OK, it’s day two of our organizing week and we’re currently working on our crazy sink drawer that we shared yesterday. In the meantime, this isn’t one of those organizing play by plays with before, during, and after pics (that’s this afternoon’s post) it’s more a full breakdown of a system that works for us when it comes to taming the Clara-phernalia that threatens to take over our house. Around twice a week we get a question like: “can you do a post about how your organize Clara’s stuff? I could really use some ideas on how to control the chaos!” So here’s the rundown.
In the beginning it was pretty simple. She was little so we had a small ottoman and a basket with rattles and balls, and a swing and a few little blankets on the floor for tummy time. You can actually read a post all about that stage of kid clutter here.
Well, that was child’s play compared to toddlerdom. Why? Those were the days before she had A MILLION AND ONE THINGS. Ok, I’m exaggerating. But really, the girl has books, crayons, bowls, drums, stuffed toys, faux food for her kitchen, buckets, balls, blocks, toy cars, and dolls galore. As much as we said we’d try to keep it simple and not buy more things than one toddler can play with, well, we got hand-me-downs and birthday/holiday gifts, and it all added up.
And I was not good very very bad at devising or maintaining any sort of system for nearly 10 months (pretty much since she got mobile it got crazier). I just crammed the growing piles of kid clutter into various baskets and ottomans (seven of them!), never taking the time to group things so that I knew where to find them later. It just all got piled in, and some nights it just stayed on the floor because I was too tired. And remember our new ottoman which started out looking like this?
Well, that actually became the key to my organizational epiphany. And now it looks like this (don’t mind the pink tint, I forgot to white balance):
But that more cluttered “after” above is a good thing. It brings me immense joy that so many toys can be crammed in there. Why? I finally decided not to leave every last toy that Clara might play with out at all times. So many friends of mine said their kids were happier/more stimulated if their toys were switched out, instead of just giving them free rein of a million things at once. And when I read this quote in The Happiness Project (remember John got me that for my b-day?), it sealed the deal:
The head of Eliza’s school told a story about a four-year-old who had a blue toy car he loved. He took it everywhere, played with it constantly. Then when his grandmother came to visit, she bought him ten toy cars, and he stopped playing with cars altogether. “Why don’t you play with your cars?” she asked. “You loved your blue car so much.” “I can’t love lots of cars,” he answered.
So right then and there I decided my big white ottoman would become my “toy store.” It would be the place I stashed every last toy that wasn’t Clara’s current favorite. I literally combed through everything and pulled out only the “best-of” toys that she plays with all the time – the rest got piled into the bit white ottoman. Would you believe I was left with one basket?!
One glorious, manageable basket (from Target by the way). The kicker? It could be a developmental coincidence, but Clara started playing independently for longer stretches pretty much as soon as I made this switch. I’m not sure if she was getting bored or overwhelmed with her old bounty of everything, but she definitely spent time with many of the things in her basket for longer periods than she used to when she had an explosion of too many toys to really focus on anything for more than a minute. It was like Clara’s Greatest Hits: The Basket.
It takes way less time than you think to ruthlessly yank out anything your kid doesn’t currently play with (no maybes, just leave favorite toys only) and stash the rest in a big plastic bin in the closet or an under-bed storage container. Maybe it took me half an hour total? And now I can clean up her basket in two minutes when she goes to bed – and quickly rotate other toys in and out whenever the mood strikes. But I always keep it to one basketful. That’s the key. She loves when new things show up, since it seems to keep her interested. Here’s what’s in there now:
A few favorite stuffed animals, a wooden pull toy, balls, a purse from Grammy, a few baby dolls, a dress up skirt that she wakes up and demands to wear, and a pot that she loves taking small items in and out of. But the favorite items are actually in that fabric pouch (remember we got that for her as her Easter basket?). She likes the fabric pouch itself for the fun she has opening and closing the zipper…
… and as for what’s in there: few favorite cars, a fake cell phone and John’s old disconnected real one, a wood train, a small ball, some plastic animals, a plane that we got her for our Hawaii trip, and a shaker, two sticks, and a scarf from music class.
