Guest Blogger Brandi Payne of Neat Home Solutions
It can be tough to keep toys from accumulating when you’ve got kids, and keeping toys organized is even harder!
If toy storage is a problem in your home, I suggest you take an afternoon to gather all the toys together and take inventory. Donate, sell or share any toys that are outgrown or haven’t been played with in months. If it’s broken, discard it. Kid’s meal toys and any games with missing pieces can go. Decide what your child really loves the most and set it aside to keep. Make sure what’s left is age appropriate and safe.
Once you’ve pared down a bit, categorize the toys putting like with like: Blocks, Barbies, Cars & Trucks, Video Games, etc. Then group them into bins or open baskets.
Clear storage boxes are perfect for ‘collections’ of little toys. Labeling boxes with pictures of what belongs in the box also makes clean up much easier for the kids. If your child is a neat-nik or gets easily frustrated when they can’t find things, go for individual stacking boxes for each collection. Plastic carts with pull out drawers also work great and can be tucked into a closet.
However, there’s no rule that says you have to sort it all out.
One large toy box with a lid will make clean up and storage a piece of cake! Everything goes in the box at the end of the day and the lid hides it all. If your child is content to ‘dig in’, then the all-in-one toy box idea may be your best bet. Not only will clean up be a breeze since everything goes in one place, but your child will spend hours of contented play discovering and re-discovering things in the toy box over and over the deeper they dig. And a toy box can also hide inside a closet.
With both options, larger toys can be lined up in the bottom of the closet, along a bedroom wall, or tucked onto the shelves of a bookcase to keep the floor space clear and open.
If you get inundated with toys at birthdays and holidays, it’s okay to let your family and friends know that gifts other than toys would be appreciated. Can your child use seasonal clothes in the next size up more than a new toy? Would you prefer to increase your child’s library by adding new books? Would you like tickets to the zoo? Or would your little one prefer a tea party at Grandma’s or a picnic at the park?
There are plenty of options that also give us the opportunity to teach our kids that a gift can be something more than a new toy… it can be an experience or time spent with someone you love. Great memories last a lot longer than toys, and they don’t clutter up the floor!
Brandi Payne, Owner & Organizer
Neat Home Solutions, LLC
www.NeatHomeSolutions.com
Photo Source: istockphoto.com
