Toy Organization Basics

When people come over to my house they typically ask how we are able to prevent it from looking cluttered with kid toys because, well, we have kids. Lots of 'em. So today's post is all about how we wrangle kid toys while still maintaining function.

I have to start off by saying the following hasn't always been my method. When I was a very young first-time mother I think it was safe to say my only baby at the time had way too many toys, they overtook almost every room in the house, and quite honestly he didn't regularly play with many of them. With each new baby I had I learned you don't need near as much as you think in regards to kids. So toys got passed down, donated, trashed, and I became very mindful of I was bringing into our home. By the time baby three came along I was a well-oiled machine in that regard.
So here we go:

First and foremost be mindful of what toys you bring into your home. When my oldest had a birthday, or at Christmas, I felt the need to have the tree overflowing with gifts. Looking back, it was ridiculous. I think I thought that by giving my loads of "things" it helped show that I loved him lots! And I guess if that's someone's love language so be it, but it wasn't and isn't his.  As I've got older I'm no longer a materialistic idiot focused on quantity and I definitely know that gifts don't equal love. In fact, I feel as though many people that get and get and get things given to them don't have as much of an appreciation for things as others. 

Next, organization. Ever been to someone's house and it looks like a daycare threw up in their main living space? Yeah, that shit makes me panicky so it's a big motivator to keep our toys under control at our house. We've been fortunate enough to have a room solely for "playroom" purposes in every home we've lived in except one, and we only lived in that house for a single year and while Avery was an infant so it wasn't a big deal. If you have a room you can use as the "playroom" kudos to you. Use the playroom for just that, play. And then keep the toys in their bedrooms to a minimum, this way there's less mess spread throughout the house.

Living room toys. I'm not anti-toys in living spaces, but I definitely keep it to a minimum. I literally have one basket (pictured above. Similar one here) in my living room that is dedicated to toys and sometimes Avery will also bring a few toys from her play area into the living room as well (the two spaces are near one another) and that's fine so long as she's actively playing with them, when she's no longer playing I ask her to "clean up" and so far she happily obliges. Tip: From about the time she was 12 months I'd ask her to "clean up" then sing the clean up song as I put her toys away. At first, she obviously didn't help much as she didn't understand what I was asking of her, but after a few weeks of seeing me do this she understood and now seems to actually enjoy cleaning up and will sing the song as she's doing it, its pretty freaking cute. Now she can do it all by herself, it's not perfect, sometimes she'll Hulk-lift her baby's stroller into a basket when it clearly doesn't belong there but I thank her and then move it myself later when she's not around if I don't like where its at.

Everything should have a place. no joke, I used to think this was uptight and ridiculous but as the years have gone on I realize just how much more organized we are now that I follow that advice, toys included. This can also be coupled with the "one in, one out" rule for toys and other household objects alike. Basically, if I make a purchase of, say, a lamp (I have a thing with lamps) I have to 1. have a spot for it and 2. get rid of something else (preferable a lamp/similar object your'e buying) in the house before purchasing it. Also, I love using baskets (here are some the perfect size to fit in a bookcase) for organizing - they keep objects stored while still looking nice. So in Avery's room for example, I have a basket that goes in her bookcase for doll clothes, one for cars, one for random small toys, one for her train tracks and trains, etc. Bigger items just live out on the open shelves. I don't do traditional toy boxes, I tried it when my oldest was tiny and learned that I'm not a fan because I've noticed they are so large that toys tend to get "lost" in them and the kids would really have to dig and dig for their toys, whereas with smaller baskets things are 1. more easily organized and 2. they are easier to reach.

(Pictured above is this bookcase, we love it) 

If a toy is broken or pieces are missing they get tossed. Immediately. If they've outgrown the toy it gets donated. If its a toy they got a lot of use out of and is still in good shape I keep it for future siblings with the hopes that the next kiddo will get just as much enjoyment as the previous.

Clean up at the end of play time and at the end of each day. Before nap time, leaving the house, or bedtime I have the kids clean up their toys. This is especially important for itty bitty kids like my youngest (she's 23 months old). She sees that when she wake up or comes home all her toys are back in their designated spot so in her mind she knows that's where it belongs. I will notice her pull books out from her bookshelf, "read" them, then put them back, then move on to something else. Its impressive, and I think it has a lot to do with her knowing that's where they go when its time to clean up. Don't get it twisted, there are plenty of times she dumps an entire bin of toys out in her room and then runs down that hall and moves on to playing elsewhere, and that's cool too because she's so young. But when she's made a mess like that and then we relocate downstairs for whatever reason I ask her, "Can you clean up your toys, please?" And she'll sing her clean-up song while putting the toys back. Again, its not perfect but she understands what I'm asking and she obliges. Usually.

If you do have loads of toys and can't bring your self to part with them you can try what I eventually did with my oldest before I finally just went full-fledged toy-minimizing - I stored half of them away in bins and kept the other half out for him to play with. Every few weeks I swapped out a few toys and he loved it, it was like receiving a new gift since it had been out-of-sight-out-of-mind. Fast forward 17 years and now I don't even allow myself to own enough toys to have to store them away and its a really good feeling to not have so. much. stuff. Not just with toys but with STUFF in general in our home. I have found that if we only keep and buy things that we 1. NEED and 2. ABSOLUTELY LOVE then our home stays clutter-free, tidy, and that equals all of us feeling relaxed when we are home. I've heard it said that a clean home is a restful home and I have found that really is true. Don't get me wrong, there are days we tear up the kitchen baking pies from scratch or have a painting project that covers the entire deck. Having less things doesn't mean having less fun, it just means you have more time to devote to the fun.

Have more toy organizing tips? I'd love to hear them!