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Monday, March 14, 2011

Organizing Kids Toys

We all have them...kids....
and they love them...toys...
now what do we do with them...the kids and the toys???
We know what we do with the kids we love them!
Now what about the toys, because if you're like me you don't love those. Especially the ones from fast food restaurants. I am only glad my kids are getting big enough to not eat kids meals any more because it means an end to the darn toys. To bad it also means they are growing up... :(

So what do we do with all the toys? All the army men, action hero's, cars and trucks, magic writers and learning laptops, books, and dress up cloths, fake guns and games?
Do you pile yours up in the corner? Or perhaps in a box under the bed? Do you have a strategic system or have you given up on any and all organization when it comes to the kids rooms?

Me? Give up? Heck no!
I have had a system for my boys since they were very small. They shared a room in our old house, which was a VERY small house, so it called for planning and strategic placement of toys to get the most usage but also keeping the rules.
We don't allow toys in the living room.
I know HORRIBLE! Gasp Gasp.
Living in a 2 bedroom, 1,000 sq foot duplex from the time your kids are infant and 3 years old until they are 6 and 9 you give up a lot but space in the living room was not one of the things we gave on.
You would ban the toys too! It was to small for their stuff to creep in and take over our stuff and after we moved they have plenty of space so there is no need for their stuff to invade our still.
My system your wondering, what could it be?
EVERYTHING IN IT'S PLACE and A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING!
That's my system, my strategic planning.
Really though, I bought a wire shelving unit and canvas boxes from Target when my youngest was born and made every canvas box specific to some toy then I put this shelf in their closet. I love this system because you can set the shelf up how ever you want. I have mine set in a row of two and stacked 3 high because this side of the closet is slim.  I recently found chalkboard tags that I attached to the canvas boxes with twine and wrote on each tag who's home that is. So simple!
Every day before we leave the house they pick up their toys and put them away, every night before bed they pick up their toys and put them away, before they think about changing from inside play to outside play they pick up.
They know now, they get out only what they want to play with and it helps with the "the mess is to big for me to clean it my self" fight. We don't have it. They make it they clean it. Thats that.
After years of this it is second nature. And every few months I go through the boxs (usually when they are at school) and do a little clean up and clean out, getting rid of all the broken and chewed pieces and parts. Click here to read a post about that specifically, what to purge and when to purge it.
Thats that!

Now it's your turn to share. What do you do to help your kids stay organized?
Give me links I want to see what works for your family!
If this turns out...never know maybe I will start a linky party of my own....

Jen

6 comments:

Colleen said...

Hi Jen,
Here's the link to our playroom. I use lots and lots of baskets to organize our kids' toys. In our family room, we have a few more baskets as they aren't always playing in the playroom. My husband asked me last week how baskets we own as he saw me come in with a new one. I don't even know I could count them all!

Colleen said...

oops, how about the link: http://lifewiththeanthonys.blogspot.com/2010/11/show-us-your-life-playroom-and-finished.html

Jamie said...

Jen- this is the #1 problem in our house. Of course with a 3 year old and 17 month old, we have TONS of toys. The kids both have shelves and baskets in their own rooms, plus the toy box, train table, and other large toys are in the family room. We spend a lot of time in there, so I don't mind the toys being in there. I so wish I had an awesome playroom like Colleen's! Anyway, since our kids are so young, I'm having a hard time finding ways to get the right toys back into the right bins. Somehow all of the toys end up in the toy box in the family room and it starts overflowing to the point that it can't be closed. I think a redo is in order for our toys. Thanks for the tips.

Kim said...

Man you are super organized. I wish I would have put a ban on toys in the living room. Great idea.

what are the best toys for 2 year olds said...

Buying closet are good idea to store kids toys and also it save more space, I have also closet storage for my kids.

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