By now you have hopefully removed a lot of clutter in your home. Doesn’t it feel liberating to organize your clothes and paperwork? Get ready to roll your sleeves up again…this time I will inspire you to organize toys… with a little help from your kids!
There are three categories that I think causes most of the clutter in the home. Clothes, paperwork, and toys. My organization philosophy is “everything needs to have its own place, or its own container. If it has somewhere to be stored, chances are it may eventually get back there.”
- De-clutter your closets in 3 simple steps
- Organize household paperwork: File it, document it, discard it
Organizing Kids’ Toys
Every home is designed differently, so storage and play areas may vary. Use these tips as a guide and organize the toys how it works best for you, your kids and your space. These tips will help you get started and don’t require you to spend too much money.
Organization Steps:
- As you sort through the toys, create piles (similar to the clothing organization process) – KEEP, DONATE (or CONSIGN/SELL/HAND-ME-DOWN), DISCARD.
Decide if involving your kids will benefit you or hinder your progress. I usually involve my kids at the end to confirm if they have outgrown a particular toy or game to see if they approve to hand it down or donate it. I never give away a toy if they are uncertain about it.
Tip: A great time to organize toys is after a holiday (such as Christmas or Birthday when they have received more toys as gifts) or change of season.
- Discard any toys that are broken, missing parts (that are irreplaceable, for example puzzles), or prize toys (example McDonald’s or party favors).
- Use a storage bin for toys that your older children may have outgrown, but their younger siblings will use them in a couple of years. Label the storage bin – Toys and Age and store away.
- Toys that they may have received as a gift, but they are not interested in yet, or they are not age appropriate, store them in a bucket and use them for a rainy day or snow day activity!
Everyone may have a different opinion, but I have held onto toys that my kids loved playing with and decided to save them (Example: Thomas the Train sets, Barbie Dolls, special books, etc.) in a memory storage box.
For the toys that you have decided to KEEP, follow these steps to reorganize:
Create Toy Storage
What you will need: various sized bins, buckets, and totes to store toys.
I always try and re-purpose storage that you already have in the house. I recommend clear storage, so kids can see what is inside. Affordable storage can be found at retailers such as IKEA, Target, and various discount stores.
Tip: I recommend shelves and toy organizers that are open and accessible.
- Determine a play space where the toys will be used.
- Organize the toys by categories: Barbie dolls, Super hero figures, Legos, Trains, race cars, etc.and place in bins or buckets. Consider storage that is clear with handles as it is easier for the kids to carry it to the play area. If you create a bin for the same toy, your kids will have an easier time cleaning up their toys because they know where they belong.
Various Toy Storage Tips:
Stuffed Animals – Use a pop up hamper.
Legos – If your child likes to keep their Lego creations, use a book shelf to display them. For extra Lego pieces or loose bricks, add them to a clear bucket for free build. Save Lego instruction books in Ziploc bags for future reference.
Race Cars – Create a bucket with all cars and trucks and store near a race track, ramp, train table or road play mat.
Arts & Crafts – Set up an extra drawer in the kitchen, living room, office or set up an arts & craft table in the play area that has paper, crayons, stencils, glue sticks, stickers, and other arts & craft supplies for easy access to kids. Create one bin each for play-doh, stamps and ink pads, & paint and brushes. Use a small bin for recycled items that may be used for craft projects (ribbons, yarn, paper towels rolls, etc).
Pretend Play Areas – Arrange toys, such as dolls & gear, dress- up clothes, doctor kits, school sets, puppets, etc. in an area that allows creativity for “Pretend Play” (a baby nursery, puppet theater, school, and veterinarian.) Store similar items together in baskets for easy access for kids.
Books – Creating a book nook in their room with a book shelf, cozy chair, lamp and or basket of books is a great way to promote reading! Set up smaller book baskets in car, bathroom, playroom or kitchen, so they are always accessible. Rotate the books every couple of weeks.
Games and Puzzles – Store board games together on a shelf where they are visible, so kids can see what their options are when selecting a game or puzzle to play.
Outdoor Play – Create buckets that can be stored in your garage or shed for all outdoor toys (balls, sports equipment, jump ropes, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, etc.)
Try these toy organization steps and see how far you can get. Remember it may take some time and some tweaks, but after you have a process in place and stick to it; your life (and play area!) will seem less cluttered!
Feel free to add comments below or send me an email with any questions you may have!
My email is [email protected].
Happy Organizing!
