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9. The Toys Have Taken Over

THE PROBLEM

If you’re a mom, you have children. If you have children, you have toys. And if you come from a large family that gives gifts, you have lots of toys. These toys migrate. They move from basements to family rooms to bedrooms to outside—anywhere your children go.

THE STORY

In our first house, when my husband and I had one child, we had a toy area in the corner of our “breakfast room.” Some simple, white, plastic shelving held all of our little girl’s toys. Then we had two more children. Once, while we were eating dinner, a basketball went flying across the table. “Maybe we need to rethink the toy area,” we both said. So we turned the 8' × 10' (2.4m × 3m) mudroom into the toy room. We decorated it with jungle animals, put up some bigger shelves and added a wooden toy box. It was not large, but it was cute. The older children primarily used it as a place to store their toys. When I was home with the baby, we would lay out a blanket and play on the floor in there. The best feature was a locking door, so when we had company over, we could lock certain toys in and pull out the toys we didn’t mind the children using. Now, in our second home, my children have an entire playroom, complete with a sofa, toy bins and a TV. As your family grows, you’ll need to adapt your home to your changing needs. You also must be creative with the space and the resources you have.

THE SOLUTION

First, decide where you are going to keep toys in your house. Then decide how you are going to keep them. Finally, develop the habit of doing toy clean-outs at different times of the year. Let’s look at each of these three steps and discuss some options in hopes that you will find one that suits your family and your home.

STEP 1—WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO KEEP THE TOYS?

When deciding where to keep the toys, consider the set up of your house and the age of your children, as well as their personalities and play styles. Include your husband and children as you designate your “toy room” or “toy area.” If your children are old enough, let them help you arrange and decorate the toy room or area so they feel like they own it. They will be more inclined to help you straighten it up when necessary. It makes them feel “big” and responsible to have their own place. Here are some options to consider when selecting a storage area:

Toy room. If you are lucky enough to have a finished basement or an extra room on the main floor of your house, you can designate this as a toy room. It will be the room that your children gravitate to during most of the day. Many mothers say they have a basement that they’d like to use as the toy room, but their children are young and they don’t want to be alone there while Mommy is upstairs. In that case I say switch your plan. Maybe the basement can be used as the adults’ recreation room or home office and the children can have a room upstairs for play. Also, realize that as they get older, your children may want to be downstairs with the door closed. You can rearrange the rooms at that time. The great thing about having one toy room is that even if it has toys all over the floor, you can write it off as “that’s the kids’ room” and the rest of your house can still look nice.

Children’s bedrooms. If you don’t have an extra room to devote to toys and playtime, then you may have to use your children’s bedroom as the toy area. In this case you will have to be very conscious of limiting toys and keeping them in proper containers, leaving room for a bed and dresser. Luckily, most children do not have many clothes that need to be hung up so you can devote at least a portion of closet space for toys.

Family room. If the bedrooms are tiny and there are no extra rooms in your house, you may have to use part of your family room to keep toys. This may not be your first preference, but it is a reality for many people. How you arrange the room and what containers you use will be key in keeping this room from looking sloppy or cluttered.

A large closet. You could always use a large closet for storing toys. The children can take out what they want to play with, use it in any room of the house, and when it’s time to straighten up, put it back in the closet. Again, with this option the containers you choose and the use of space in the closet will be key to keeping it functional.

Combination of options. If you choose to keep toys in more than one of these areas of your house, I recommend you still use the idea of “keeping like things together” and break down all toys into subcategories. Games could go in the family room, action figures in the bedrooms, stuffed animals in the bedroom and arts and craft supplies in a closet. The last thing you want is to have all types of toys in several rooms of your house. Then it is hard to put things away and keep track of what toys you have.


Absolute of Organizing: Keep like things together.


STEP 2—WHAT WILL YOU USE TO KEEP THE TOYS ORGANIZED?

