Having two children equals double the amount of toys around the house. Especially when there is a big gap in age, they are interested in different things and that supports mountains of clutter.
As you probably know by now, or if you are a new parent, you are about to learn shortly, it is hard work to eliminate “toy mess”. Fortunately, there are many great ideas to keep toys stored. Having them properly organized speeds up the process of cleaning up after a long day of play. Some toy storage ideas have great decorative quality, some of them keep the mess out of sight, but most important all of them, develop your kid’s organizational skills and teach the responsibility necessary for lifelong success and productivity. Allow me to share with you some of my favorite toy organizers.
books
Reading to your children is significant for their brain development. Displaying books has many great reasons. The most important one is to keep books in an open view so kids are more likely to reach for them during playtime. While doing my research on book storage, I found this great-looking, little shelf, which I am planning to make for baby Maya. Here is a link to how to make it.
If your kid’s home library is much bigger (for the sake of your child I hope it is) and you need additional book space, then I would recommend getting one of those eye-catching book storage solutions.
plush toys
If your child is a plush toy lover – and I think most the kids are – you should look into getting one of those toy storage hammocks. They are a simple & effective solution to keep toys in one place while displaying them neatly. If you think this storage is not large enough for a mountain of toys your child collected, you can always go for an x-large size. I am using it for Maya’s stuffed friends – and I love the convenience of it. As little as she is, she can easily reach for her favorite toy and return it back when she is done playing with it.
Toy chain is another inexpensive idea to keep stuffed animals organized nicely while allowing easy access to them at all times.
mismatched collections
I use those Ikea bins in both girls’ bedrooms. I found them to be a great solution to hide all of their mismatched collections, which wouldn’t look great anywhere else. For example – Maya’s dolls’ clothes are in one of them and small animal figurines in the other. My preteen, on the other hand, uses these bins to keep her plush toys, which she doesn’t play with, but is not ready to part with just yet. I bet you can find many other items that can use some cover-up.
bath toys
To organize bath toys, I would recommend this creative idea. It keeps toys handy while bathing and allows them to air dry while the bath time is over. We use it and we love it.
leaving room toys
The living room is the place where we all spend most of our time. I like to have it as clean and organized as possible. So you can only imagine the number of items which go through there. To keep toys nicely stored, without disturbing the nice polished look of the room, I use pretty-looking storage containers.
This one I have purchased this a long time ago to store magazines. Now that I’m doing most of my reading online, we store Maya’s building blocks in it.
This one I have purchased this a long time ago to store magazines. Now that I’m doing most of my reading online, we store Maya’s building blocks in it.
And this pretty thing is a creation of mine, made out of a diaper box covered in a nice fabric. It is a great storage for puzzles and flash cards.
craft supplies
Another great solution that I came across is using food containers to keep craft supplies. I’m certainly going to use this idea to organize Olivia’s biggest collection – her art materials. I will definitely let you know if this solution is as practical as it looks…
Now is your turn to try these solutions. But if you already did and they weren’t enough to control the mess made by your creative kids, print and hang this lovely sign, and simply let them be.
I just purchased one of those toy hammocks and my kid loves how easy it is to clean up after their zoo plays
I am exited that there is one more person enjoying qualities of this toy organizer.
Nice collection of toys, I have also a baby and when we go out my baby cannot be come home without bearing a toy and his room is full with toys but this is the great feeling when you buy a toys for your baby and after get that toy the smile of your baby make you happy.
I absolutely agree that there is nothing better than the excitement on a child’s face when new toy presented. Unfortunately in result we are ending up with mountains of toys. I hope that this post will help you to find on how to contain this colorful mess 🙂