This small pouch full of favorite toys probably comes into play at least four times a day – she loves it. And I love that it all can get shoved into one basket every evening. Still haven’t gotten around to dusting the media cabinet though- haha. Someday…
In my new system, we also have two baskets of books. One in the office (which she likes to look at on the rug on her own or read in the chair with us)…
… and one in the living room.
Sure, she’ll bring a few books into other rooms throughout the day, but now that we have two designated book baskets, we know where they go. Books used to be mixed in with toys and balls and stuffed into ottomans in a bunch of places. Now it’s nice and streamlined without any thinking necessary. Toys go in the toy basket and books go in the book baskets. Someday we’ll get her a bookcase but we’re convinced she’ll just take everything out of it every time we fill it up, so baskets work for now.
Recognizing how many Clara zones there are for her to enjoy really helped me not get all down on myself for “limiting” the stuff that’s at her disposal by stashing un-favorites in the ottoman. For example, she has her coloring desk (which used to be our desk that we made from a door in our first house’s office):
I love that you can tell she’s a leftie from her scribble. Awww. That’s marker scribble, so it’s something we do with her (those things can get messy, so we supervise markers, play dough, and chalk). But her crayons are just stashed in that small zippered green pouch and her stickers are in the yellow pouch (both of which came from TJ Maxx for a few bucks, and offer her unlimited entertainment when it comes to taking things in and out and zipping and unzipping them).
Then in the hallway we have her rocker (a sweet gift from the grandparents a while back). She’ll randomly hop up from paging through a book or playing with her cars and just walk into the hallway to rock for a little while (see how we kid-proofed the frames at the bottom of the wall here).
Then she has her Christmas play kitchen (that we Santa made for her here).
It thankfully stores all of her kitchen-stuff in the cabinet under the sink and that small metal shopping basket I found for 20 cents at a thrift store. So those things have a spot too. If I see one in the kitchen, I bring it back into her room and put it away instead of tossing it into a random jumbled basket.
We also have two baskets (from Linens N Things about five years ago) under her dresser, one that’s full of blocks and one that’s full of puzzles.
One of my biggest annoyances was that Clara couldn’t do any puzzles since her puzzle board might be in one basket in the office and four of the pieces would be in the basket in the living room. So I organized them once and for all by giving them their own basket. Of course I still find pieces in the living room or the kitchen, but now I know where they go. So each night I usually make one trip back to her room as we’re putting her to bed (with any puzzle pieces or play kitchen items that need to be dropped off). It’s much faster than desperately searching for missing puzzle pieces and realizing they’re all over the house and I’m about to lose an hour of my life trying to find them.
I actually got the puzzles-in-a-shallow-basket idea from my neighbor (she has a daughter about a year older than Clara). It might be obvious to some people, but after trying to shove them into big round baskets and ottomans (and hearing all the pieces clatter out and fall to the bottom), I saw shallow baskets next door and realized they were a great way to keep the boards and pieces stacked together.
There’s also a book basket in Clara’s room with a bucket of wood blocks next to it. They usually don’t leave Clara’s room, but if they do the books can go into either of the other two book baskets, and the blocks get brought back at night when we bring play kitchen and puzzle pieces back. This might sound complicated, but it’s one walk down the hall with stuff that goes into Clara’s room each night since we know what goes in there now. It’s novel. And we’re also starting to ask Clara to help us clean up (she even sings the clean up song!) so sometimes she brings things back where they belong instead of us. That rocks too. It’s nice that even Clara’s picking up that certain things have “a home” to be returned to.
Oh and here are those “supervised” activities that we do with Clara (they all get tucked into a drawer in the kitchen so they’re special things we’ll whip out if she’s ever having a restless moment and we want to change things up. Since they’re not always out at her disposal, they’re always met with excitement.