Once you have designated where you will keep the toys, bring all the toys to that spot. This will help you see how much you need to get rid of to make it all fit. Use the C.P.R. (Category, Purge and Rearrange) process and categorize the toys into smaller groups such as: action figures, stuffed animals, games, puzzles, arts and crafts, kits with small pieces (e.g., building blocks, train sets, etc.) and sports equipment. Once you have categorized, decide what can be purged. Anything that is broken or dangerous should be trashed and anything that your children do not play with anymore can be given away. Now look at what’s left and begin to consider what containers you can use to store them. Here are some storage container options to consider:

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Wooden toy boxes offer easy storage and are easy to access. A toy box with wheels can easily be moved out of sight when you entertain guests.

Wooden toy box. The good old-fashioned toy box is great for big toys that you want out in the open and accessible for the children. They look fine in a bedroom or living room. If you want your living room to have a more sophisticated look when you entertain guests, a toy box on wheels makes it easy to hide the toys in another room for an evening. Be careful not to overfill these, or toys will get broken. These are not great options for little pieces, which tend to fall to the bottom. The benefit—having one box for general toys makes for easy clean-up.

Wooden bookshelf. Bookshelves are great for play sets such as farms or doll houses, which have small pieces inside. They also are great for boxes and puzzles or games, which can be stacked. If your children are climbers, you must make sure these shelves are secured to a wall. The shelves can be used out in the open or tucked into a closet for storage. And if you find one at a second-hand shop, you can always paint it to match your décor.

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Toy shelves with plastic bins are great for storing small toys your children frequently play with.

Metal utility shelf. Metal utility shelves are nice and sturdy and usually wider than a typical bookshelf. Use these in a basement or a room that’s not a common area in your home because they’re not the most attractive storage option. But like the wooden shelves, these can hold play sets, puzzles, games and smaller bins full of toys. Also make sure these are secure for young climbers.

Toy shelf with small plastic bins. Many companies make toy shelves with small, plastic bins that come in pastels or bright primary colors. These shelves are good for small toys that you want your children to access. It is difficult to keep the categories straight, but you can always try to teach your children what toys go in which bins. Labeling the bins with pictures and then words as the children get older is one way to help. Bins are a great option for a toy room or child’s bedroom but I wouldn’t recommend them for a family room, unless they can be tucked away in a corner.

Large plastic container with lid. When your child has a collection of character or brand-related toys, large containers come in handy. If the containers are clear, children can easily see what’s inside. If they’re not clear, label the containers with the logo for that toy. You’d be amazed at how early a child can recognize logos for their toys! These bins are typically used for storage and a closet or cabinet is the best place to keep them. But if you must have them out in the open, consider decorating the sides with acrylic paint from an art store.

Large plastic tub. If you have many toys in one specific category such as stuffed animals, an open plastic tub works well. My children always liked cleaning up with tubs because it was like a basketball game. Since tubs are plastic and colorful, I recommend using them in a child’s bedroom or out of sight.

Baskets. Like the big open tubs, large baskets can store a lot of one type of toy. However, the baskets are a little more decorative, and they don’t look bad in a family room. Small baskets can be used to hold hand-held toys, like the ones found in children’s meals at fast-food restaurants. I have a basket in my basement near the back door. When we go for a car ride or to church, I tell the children they can take one or two hand-held toys with them. The toys are usually inexpensive, so if we leave them somewhere it’s not a problem. Also, I clean this basket out whenever it gets full. These are the types of toys children rarely miss.

Stuffed animal hammock. These can be found at most are a great option if you want to use the stuffed animals (or any soft toys) as a decoration in a bedroom or toy room.

Clear plastic stackable bins. These bins work well on a shelf or in a closet. They are great for holding smaller toys or arts and craft supplies. If you want the small pieces out of reach for little children, put these bins on top of the shelf or closet so only you can take them down. And if you’re catching on to my trend here, I would never leave these out in the open in a family room!

