Toy Organization That Beats Clutter
Rhonda CollinsThe system breaks away from the take, make, use and throw away model and focuses on sustainable solutions like recycling, passing down products, and only producing high quality and durable things that will last many years. Let's see how this concept can be used to organize your child's playroom.
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How to Stay On Top Of Toy Organization
1. Sort out the Toys
Assuming you are like every other household in America, there are too many toys in the house already. Start your toy organization by dumping all of them on the floor and sorting them out. During this process:
- Remove any toy that's broken or damaged. These will go to the throw-away pile.
- Let the kids pick 5-10 of their favorite toys.
- Put aside any toys the kids have outgrown or don’t like anymore. If they haven’t played with it in months, put it in a sell or donate pile.
- Pick 5 timeless toys you or the children would like to keep. These are things like wooden toys you've had in the family for awhile or mementos.
At the end of this procedure, you might have 25-35 toys tops. Then, plan to sell the outgrown stash in a garage sale or an online marketplace like Toycycle.
For optimal toy organization, you’ll want to sort out toys once or twice a year to ensure kids only have what they need and want.
2. Only Buy the Essentials
Like any parent, you'll be tempted to buy more toys for your kids. There is nothing wrong with this, and toys will find their way into your home with birthdays, holidays, any other family members anyway.
You'l just want to be mindful of the goal. Following the law of circular purchasing, it's best to buy high-quality essentials.
Focus on toys that are helpful to your child's development such as educational toys like puzzles, blocks, and STEM toys. See our Child Development Through Play guide for ideas.
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3. Buy Quality, Sustainable Toys
Following circular purchasing, keep end-of-life in mind when buying new toys.
Does the toy look like something that can handle being banged and dropped over and over without breaking down? Can kids of different ages use it? That's the one you should get.
For example, this PlanToys Baby Walker can be used by kids from ages 12 months and up as they develop grasping, walking, stacking, and building skills.
If you think about it this way, you will buy fewer plastic toys that end up in landfills and instead go for more sustainable toys that last through generations.
This way, you don't have to keep replacing toys every few months due to breakage. And these types of toys can be found in great condition used because they were built to last.
4. Employ Sound Organizing Techniques
To obtain optimal playroom toy organization, especially if your space is small, you'll want to utilize it wisely:
- Sort the toys according to type. To make it easy for kids to find and put back their toys, separate them according to type. Have a separate bin for cars, dolls, Legos, blocks, balls, pretend toys, and so on. You can use picture labels for younger kids.
- Make use of vertical space. Building shelves on the wall is a fantastic way to store toys off the floor, to preserve that space for playing. Once you sort out the toys and put them in their respective bins, place them on the shelves.
- Keep your storage shelves within reach of the kids. This will make it easy for them to pick out a toy and more importantly put it back after playing.
- Put extra small pieces in separate containers. Lego pieces, small cars, and other tiny toys are too small for bins. Get them their own designated storage like smaller containers, ziplock bags, and baskets.
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5. Practice Toy Rotation
Even after selling or donating toys, you will probably still have more toys than your kids need at any given time. For this reason, toy rotation is one of the best toy organization strategies. It ensures your child appreciates and uses every toy they have.
Select half of your remaining toys - preferably their favorite ones at the moment - and store them in your vertically organized bins in the playroom.
Put the other half away – in a closet, garage, or basement - so your child can't access them. In a month or two, you will exchange the two sets of toys.
When tackling small playroom organization, you only need to keep in mind three words; simple, reachable, and minimal.
The kids should only have toys they love playing with at the moment; they should be able to reach them easily and also keep the room organized without your help.
We know, that last bit seems like crazy talk. But if you teach kids how to clean up after themselves daily, with plenty of repetition, you’ll be able to maintain your toy organization system.
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Good luck!