And when it comes to outdoor activities, the rock box has continued to be a hit among toddlers. Our three year old neighbor actually joined Clara in a little Sunday afternoon rock romp, so it’s nice to know that it’s another “zone” where Clara can have some fun and dig around.
One organizational thing that we do need to tackle is an outdoor storage bin (we’re thinking of grabbing something like this) for the buckets and trucks that don’t fit inside her rock box when it’s covered. So we’ll keep you posted! In the meantime, that’s our kid-clutter rundown. We have no idea if this system will work for us when Clara and her toys get bigger – in fact I’d bet that it’ll keep changing and evolving – but you know we’ll blog all about it as we go.
What do you guys swear by when it comes to organizing kid stuff? I’m sure there are a million ways to skin this cat (gross expression, sorry) so we’d love to hear what works for you. My BFF has a giant playroom packed to the gills with stuff and her kiddos love that room, so there are definitely lots of ways to go!
Psst- Wanna know where we got something in our house or what paint color we used? Just click on this button:
Courtney Nabors says
I used baskets when my kids were younger. Now they have a big playroom. My son also has a wall of metal lockers in his room, which house all his books and puzzles. Our daughter has a loft bed with a reading nook/ book shelves under there for her.
YoungHouseLove says
That’s awesome! I love hearing about what works for you guys!
xo,
s
Dee says
Great post. My kids are older, but I know they have way too much stuff. I’m always amazed when they have a room full of toys and they tell me they’re bored! I’m thinking maybe too many options has something to do with it, and that I need to put away some of the games and toys and limit the options. They would probably appreciate what they have a little more too. It’s also hard for them to clean up on their own when there is so much stuff. They get overwhelmed at the sheer quantity of things to put away.
One nice thing is that they are all into legos right now (11, 10 and 5 yrs old) and that occupies them for hours. I’m sure we have too many legos too, and I’m always annoyed when I step on a random one, but hours of playing nicely together without bickering is worth it!
heather says
I don’t have kids yet, but I do have dogs who have their own basket of toys and understand that’s where the toys are. Now only if they could put them away instead of taking. every. single. thing. out. and strewing it between two rooms while I’m in the shower RIGHT after I put it all away. I have a feeling it’s similar to toddlers. Oy.
On a different note, I know you said to keep you updated as we did the deck, so this is where we are so far. We still need railings, balusters, permanent stair treads and some furniture/styling but that likely won’t happen (the styling, furniture part) until after we move the door (imagine it flipping completely to the right) so it will enter into a mudroom instead of directly into my kitchen.
http://www.likeacupoftea.com/all-hands-on-deck-part-three/
YoungHouseLove says
Love it! And you’re such a cutie. Love the pic at the end. Haha.
xo,
s
heather says
(and they don’t even have that many toys. But there may have been an incidence a few years back of the farmer coming down the road and asking if a stuffed duck was ours…he found it sticking out of a hay bale when he put it out for the cows. Now we roam the hay field, which we are due to do about this time of year, to make sure no toys sneak into machinery again)
heather says
Haha I’m a river monster most of the time, but I’ll take it.
Jenny @ HouseFullofPretty says
This is fantastic! We don’t have kids (yet) but have used a very similar basket system for all of our dog’s toys! Yes, they’re not as cute and might be a bit more covered in slobber, but it makes clean up a breeze!!!
Thanks for posting!
Jennifer says
I love that you found a way to keep Clara’s toys where you will be so she doesn’t have to be in a separate room. I use a basket similar to the one you found at Target for dog toys – no kids yet! ;)
Amy says
I love switching out toys. I’ve got three children ages, 1, 3, and 5 and right after Christmas this year, the toy situation got ridiculous. Also my mother-in-law lives right down the road and works at a children’s home, a place that gets abundant donations, has lots of celebrations etc. so my kids end up getting tons of tiny random toys, notebooks, stickers, etc. So I finally put an end to the chaos. My husband and I had also vowed not to have too many things to overwhelm the kids, but you know how it goes. I bought four see-through tubs and marked them A, B, C, D. We separated the toys into 4 equal groups (Goodwilling a lot as we went) and even separated out unopened Christmas gifts so they would have surprises. So far, we switch out a tub once every month and a half or so, and we were shocked at how much less we have to pick up and at how much better they play when there’s less to choose from. It’s definitely been a success!! Oh-and the see-through tubs helped a lot with retrieving a particular toy if it was in storage but sorely missed : )
Taya says
Love the toy organization ideas! And the outdoor box you’re thinking of… my parents have one for patio chair cushions and it works great keeping things dry and spider free!
