Toy Management

The team at urbanmoms.ca is thrilled to introduce you to our newest Ask urbanmoms.ca contributors, Julie and Fiona, experts in the art of home organization. Got a question for one of our experts? Add it in comments, below or drop us a line at email@urbanmoms.ca

Toy Management

Toys, toys everywhere! Are they not the bane of every mother’s existence? Where do we put all of the toys at the end of a crazy, fun-filled (read exhausting) day? And with every birthday, Christmas, Hanukah and Grandma’s visit the pile just grows and grows. If you can manage the toys you can reclaim your space and enjoy some serenity – at least until the craziness begins again the next day!

Before you even attempt to organize the toys, you will need to declutter and determine what toys are most important to your children. Keep only the ones they actually play with and love. Many children will “love” everything so you may need to sort some of them after everyone has gone to bed. Keep the purged toys out of sight – you would be amazed how quickly they can be back in circulation!

So you have cleared out all of the excess; now you need to find places for everything that is left. A seemingly daunting task, but for the most part all you need to keep the toys under control is one key item – baskets. Baskets with lids are perfect because they can be stacked.  Each child can have one or two baskets dedicated to their specific toys. You can label these so that little ones are able to clean up themselves.  Baskets also sit nicely on shelves and can hold arts and crafts supplies, dinky cars or Barbie’s entire wardrobe. Games and puzzles can be stored in an armoire or even on an open shelf. If you display them artfully with a combination of books and baskets they can appear to be part of your décor. Avoid toy boxes at all costs! Despite their name, they are not particularly useful for toys as they are deep and things that sink to the bottom often remain there until the kids go to college.

A rule of thumb that we have all heard a million times but often have a hard time living by is “out with the old and in with the new”. Each time your child receives a new toy they should be encouraged to part with an old, seldom played with one. You should always weed through the toys before any occasion where you will get an influx of new ones like a birthday. Not only are you decluttering your home, you are also encouraging your child to think of others who may enjoy or need the toy more than they do.

Bottom line is that kids come with stuff – a lot of stuff. If everything has its place, maintaining order will just become second nature to them…maybe. At the very least you will be able to sit down at the end of every day and enjoy your tidy space – at least until the fun begins the next morning.