Organizing Kids Rooms – Lose The Toy Clutter!
For almost 12 years, I have been in and out of my boys room so many times…I have lost count. I’m not just talking about going in to wake them up…I’m talking about organizing and reorganizing their toys. Boy, oh boy can they take over the house with the blink of an eye. Even with all the proper organization tools in place we still struggle with toy clutter…it is a weekly chore that I am constantly tackling. After testing and re-testing organizational option in our home , these are my best simple solutions that may help you get control of the toy clutter at your house. Enjoy!
Baby Toys
When our boys were babies, we had a wicker basket in the living room where we had all of their teething toys, key rings, a few of books, along with a few of the sound toys. Our oldest son’s favorite toy was the Blues Clues Solar System Planet Interactive Toy. He was a HUGE Blues Clues fan and actually most kids first words are “mama” or “dada,” but his was “clue” at just 6 months of age…WHAT!?!
Bath Toys
We tried it all! Bin next to the tub, plastic bin suctioned to the wall of the tub, mesh bag, just throw the toys in the tub…you name it! Above all the bath toy organization options we tried, our favorite was the mesh bag. Toys could dry out and we didn’t have to deal with buildup from water and such. Each week, all toys (both bath and play toys) were washed either by hand or in the dishwasher to rid them of any germs.
Books
We love them because they are an educational tool and our kids love them too, but sometimes they can take over. We have a bookshelf in each of the kids rooms that we place all the books on the shelf from tallest to smallest (it’s an aesthetics thing for me). It also helps kids recognize smallest to largest and vice versa (bonus…extra educational tool!) With our older son, he passes books down to his younger brother which helps cut the cost of purchasing books all the time. After our younger son finishes the book, it is placed in the book donation bag in the garage where they can take them to Katy Budget Books. Katy Budget Books offers a book credit to purchase newer “used” books…win-win! Purchasing books through Katy Budget Books is only the tax on each book + a handling fee when you use your book credit. If the book is a series like Diary of a Wimpy Kid or books that we have had signed then these books are put up after they have finished reading them.
Kids Meal Toys
These toys always lasted about a week in our house. After that, they took a little trip to the donation box. If the boys didn’t open the toy, we would save them up and donate them to the schools younger grades (PreK-1st) since most of these teachers have a prize box for good behavior in their classrooms.
Plastic Bin Storage
Boys have their GI Joe action figures and girls have Barbies that all have tiny accessories. The best way to tackle this is to pick up a “shoe” box plastic bin from the dollar store or use a shoe box you have in your closet and put all of these items together in one box. I prefer to use the clear plastic bin simple because you can see through the box. This also makes it easier for kids to know where things belong (plus they stack easily). This also works well with Legos, Hot Wheels, etc.
Larger & Outside Toys
Toy trucks, sports balls, Nerf toys, ect. can either be oddly shaped or just larger than the space you have available. So we keep these toys in a large collapsable bag in the garage or under the kids playhouse in the backyard. This keeps these toys where they need to be as the kids make the mad dash out the door to play with friends.
Do you have any other tips to tame kids clutter? If so, please share your “tried & true” tips with our readers in the comments below!