Ali says
I LOVE LOVE LOVE that little pattern zipper tote for storage that you gave Clara for Easter! Where did you purchase it? What brand is it!?! I’d like to treat myself to one for Mother’s day! :) I think its sweet you gave it to Clara! I would have really struggled to give it to my daughter…since I think the pattern is so cool!
Love all the organizational tips and pics! I struggle with organization since I’ve had kids! I have 3 kids and these posts on organization are my favorite! It helps me brainstorm by seeing your creative solutions to clutter and grouping like items! Way to go! Love your blog!
~ Ali
YoungHouseLove says
If you scroll back through the comments I gave some info on that! Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Erin C says
Love this post! I have a similar set up for my 11mo old twins. One basket in our living room with toys. I plan to turn our guestroom into their playroom for the bigger toys as they start walking in the months to come. Its daunting! I like the puzzle basket idea, might have to use that one!
Samantha says
Puzzles…ugh. They end up everywhere. We got a Melissa & Doug wire puzzle case, and we keep it out reach. Then we get our daughter puzzles one at a time. Works great especially since my daughters favorite puzzle is the United States map!
Sheryl says
Rubbermaid tubs were our life saver when it came to all things Barbie and for the “dressup stuff.
Also with the outdoor storage, make sure it latches well. We opened ours last summer to a large wasps nest.
sara says
Where do you store things Clara has outgrown? We don’t have much attic space and no basement, so I can’t figure out a good solution for her outgrown clothes, shoes, toys, equipment. Some of it is pretty sizable stuff, too, like her bath seat and exersaucer. I don’t want to sell/give away these things so that we can use them for future babies, but it’s taking over!
YoungHouseLove says
We have a few rubbermaid bins in the attic (labeled newborn to 12 months, 12-24 months, etc). We also have one of my maternity clothes and one of swaddle blankets, the Boppee, etc. They would probably fit in a small attic. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Sunny says
I have done similar things so far (my daughter is about a year younger than Clara). We have a bucket under the TV in the living room, as well as a storage chest that we keep her not-favorite toys. Her little red (ugly!) Lightning McQueen ride-on car gets tucked in a corner, so it’s not visible from most places in the room. In her room, we have a small basket of toys and a shelf full of books. She just had her first birthday, and I’m happy with the storage systems we have for all of her new toys.
On a different note, I challenge you to search for (and count!) all of the times you’ve used “there’s more than one way to skin this/that/a cat” on your blog. I bet it’s more than you think it is. ;)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I bet it’s a million times! It’s a gross expression but it’s the best way to say what I mean sometimes. You know?
xo,
s
Thais Bessa says
Own, very cute! Here we do like your friend: we have a playroom with everything she has and it makes much easier to keep it tidy and rotate toys so she doesn’t get bored and stops appreciating them. The ones we rotate and the more expensive ones we keep for future kids we keep in our eaves storage in the attic guest bedroom.
By the way, do you guys keep the more expensive toys for future kids? What about clothes?
YoungHouseLove says
We keep all of her outgrown clothes and toys for a future sibling. The toys actually fit in the white ottoman (just some teethers and balls and rattles) and the clothes go in big labeled bins in the attic (ex: newborn to 12 months, 12- 24 months, etc).
xo,
s
Brenda says
I would recommend a puzzle rack rather than a basket for preschool puzzles (see http://fiestatoystore.com/images/melissa-and-doug-single-wire-puzzle-rack-storage.jpg). They’re more likely to just get one or two out instead of all them.
