Toy Organization

Anytime I buy something that comes in one of those plastic bags with a zipper or snap I keep it for just this reason. This way I can keep all the parts together and my daughter can open and close it herself. Good Luck!

I have a 2 yr old and I buy those big clear bins with the tops for the big toys - I think they're like 50 or 60 gal...? Works great to hold lots of things and he can see what's inside to find what he wants. Then for his smaller toys and ones with little parts we have an organizer that's wooden racks with different colored plastic bins. They're on sale right now at Target for $38 and I'm thinking of getting a 2nd one. I love it because he can easily clean up and organize it the way he wants. Hope this helps and good luck!

Hi Kathy,
I have 2 kids with tons of toys as well.
I made them wooden boxes that I painted myself (that's what I do - it's my business) I let them choose the character they want for each type of toys (exp: the cars go in the lady-bug, the barbies go in winnie the pooh, Playdoh and all accessories go in piglet etc)
It is easy for them to find and to pick up - even my 2 year old - I'll tell him put all the coloring books back in the Hello Kitty box - he does it!
If you are interested to see the boxes (even though it just an idea - you can check out to see how it looks)
http://www.freewebs.com/lambeez/

Good luck

The worst part??
If you get too organized, you might end up with someone like my daughter...
She NEVER loses pieces to anything....and then I can't justify to her getting rid of anything. I went on freecycle and posted some toys and she threw a fit. They are too good to just give away. DIdn't I know how much they were worth??? they had ALL the pieces. But she kept getting toys every christmas and birthday and there was just no more room...

I bought 20 cheap plastic containers from k-mart at I think on sale $1.49 each.....they are supposed to be for shoes. I had them stacked neatly inside themselves and grabbed them as we needed them. She would have one for each set of things...lion king (and every other disney movie that had a zillion playsets from mcdonalds), little people, play makeup and dress up stuff, crayons, Craft supplies, One for each large toy with little pieces (like betty spaghetti), one would hold a couple complete barbie sets.....they stack neatly on the cheap white shelves I also bought at kmart. She knew which barbie came with which clothes, accessories and shoes. And when brats came out? ooooooh. They are thicker, I caved and bought some more expensive sterlite bins with the clip on tops with handles....then she could take them to friends to play. Luckily, someone else in the family finally had children to inherit her treasures.

Now...the sterlite containers fit the video games, nail stuff, lip balm, body sprays and some are actually going to be used for shoes!!...they slide under the bed....onto closet shelves....
I'm thinking of getting some more as I'm typing and thinking how many I could use myself.

I stopped picking up my daughters toys for an entire week. The mess it created drove my husband crazy but I told him to wait it out. When I went about my normal cleaning I explained that if things got in my way they may have to be thrown away. Then the vacuum "accidentally" sucked up some of the smaller toys (Barbie shoes, Polly Pocket clothes). I never saw my daughter move so fast. I told her I couldn't clean for her anymore, but when I have time I will help her clean (I always help, but I don't just do it for her anymore). We sat down that day and downsized so cleaning would be easier for her. Things don't always get to where "they belong" but once a month or so I help her reorganize her toy bins and bags. We also pick out toys at this time to give other kids who don't have much...and "make room for new toys". If she is not sure she is ready to get rid of it we put it in a bag. If she misses it then we keep it. If she doesn't we take it to a toy drive or a church. She goes with me so it makes her feel good to give to someone else. Sometimes too many toys make it overwhelming for a kid to clean...they just don't know where to start. Kind of like my closet.

