Are you wearing hip waders into your kids' rooms? Have stuffed bears turned your slippers into a winter burrow? Have you forgotten what color the carpet is in your house? OK, so maybe things aren't as bad as all that, but having toys scattered everywhere can make life a lot more stressful, not only for you, but also for your children. Even if organization isn't your strong point, these simple steps will help you implement solutions for dealing with disorganized toys.
|
Pick Your Spots If you're uncomfortable with creating those kinds of boundaries, an alternative is to position kids' storage furniture in different rooms, such as furniture-quality toy chests or toy benches in the living room.
Make Cleaning Easy |
To make kids' storage accessible, try combinations such as open toy storage cubbies. Instead of organizing from top to bottom, organize from bottom to top, with your kids' favorite toys lower to the ground.
Establish an orderly routine
One of the toy storage solutions we love is labeling with pictures and/or words. Organize toys by theme or type, and tape or glue an image or index card to your toy storage containers so that your kids will know which toys go where. You could even have your kids draw the pictures that illustrate what's in each box. Using smaller, portable, well-labeled bins can help kids learn to keep toys organized even while they're playing with them.
Once all the toys have a proper place, implement a regular, if not daily, routine in which you and your kids clean up all their toys and sort them properly. If you make a game of it, it's going to be much more fun for everyone.