I love the idea of putting back some toys. I used to do that, but now I’m out of the habit and the clutter is piling up with toys my boys never use anymore.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip Brenda!
xo,
s
Jeannie says
Thanks so much for sharing! I have an 18-month-old boy and will be stealing the shallow basket for puzzles idea!
gidge says
Or, when she gets older, you can explain to her that some kids don’t have any toys. You can go through together, and pick out her favorites, and she can feel good about giving her other toys to kids who are less fortunate. My SIL does this once a year to keep the clutter to a minimum.
YoungHouseLove says
Love that tip!
xo,
s
Kim says
If Clara gets into playmobil in the next couple of years, I’ll be interested in how that can be organized. We always had them everywhere!
Sarah Gifford says
How awesome that you posted this today! I was just re-organizing my little man’s toys this morning. I decided to pack a bunch away for switching out later. The one’s I left out I split into two baskets, one is out and the other in the closet to be pulled out in the afternoon/ later in the day when he hits that tired out phase right before dinner. We’ll see how it goes. I love your tips! I can’t wait to finish my reorganizing using some of your ideas! I think the zippered ouches would be a hit! Thanks so much!
mribaro says
Switching toys every 3-6 months is great! Not only that kids have fewer toys in front of their eyes and therefore can focus on the play better, but also when the toys they had forgotten about show up, it’s like they suddenly got a brand new stuff! Ok, older kids will know that it’s an old toy, but they still seem overwhelmed with joy to see the “old friend” come back again.
Shelley says
Hi Sherry,
You have the exact system in place as we did for our two boys. They are now 9 and 7 so it is a bit different now but this system really does work : )
Great job at creating a wonderful home for your family.
Shelley
Sarah Gifford says
opps I meant zippered POUCHES. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I knew what you meant!
xo,
s
Vanessa says
Love this….I need to do this too. Where did you get the colorful stuffed giraffe in Clara’s room???
YoungHouseLove says
That was from Target about two years ago (got it for my shower before the bean was here).
xo,
s
Dona says
Years ago, when my kiddos were small, I found that they LOVED their playroom when it was a neat and tidy and the could find everything. But when the neat and tidy turned to chaos, they avoided that room.
Your idea that less is more fun stands so true. While kids love to make clutter, they are easily overwhelmed by it. I applaud your efforts to minimize and organize.
Love the baskets!
Jyl says
This is so inspirational, especially since I’ll be popping out a baby of my own in 9 weeks! This might be too personal, but how do you say no to well meaning friends and family members who want to shower Clara with gifts?
I love love that quote from The Happiness Project. I might have to pick up a copy of that book myself!
Also- I love that Clara has a few Uglydolls. We have one named Babo that we take everywhere and take photos of. I think I sent you one of his post cards for your post card wall art project!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, oh yes we love that postcard you sent! As for well-meaning friends and family, we usually try to give them suggestions to head off a bunch of giant plastic toys, for example, for her last birthday we asked that everyone bring her their favorite kids book. And this year we’re asking for small outside items (like small balls, velcro mitts, shovels and little trucks for her rock box, etc). We hope to stash everything in the outside storage bin we have been meaning to get!
xo,
s
Michele says
toy systemmmm… oh man. currently we have a downstairs playroom where we keep most of the stuff (and oh, it is LOTS of stuff.) then we rotate out what toys the kids (my nearly 3 year old boy and the one who turned 1 this week – yipes!) bring up stairs to play with. OH and then there are all the books and toys hidden in the Expedit’s baskets.
it’s a toy explosion around here.
i think i’m going to try more aggressively rotating toys out, i like that idea a lot.
happy tuesday to you guys!
Amber Wallace says
I love this! I really need to simplify our toys and get rid of a lot. They have overtaken my life. Thanks for such a great post!
