Toy Organization

It's Works For Me Wednesday again, and I've recently begun the monumental task of re-organizing my children's toys.  Previously, I had used many clear plastic shoe boxes to organize their toys, with machine-printed labels.  It looked great, and worked well...as long as I was in the room to supervise their play.  Well, as any mom of many little ones knows, that's not always possible. 

The day I found a cracked, broken, empty plastic shoebox, sans label and full of dried, pulverized grass in my basement (apparently the three year old snuck outside with it at some point), I knew it was time for plan B.  The rotational tub plan.

I already had a couple of Rubbermaid "Roughneck" deep plastic totes that I use up in the living room.  These are for their larger toys, and are kept in the entertainment center.  Since it has no back and is sitting kitty-corner, there is enough room for them in there, with their ends poking out the back.  I picked up a few more at Target, and my plan is to divide up all the toys that aren't part of a set, and put them in the tubs.  I'll keep the tubs in the storage room, and take out a new tub or two each week.  It will be like Christmas all over again. 

As for the toys that are parts of a set, or are small and numerous, I will modify the shoebox plan.  Most of the sets are toys that belong to one particular child, such as my daughter's farm set or my son's plastic soldiers.  Those will be kept in the shoeboxes (unless they continue to abuse them, in which case I'll find an alternative) and put in each child's closet.  The closets have the slide locks for bi-fold doors on them, and the kids are told to stay out of them (and mostly they do).  I'll choose 2 boxes to pull out every few days, to keep next to their bed.  These will be the toys they play with when they are awake during nap, or wake up in the morning.

As for the toys that don't belong to a particular child, such as the box of matchbox cars, each child will get one of those, also to keep in their room.  I will rotate these boxes among the children.  The extras will be kept in the storage room with the extra Rubbermaid tubs. 

I've also picked up a few new boxes for the toy sets that have outgrown the plastic shoe boxes.  They are white plastic with gray handles and holes in them.  They come in many sizes.  What I like about them is that they are tough, and cheap.  When I saw the new bigger sizes that Walmart is now carrying, I cleaned them out.  If you go looking for them and see a big empty shelf...sorry, that was probably me!

I'm also very proud of myself for finally letting some toys go.  Broken pieces I've been saving, toys that were given to us second-hand that are ugly, or something I don't want my children to have--you name it!  I even got rid of something brand-new, bought for us by a family member.  It was ugly, the kids didn't like it, and they never played with it. Boy was that hard for me!  I cleared out a whole box of toys.  My husband was so proud! 

I'm always on the lookout for new ways to organize toys, because I'm finding that as my family size grows and my children grow up, our needs are ever-changing.  But for now...this Works for Me!

Comments

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[Kristi]

I have a great toy organization and toy storage product. It's called Toy Tamers and it zips closed to fully contain the toys and all their peices and it is easy for the kids to use. You can find them at www.kidskluttertamers.com

[How To Build a Fireplace]

The work continues on the house. This is the first house project we’ ve done without us living in the place or doing the work ourselves. Blessed relief. If you’ ve ever lived through a major remodel with tiny feet pattering about, you know what I mean. The framing is almost complete on the walls we are changing. For example, there were six bedrooms upstairs, but one of the bedrooms is becoming two bathrooms (the master bathroom and the kids’ bathroom). The rough plumbing and electric are next.

[All Adither]

And it's so great when you get to whip out the new/old toys again. It's like Christmas.

[Texastanya]

Great tip. I love toy rotation. It helps to keep the rascals entertained and helps the house to look less cluttered.