Hi PinkWhen readers! My name is Ferly and my boys {hubby and son} keep me on my toes and give me lots to blog about. I blog over at Gifts We Use about organizing, technology, family life and blogging. When I asked Jennifer what area in her life needed organizing, she quickly said toys, so I am happy to share with you how I organize toys in hopes that it inspires you to tap into your organizational side.
Being a mom comes with a lot of baggage. One of the biggest of which being the mountain of toys that make its way into our lives and homes. Toys entertain and educate our kiddos, but they also leave our floors a mess, our couch cushions lumpy and our homes cluttered. They.are.everywhere! Fear not moms, there is a way to tame the toys!
Contain the ClutterFor me, the best way to keep toys out of sight when not in use is to contain toys appropriately. I love the idea of a toy chest, but quickly realized that I was just dumping the mess on my floor into a large wooden box. When my son wanted to play with something, he had to go digging into the toy chest, often flinging out what he wasn't looking for. With an easy $6, I ran to the store to create a system that worked for both of us. Now my son can find just what he's looking for, and I can keep the toys in the toy chest. Read more about it here.
Categorize the ChaosA toy chest is one thing, but a there are a boat load of other toys that take the clutter and make it chaos. Trains, train tracks, legos, puzzles, animals, instruments, the list goes on and on. The easiest way to reign in the madness is to create toy categories then contain them appropriately. Take a look at my son's toy storage.
Each column of bins represents a toy category and is assigned its own color. The categories are for mom and the colors are for my son. If he takes a few bins out to play with the toys, he knows just where to return each bin by matching it with the color. Also, because I made a point to label my categories and each bin with a simple picture, he can do this with my guidance or by himself! Gift!Teaching the Toddler
All of this containing and categorizing does nothing if the child is not taught how to use and maintain the system you worked so hard on. Make your child part of the organizing process {within reason}, show them the result and follow through on the training.
When we first implemented this drawer system, our son pulled out every drawer and dumped every toy onto the floor. Be warned: It.will.happen. At the time, he was close to two years old, and boys will dump toys, it's a fact. But when it happened, I lined the bins up, put one or two toys in the bin to start him off, then had him clean up {most of} the mess himself. He learned pretty quickly how to sort the toys, but as he got older, when he continued to dump {for fun}, his toy privileges were taken away for a period of time.
Taming the toys has consumed this mom ever since the toys made their way here. Even today, my biggest pet peeve is toys on the floor. It doesn't even have to be put away, just get it off of the floor. I hope that you found these simple yet powerful tips useful. I'll be posting about my toy system in more detail soon, so I invite you to visit Gifts We Use and find out more.Are toys consuming your home? Did these tips help you to tame the toy chaos? Comment below!