Leslie R. says
When I became a grandmother, I cleaned out a linen closet and made a toy and craft closet. It started out for infants and now holds trucks (for two grandsons), puzzles, games, and craft supplies. I have a large bookcases in my office where I have two shelves for children’s books. When the boys are at my house they have full access to the toys, games, puzzles, books, and crafts. The boys know where there stuff is when they come to play and where to put it back.
Tiffany S. says
We just purchased a deck box and it’s the best thing we’ve bought for our outdoor space! Our patio was a scattered mess that was never put away. Now we throw all the balls and patio pillows and play toys in the box when we are done playing. We ended up getting the larger deck box from Costco. It was $89 and there is room to spare. Thanks for the puzzle basket idea!
YoungHouseLove says
Love that tip Tiffany!
xo,
s
Val says
This is a brilliant post, and it gives me so many ideas for the future. But I have a related question: how do you store baby/toddler clothes that Clara has outgrown? My baby is almost 4 months old, and I am beginning to get overwhelmed by the amount of clothing that she’s outgrown. We live in an apartment and I need to come up with a way to store as much as possible in a small space.
YoungHouseLove says
We just have a few giant rubbermaid bins in the attic labeled newborn to 12 months, maternity clothes, and 12-24 months. You can pack a ton into each of them!
xo,
s
Zoë says
I have three kids, so it’s been a huge learning curve when figuring out how to organize the massive amount of toys we have. Our son is 8, and into Lego and superheroes. His toys stay in his room when he’s not playing with them. We use plastic tubs and popcorn tins for handy storage. Our girls are 4 and 19 mths and share a room. We keep the baby’s toys in baskets in the living room (I especially love Land of Nod baskets), and big sister’s toys stay in their room. You can kind of see the toy corner here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tnzed/7066299097/in/photostreamWe also moved all their play food and kitchen toys to the den, so it makes for easy clean-up if everything has a home. I do wish I had more space to hide the toys though as I agree that too many options can be overwhelming and overstimulating. I think a storage ottoman may have to go on my wishlist.
ps I am totally stealing the zipper bag and toy stash idea for my youngest for a roadtrip this summer.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, we love that the pouch can come with us in the car for long trips!
xo,
s
April says
I love all your ideas. Our problem is we have toys upstairs on our main living area and then a playroom downstairs. I need to hit up the basket sales next time at Hobby Lobby.
sarah says
you guys got it! we do the rotate thing and it works like a charm. i’ve been doing it since he could crawl. and can you believe when a new toy is even introduced downstairs, even though it’s been upstairs in his room for a while, he thinks it’s new. that’s because there are different ways to play upstairs than downstairs. we also have a place for everything except the downstairs bin….that houses all toys and books, but if it overflows that one basket, then it’s time to clean through it. everything else lives upstairs in his room. and he knows where it all goes. we have a low bookshelf built-in made just for him in the window with a seat, and he plays at it every day. and he does play longer with things when there is less…..he isn’t so distracted by all the stuff. thanks for sharing this with the world. hopefully it will help lots of moms to keep their sanity!
julie s says
i use a deck storage box to wrangle the outside toys for my two boys (lots of truck parking in there)….one suggestion to consider – our deck box has a top lid as well as two front doors (which latch as needed)…if not for those doors my small kids could not help themselves to their toys because the box is too tall for them to reach in the top.
i am currently getting my garage sale ready and thinning out the toy supply is near the top of the list!!! thanks for the encouraging words that ‘less is more’
YoungHouseLove says
Great tip Julie! Thanks!
xo,
s
Elizabeth says
I am currently reorganizing my twin girls toys (they are 3.5 years old) and I have purchased a couple montessori books to help me set up more educational, independent play friendly stations around the house. You seem to be doing exactly that! I am looking forward to putting together some activity toys that help my girls learn to tie shoes, do buttons, set the table, etc…
Warmly,
Elizabeth
YoungHouseLove says
That’s so funny! I’m a Montessori kid (went there through 6th grade) so I wonder if it’s subconscious! Haha.
xo,
s
Lindsey says
Good toy storage tips! We just recently weeded out our sons toys too. It hasn’t helped with independent play, but he is only 13 months and teething. All mommy, all the time!