We use a collapsable fabric tube for soft toys in ther bedroom, and books in her closet. I can't be bothered with lugging all kinds of things back upstairs to her room, or worrying about her carrying things the steps.
In her playroom there's a Medium size wicker laundry hamper for Dolls and stuffed things. We have a 3 tiered rack with plastic bins. We do clean up when things get to be too much of a mess, and at the end of the day when the Toy Room "closes" and the light gets turned off. My daughter helps to put things where I have trained her that they belong. There are seperate bins for puzzles, coloring books, Dora/Deigo related, Fisherprice people, necklaces, jewelry, Mr. Potatoe Head parts, Cars, and one with all sorts of misc. nonmatched junk type toys.
Remarkably, as I scurry around on my hands and knees and whip things into their appropriate home, I hand her a couple of things and ask her where it belongs, as if I've forgotten, and she jumps at the chance to show me. She picks out her toy to sleep with. It goes on the couch with daddy and we go upstairs for bath. I am so bad about needing to have things where they belong, that I have to make a real effort to focus on playing with her when I sit in there, and not just pick up stuff.
Her Barbie/Princess dolls and clothes are all together in a Kids luggage bag on wheels, and the small necklaces, shoes, crowns etc.. are in a little metal heart box. Then we have various cars, Dora Van etc..that get parked in the "parking lot" under a sofa table with TV and VCR on it. There is a kitchen set, little table and two chairs. The kitchen dishes are put inside the kitchen, and the food is all in the Shopping cart. Then there are fisher price castle, barn and house on the floor. I rotate toys periodically with toys kept in another cupboard in our Living room built ins, or the basement. I've had to start keeping certain markers, paints, and games up out of reach. I think, and my friends agree that I go a bit overboard having things in their place, But when It's picked up, I can relax.
I clean things out gradually a week or two before birthdays, summer yardsale, and Christmas.
Wow that was way more than I needed to say. My hubby is deploying in a few days. I think I am burning off mental energy.

Thank you to you and your usband for defending our country. I have a 4 year old daughter that also has some small toys and they are very hard to keep picked up. At Christmas time I just purchased some rubbermaid boxes in all different sizes and I purchased one of the rubbermaid boxes with drawers. I had her help me organize the things so she would know where everything would belong. She has one box for doll clothes, one for dress up stuff, one for jewelry and such. To try and clear out some of their toys, explain to them that they are going to donate some of their toys that they don't play with anymore to some little boy or girl that does not have as much as they do or just clear out their room when they are not looking and take some of the toys that you know they don't play with and put them in a box for the thrift store donations. Hope this helps.

I would definitly have a standing rule that anything that is not put back in its' proper place gets taken away and maybe even given away. If they won't give them up, as you say, then this may really be a motivator to have them keep them organized, especially if you took all that time to neaten them up. Good luck and God bless you and yours.

We, too, use clear boxes on cabinet shelves. We got 2 (former) kitchen cabinets off freecycle.org for the purpose. If his toys don't fit inside or on top of his cabinets, they go away. Period. I agree with the other mom who suggested that you take control. If there are too many toys, broken toys, outgrown and no longer played with toys, they should get tossed, sold, donated as appropriate. NOW is the time for them to learn how to prioritize, organize and release stuff. My son's birthday is next week. He got a ton of stuff for Christmas and I expect another bunch from his party. For several weeks we have been talking about going through his toys together and weeding out the ones that no longer hold his interest, or that another child would get more enjoyment out of than he does. We plan to do this after his birthday, together. He already has been coming to me on his own and telling me which toys he wants to donate! Freecycle.org is a great place to offer up toys for others to take, craigslist.org is a great place to sell more expensive things.

Hi Kathy I had a similar problem except i have one daughter she is 7 and loves crafts barbies and now the pixel chicks. We went shopping for the clear bins that you can get at target. I got one big one for all barbie dolls and the small ones for clothes shoes etc. and she has one for all her food for her play kitchen. And it is her responsibility to keep her stuff put away and clean not that every toy has a place to go if not it gets thrown away or donated. It worked for us. Good luck

Kathy,
Having two little boys....we have lots of pieces to everything. I've taken stock in shelving units and storing different kinds of toys in rubbermaid totes. There's a tote for everything. Examples.... there's a bin for Thomas the tank engine, one for Mr. Potato Head pieces, one for matchbox cars, one for blocks, one for little people, etc. They all store nicely on the shelves and are a snap to clean up. Very little sorting!!!! Anything to make keeping the playroom tidy!!!! The kids are actually good at putting the right toys in the right bins.... they've actually corrected friends who put things in the wrong bins.

