Over the next few weeks I'll be unplugging a bit to enjoy what's left of our summer (happy to have a preschooler that doesn't start school until almost October so we can enjoy all kinds of things minus the normal summer crowds). So, rather than leave you all with radio silence- I will be posting some new stuff, but also reposting some of my old favorites in case you are new to the space yourself.
I remember when I was pregnant with my first child- deep into the "nesting" stage of my pregnancy- and I was trying to organize the heaps of baby stuff that seemed to have overtaken my house overnight. Little did I know that 5 years and 2 children later I would have more kid stuff than I could have ever imagined. Trying to organize all of the stuff that belongs to my children is a never ending task- and I am constantly coming up with a new strategies to (attempt to) tame the clutter. If you find yourself in a similar situation- here are some of the ways that I organize toys in this house.
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By Color:
I've said it before, I'll say it again- taking 5 minutes to organize your kids' books by color will automatically improve the look of your room and it won't cost you a penny. (See picture in page header above, look how pretty those books look all in a rainbow!)
You could easily do the same with a collection of toys as well. If your little one is really into cars, or plastic reptile figurines, and you seem to have one of every color, take a minute to line them all up according to color. If your toys are on display, they might as well look their best. Honestly there isn't a single collection in this house that I haven't attempted to color organize!
Once you get to the point where you have too many toys to contain to any one area of your home, there comes a time where you have to figure out where to put everything. Which types of toys do you want to store where?
I like to organize our house into "stations," and although I will periodically rotate the stations from room to room, I like to keep all of the art supplies together, all of the musical instruments together, and all of the Barbies and Disney Fairies in their own little worlds. It also makes it so much easier to find things and put things away when you know that ALL of the Barbies and acessories belong in one particular room at the end of the day.
By shape:
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| does anyone else see that cube in there??? how did that happen?!?! |
By composition:
We have as many brightly colored plastic toys as I could ever care to have- but we also have several sets of toys made from more natural materials: hand made building blocks from my Grandfather, and a wooden dollhouse. If we absolutely have to have toys "on display" in our main living rooms, sometimes I prefer for the toys to blend in a bit more than a giant neon pink piece of plastic would. I also like to keep all of the "plush" stuff together- or at least attempt to keep it together. But I think we have enough plush dolls, animals, puppets, and other small objects to fill a medium sized swimming pool. This is one of ~7 areas in my house where plush animals live. By size:
For me, this type of categorization also needs sub-categorization, but it only makes sense to store things of similar sizes together. I have several toy bins full of various types of small people and animal figures- and even though they are all separated according to brand- the bins are all stored in a common location because my kids don't care whether it's made by Fischer Price or Spin Master- they just want as many "guys" as possible to play in the little houses. (But then when we're done- I make sure that the Little People are carefully segreated from the Pop-On-Pals, cuz I'm neurotic like that!)By owner:
Most toys in our house collectively belong to both kids (or so I tell them), but each child has a few favorites that she is not required to share. I am always sure to store these toys accordingly!
ty, i was thinking I do it weird ways, but it seems you have same systems!
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