I just had to comment, because I noticed Clara has that yellow haired mermaid (and I saw another mermaid in another post)… We have those for Jameson too and he is OBSESSED with them! We actually found them at the pool and totally thought they were some toy from the 80’s or from the dollar store or something. Anyways, I just got a kick out of that. Hope i don’t sound crayzay!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- that’s so funny! They were a gift from an old coworker of John’s! I think they’re from Target.
xo,
s
Chris says
We are toy switchers too. I have 2 kids (7 and 4) and they are each allowed to have one box of toys in their bedrooms, and everything else stays in bins in our basement. We switch out every few months and I let them choose what stays and what goes.
Also, for their birthdays they select one toy for each year of age (example, my 7 yr old selected 7 toys) and those are donated. They also donate 5 toys each after Thanksgiving to prep for the Christmas madness.
Amy says
This was such a helpful post! Clara is pretty much the luckiest little gal around – so many fun things to play with! :)
Sara says
I love this post! This is just what I need to weed through and organize my daugther’s toys before her [first!] birthday next weekend! Thanks for the motivation!!
Debbie says
i used to do the same thing w/ my daughter (albiet 19 years ago). althought i had a 9,000 sq ft home at the time so in an effort to not have her toys scattered from one end to the other, she had her own zones where her toys could be. some rooms were just off limits & she never really cared. she had free run of her areas, but at the end of the night everything needed to go back in its place. & not by me. by her. it was her responsibility to put all her toys away & straighten up. she learned to cook (w/ supervision) early on & she also was tasked w/ sorting & washing her own laundry starting in middle school. i wanted her to be self sufficient. i tried to instill that w/ the spoils of life comes the responsibility as well. something she tells me, now that shes on her own, that she is very grateful for.
Heather says
I got desperate one day and bought a whole bunch of Itso storage cubes with fabric bins from Target. I used a mix of deep and shallow ones, installing the divider shelf where necessary. That became the home for my daughter’s stuff — barbies, polly pockets, musical instruments, dolls, my little pony, etc. Then I printed off a picture of each category and stuck it to the corresponding bin with double-sided tape. That way my non-reading toddler knew what was in each bin AND she could return things to the proper place when it was clean up time — absolutely critical, IMO.
I agree whole-heartedly with your weeding-out process. Too many toys results in a kind of play ADD. There’s too much of everything so nothing is special. I’ve seen this in my own kids time and time again. The more they get of something, the less important it becomes. Over-gifting (usually from grandparents) has completely extinguished my children’s interest in all kinds of things. Also, when the house looks like Toys R Us exploded in it, it’s so overwhelming that clean up just seems impossible for kids. Much better to keep the total toy quotient low so when it’s time to pick up, the kids can actually manage it.
Anna says
We have an entire room devoted to toys. I use a tub system (similar to Ikea’s one) and other storage such as flexi-tubs for the room. We have a little couch in there so that we can go and sit with her comfortably. Everything is sorted according to type (little people all together in a tub, puzzles all together in a shallow box, dress-ups in a big toy box etc) and now it is paying off as my daughter is now starting to clean up independently!
Little Miss 2.5yrs loves it and has always done so. We love that at the end of the day we can chuck everything back in there and close the door. It keeps the house free of toys. I must say though – our kind of storage doesn’t work for a lot of kids. Some of her friends that come over just tip tub after tub out onto the floor – she would never do that.
We also have a craft area set up on the tiles near the dining/kitchen area. It works perfectly for me as she can settle down to glue/colouring in/playdough etc whilst I am in the kitchen.
Everything is constantly evolving and changing to keep up – I think we have too many toys at the moment. The main problem being grandma buying way too much (terrible problem to have – I know!) and me not getting rid of baby stuff yet…but she adores it still and gets far more mileage out of it than I would have believed. I am hoping that as we move more into the 3 yr old stage we will be able to put away a lot more of the baby stuff.