T.

I use small boxes on a shelf with cubbies. Each box is for certain types of toys. My suggestion would be to take control. You are the parent! Your kids can't stop you from cleaning and organizing your home. Sorry if that sounds harsh to you. FLYlady.net has helped me clear out my house. Try it!

Lots of see-thru containers of all shapes and sizes. See-thru is key b/c I've taught my 3 1/2 yr old how to look for things in the containers w/o dumping the whole thing out. Smaller containers work better rather than a huge toy box- things don't get "lost" at the bottom.
I gave up w/ the Barbie clothes and now everything Barbie goes into one big container- dolls, brushes, shoes, etc. My daughter doesn't mind and it makes clean-up easier.

I don't do this at home but I did in the classroom and it was great for clean up time. Have a shelf or shelves with smaller sized bins. YOu can find these just about anywhere, Target, Wal*Mart, as well as online. On the front of each bin tape a laminated photograph or illustration of the toy(s) that belongs in that bin. If you have solid shelves, you can also put he same photo on the shelf so they know where to put the bin.

You can also mix it up and use letters, numbers or shapes as labels as well.

I have always hated the big toy box because the toys are never kept together and that usually means the kids won't get the best play out of them.

At my house each child's toy is in their room on their bookshelves. Some are in smaller bins that are on the shelf while others are in larger bins that reside on the floor in a corner or at the end of the bed.

I never had time take my own advice and it is quite frustrating sometimes.

Also I do a toy sweep periodically and put some toys away for later use or forever! ever their favorites, just the ones that don't get much use.

HTH!
A.

Hi - my advise is lots of storage containers. I have 3 girls and you can't even imagine the amount of barbies/clothes, doll stuff, etc. that we have accumulated! I used to help organize all their barbie clothes, but it got to be too much and then NEVER clean up the same way us parents do. Rubbermaid makes those different gallon plastic tubs. Use them. Put all the barbies/clothese in one. Big baby dolls/clothes in another. Use one for blocks. I've also put shelving up (high) for all the kids games. Before they used to just take the games out and pieces were always missing or left all over. Now they have to ask for the game and they have to clean up the first one before the 2nd one comes out. Same thing with puzzles. Toy boxes in my house only hold chunky individual things like the barbie laptop, play telephones, etc. I also bought a plastic 3 tier storage drawer cart to hold all the kids papers, coloring books, pencils, crayons, markets,etc. Good luck.

Hi There,
We went and bought rubber maid storage containers in all different sizes. We labeled them with magic marker. We have one for all of their blocks, one for all of their trains, one for all of the tools that come with their work benches... That way when they are playing with that particular toy they know where all the pieces are. I hope this helps.

Bins, bins and more bins. I used all sizes of plastic bins. Bins with lids, bins on wheels, big open bins, three drawered bins, stacking bins even the big round plastic "beer" tubs" with the rope handles. Ikea and Target are great sources. Then i labeled every bin. I used a sheet of plain paper, wrote in magic marker, really big, what the bin should hold and then used clear packing tape to adhere them (then you can just rip off the label and make new labels as the needs for each bin changes.) This way, even if the kids don't pick up after themselves, you at least know that everything has a home. Also, it makes it easier for the kids to start learning where everything should go. They can then help you clean up the playroom!
Also for puzzles, i used your idea of putting each puzzles' pieces into zip lock bags. So the bin of puzzles had not only the puzzle board, but then baggies of puzzle pieces as well.

I've given up on organization and i only have one baby so far! but i do like to have a clean floor and my son has enough toys to start his own store so we've come up with a few tricks. We've bought LOTS of buckets, baskets, boxes, basically anything that can be used to put stuff in. and they are all over our house. we have two in our living room, one for my son's toys and one for magazines and remotes and misc and we have 7 in my sons room to sort out blocks, books, stuffed animals, plastic toys, ect. My son knows that all this toys have there own box so when he's done he can throw them in the right bin, its not "organized" but his rooms clean and its one less thing for me to do.