Under-the-bed plastic container. When space is at a premium, you have to use all available options. Under the bed is one of them. Most children use that option anyway, although not in an organized fashion.

There are some nice under-the-bed rolling containers that you can find at home stores or in home improvement catalogs. Limit each under-the-bed box to housing one category of toys and make sure your child knows what is stored in each.

Decorated cookie or popcorn tins. Here’s an option for recycling something pieces together. Make labels for the outside of the identify the toys inside. Depending on how decorative they are, you can keep these out on a shelf or in a closet or cabinet in any room.

Steamer trunk. I love the steamer trunk as a storage option because it can always double as a coffee table. If your children have “dress-up” clothes, this is a great place to store them. However, I have one friend who is a real minimalist and all of her children’s toys fit into one steamer trunk. So it could be used in place of a general “toy box.” A steamer trunk can be used in any room of the house as long as it doesn’t look out of place.

Over-the-door or over-the-closet-bar shoe racks. Shoe racks can be found in home stores or home improvement catalogs. Some toy companies actually make them for dolls or action figures. They are great for special toys that you want to keep nice and don’t want thrown into just any container. These racks work well in a child’s bedroom or a toy room.

STEP 3–HOW DO I KEEP ALL THESE TOYS STRAIGHT?

In Part I, I wrote about taking a little time each day to get things back to the right place. Involve your children in this process as early as you can. After they’re done playing with a group of toys and they’re on to the next thing, ask them to help you put the toys back in the right bin. This might be more realistic if your children are small and you are the one supervising their playtime. Once your children are playing independently, you can do a clean-up at the end of the day before bedtime. Ask them to get the toys back to the toy room or toy area. For some that is enough. If you really want to get organized at the end of the day, ask each child to put one type of toy away, so one child would put all the blocks in a bin, another child can put the balls in a tub and another child can help you put away the paper and crayons. Children usually respond better to specific instructions like this rather than a general, “Clean up the toy room!”

Even though you may be cleaning up the toys on a regular basis, there comes a time to clean out the toys. Here are some options for how and when to make that happen:

Go Through the Toys with Your Children

If you clean out toys with your child, two weeks from now when he or she asks, “Where’s my...?”” you can say, “Remember, we gave it away to your cousin because you’re too big for that now.” Or, “Remember it was broken so we threw it out. But now you have a nice, new toy instead.”

If the child is involved, I try to make it a simple decision by asking, “Do you play with this anymore?” Then we make a “Yes” and “No” pile. The “Yes” pile goes back in the toy box, on the shelf, etc. Then I deal with the “No” pile on my own. Sometimes I have a specific person I can give a toy to, sometimes there’s a charity that I know will take it, and sometimes it’s wise to trash it.


Absolute of Organizing: Keep purging simple with “Yes” and “No” piles.


The other good thing about the toy clean out is finding toys you forgot you had. It’s like when Woody says in Toy Story 2, “Remember to rotate the toys at the bottom of the toy box.” For children, it’s as good as getting a new toy. If you have more than one child and they each have separate toy areas or toy boxes, I recommend sorting the toys with one child at a time. That way you avoid debates among them over what to keep.

Go Through the Toys Without the Children Around

Most of us will agree that this method is much faster and we’ll get rid of a lot more if we just do it ourselves. However, there are often consequences to pay. If you do the clean out and are getting rid of some toys, I would recommend putting them in a holding zone. A “holding zone” can be a black bag or box where you will keep the toys that are going away unbeknownst to the children. You will hold onto them for about two weeks just in case someone is looking for a missing toy. If they absolutely insist on finding that toy, you discretely take it out. Whatever they don’t ask for in two weeks should be safe for removal.

MAINTAINING YOUR TOY SYSTEM

If things have gotten out of hand and there are toys all over the house, it’s time to “bring it all in.” I call this the “Great Toy Clean Out.” I bring all toys into one large, open room and begin to categorize, purge and rearrange once again.

When to Maintain