Sabrina says
We have toys coming out our……well you know! lol We moved about 5 1/2 hours away from our family, and they send their love with toys. Every year I say don’t send toys, or I make a list of toys. Every year we get tons! My 3 year old is a hoarder in the making. She knows where every toy came from and when she got them. I try to get rid of the toys she never plays with and she knows. Right now we have buckets in our unused linen closet where I store her stuffed animal overflow. Luckily with my 1 year old boy, he doesn’t have dresses to hang in his closet so we have turned that into a toy closet. I would love to get an ottoman like you guys, but we have 4 cats that would just love to sink their claws into it. I really wanted this woven toy box I saw at Target, but again it would just be a scratching post :(
Sabrina says
Oh, and her pig pillow cracks me up lol
Ashley@AttemptsAtDomestication says
This is so smart! I’m definitely going to have to invest in baskets and boxes for toys when we have children!
Molly says
We have a large playroom, & I don’t know what I’d do without it! I use plastic milk crates to organize like toys together. Then all of the crates go on large metal rack shelves. It makes it easy to rotate out toys to keep my kids interested. About once a month I swap a few crates from the top two shelves (that my kids ages three & one can’t reach), & move them to the bottom shelves. They also have a train table, a little table & chairs, & a kitchen set with a fridge (that I made thanks to your tutorial!). We also have a book shelf full of books & puzzles. The shelving system works really well for us.
A few times a day I have them clean things up before they get out new toys to cut down on chaos. Then, at the end of the day, they “help” me clean up the floor. I try to make a game of it, which also helps keep everything organized (let’s put all of the cars in this bin, can you find all of the animals, & put them in this crate?). Even though I still put most of the toys away, I make sure they’re actively participating.
Good luck with with your organizing!!
Kristin says
I LOVE this post! And as a early childhood teacher I absolutely love that you have book baskets in different parts of the house for her. Amazing!
Have you tried Model Magic or Color Wonder with her? The Color Wonder is WONDERFUL since it’s markers and paint that can only be used on it’s own paper. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Never tried them! That sounds like fun!
xo,
s
Kate says
Just don’t use the Color Wonder stuff on wood. I found out the hard way when I let my daughter use them on her beautiful wood high chair – and then had to refinish the tray. :(
YoungHouseLove says
Good to know!
xo,
s
Amy says
Clara-phernalia, heh. LOVE that!
It’s true that they are happier with less…now if I could only just get around to doing the MAJOR purge we need around here. Three kids = many, many, many little pieces, and too many toys.
Connie says
When Clara’s puzzles get more complicated, you might want to use the system our local library uses: the backs of each puzzle piece and the frame that holds them are all labeled with the same letter (or number). That way you can easily put the puzzles left disassembled back together without hunting madly for the errant pieces.
YoungHouseLove says
Wow- that’s smart!
xo
s
angie says
We have a very similar system. Our youngest is Clara’s age and they do learn very quickly the idea of cleaning up. I let the toys reign until nap time and then we do clean up. That way mama gets a few hours of peace along with a clean house. The toys come out again after nap and we do one more clean up before bedtime. I’ve put labels on some of the baskets to help our kids learn that certain toys go in certain areas. It’not foolproof but it does work well. LOVE the puzzle basket idea. Think I’m gonna switch to that system.
Shannon says
I did the same when my kiddos were littles too. Baskets and bins for each category placed all over the house, swapped out a few toys each week during nap time. Most times when I did this it was like finding old friends for them and they would be so excited! They helped after bathes w/clean-up and we sang “the” song! Then we would cuddle on the bean bag for bedtime stories. When they were Clara’s age they would generally get one thing per hand and I would pack mule the rest and we would parade around the house putting things back and laughing. Still to this day (20 and 14 yrs old) they pick up their stuff/rooms before bed and it makes me smile! Oh the places we go and the memories we make! Smiling right now remembering my fresh scrubbed faced, wet headed little monkeys singing and laughing! Thanks! :)