Organizing Games, Puzzles and Table Activities

Have you ever watched your child go to the closet for a game, only to hear a giant crash and see a multitude of plastic game pieces, dice, and cards shower down upon him?  Have your children come to you asking where the missing pieces of a particular puzzle are located (as if you were the last one to use them)?  Then it may be time for the Works For Me Wednesday game and puzzle organization edition!

I used to be amazed when I went to someone's house and saw teetering stacks of tattered game boxes in their family room closet.  The children were always surprised when they pulled out a game and find several pieces missing...even though the crushed and gaping box-corner should have been a dead-giveaway as to the fate of said missing pieces!  After witnessing similar situations over and over in other people's houses, I made a mental note of how NOT to store puzzles and games when I had kids.  Here is how my games are stored:

Instead of a closet, where games are likely to get knocked around when the children attempt to slide a game out from the bottom of a large stack of boxes, I put them in two short, wide dressers.  Also known as  bureaus in some parts of the country...or maybe "chest of drawers".  You get the idea.  The kind I have are plain looking.  They are about three feet tall and maybe four feet wide, with six drawers in each.  I have used them in the dining area, but recently moved them into the living room. 

Each drawer is labeled with the type of games in it (toddler, preschool,  or kindergarten) and a list of the games in there.  Most drawers only hold about three games or so, depending on the box size and how well they fit in.  The idea is to prevent "rummaging", which is sure to damage the game boxes. 

If a game has a lot of small pieces, those pieces are put into a ziploc baggie before putting into a box.  That way, should a game box split open somehow or get dropped on the way to being put away, the pieces won't end up all over the place, with some never to be found.  If there are different types of pieces to the puzzle or game, separate them into the proper categories and give each group of pieces its own labeled baggie, as I did  in the picture below.

The makers of this puzzle don't tell you that there are actually three puzzles in the box, one of which is not pictured on the box (brilliant).  So once we figured it out and put all three together, NO WAY was I going to go through that again (ages five and up, yeah, right).  Now each puzzle has its own baggie, plus one for the little astronaut guys.   I recommend using the  baggies with the zipper "handles" on them, not the match-the-blue-and-yellow-lines- and-try-to-get-it-closed-on-the-first-try kind.  Easier for little kids, and they hold up better too, especially if you get the freezer  style.

Should a box get damaged or split open anyway, repair the damage immediately before the entire box is ruined.  Trust me, you will save yourself a lot of trouble in the long run.  If you don't have time to repair it, put it up away from little hands until you do.

Most of my games are in very good condition.  Almost all of them have every single piece they came with.  The few with damaged boxes or one missing piece, are that way because shortly before our move, the children weren't being supervised when they took out or put away games.  They now are required to ask permission first, and be supervised while playing.  Before putting the game away, they must bring it to me or my husband, so we can make sure all pieces are there and properly put away inside the box.  They also must play the games in the living room, where they can be more easily supervised.  This is easier now that the game drawers are in here, and my two year old daughter is now more interested in trying to play games, rather than run off with the pieces and try to eat them!   When my  infant son becomes a walker, we'll probably find a way to partition off part of the living room so the older ones can play undisturbed with games and toys that have small pieces.

Since instituting these rules, the games are almost always neat and organized, and the children enjoy playing them more, because they always know where each game is, and they don't get frustrated because everything they need is always there.  They spend a great deal of time using their games now.

Here you can see part of one of the dressers.    Here is one of the drawers, with three games inside.  Notice the boxes are in very good shape (considering I have five small children, lol).   (I had a picture of the whole dresser, but it didn't come out right...just as well, it's badly scuffed and in need of a paint job!) 

   

Here is another drawer.  This one isn't as neat, but it's the toddler drawer, so I'm pretty proud of it.  That little opened box was damaged a while back during the time when their game playing wasn't supervised, and doesn't close well. 

This is the kindergarten drawer.  These games are for my oldest son.  The other children can sometimes play them, but only under close supervision, otherwise they'll ruin the card games.  The younger children are not allowed to get games out of this drawer on their own.

This drawer is for my use only.  It contains books that need to be repaired (thanks to little toddler hands shredding them) and "found" pieces to games and puzzles that are still packed away in storage.

This is a close up of the toddler drawer label.  A little dark and hard to read, but you get the idea. 

I also store my homeschooling and art supplies in a few of these drawers, though I'm sure I'll outgrow the drawers once we get into first and second grade homeschooling.   

What do you do if your board game boxes are already crushed?  Try Game Savers!  They have various sized plastic boxes to replace your ruined boxes.  Then you can organize to your heart's content! If you don't have drawers available like mine, or some of your games don't fit in drawers, check out the many available shelf dividers at your local home improvement store, so you can store your games in such a way that there are no more than two or three games stacked on top of one another.  In those circumstances, using something like the Game Savers boxes would help even more to prevent damage and loss of puzzle and game pieces.

I hope you enjoyed seeing how my game and puzzle storage system Works For Me!

Comments

[Jillian]

Mari,

Thank you for the compliment...but...Ouch! I hope your husband never reads that. I would be hurt if my spouse said that about me. I would have no motivation to improve, either. I try to never say/write anything that I wouldn't want my husband to hear/read...even if it is a "joke", and even if it is true.

And if you try to "force" a man to do something, he's likely to do the opposite, or else become resentful. Just a thought. :-)

I've been reading Fascinating Womanhood and Created to Be His Help Meet (some of you can probably tell, lol) and just putting a couple of things into practice has changed my life and revolutionized my marriage. I don't think I've been this happy since my honeymoon. Just trying to spread the love!

I'm glad you stopped by, and I hope the organization tips are helpful for you! I appreciate the feedback from you and everyone else. So far this system is working better than I hoped, and the kids are proud of themselves for keeping it that way.

[Mari Ickes]

Brilliant! My husband is a sahd, and he needs all the organizing tips he can get. Actually, he is fine with the mess... I can use all the organizing tips I can get then FORCE him to use them!!

[Mrs. Brownstone @ XBOX Wife]

This is a great idea! Losing game pieces drives me a little batty!

[Sarah]

Great idea! :)

[Ann'Re]

Thanks for the great ideas...especially about the Game Savers! I need to get started soon on all our games. :)

[Rhen @yestheyareallmine]

I have had my puzzles organized this way for quite some time now but the games are another story. I like those game boxes!!

[Totallyscrappy]

We keep our puzzles and games in a dresser as well, but my dresser is not as neat and organized as yours! Thanks for the inspiration to spruce up my organization!

[C Duran]

Those are some great ideas. Thanks for the tips and the pictures to illustrate them!