they spark joy.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5027301/marie-kondo-tidying-video/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5027301/marie-kondo-tidying-video/"},"headline":"Watch Marie Kondo Prove Your Kid’s Backpack Can Be Gloriously Tidy","datePublished":"2017-11-16T16:24:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T18:16:25.244Z","description":"The professional organizer taught TIME for Kids reporters how to make cleaning up fun","url":"https://time.com/5027301/marie-kondo-tidying-video/","keywords":["video","organization"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt143b3f9d0384b344/6988e61ffb4eac310d894981/marie-kondo-video.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lucy Feldman","jobTitle":"Editorial Director","url":"https://time.com/author/lucy-feldman/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt143b3f9d0384b344/6988e61ffb4eac310d894981/marie-kondo-video.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2016 Time 100 Gala","caption":"2016 Time 100 Gala","creditText":"Mark Sagliocco—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5027301/marie-kondo-tidying-video/","name":"Watch Marie Kondo Prove Your Kid’s Backpack Can Be Gloriously Tidy"}}]}] ```