Tips and Ideas for Toy Storage
and Organization

I think many people will agree that toy storage has become one of the biggest organizational challenge in modern times. While one toy chest might be enough to contain all of our predecessor's toy, our children are likely to need an extra walk-in closet to contain all of their toys.

Therefore, if we don't want our child's toys to take over our home, we have to pay more attention to toy organization issue. It is thus crucial for us to create a toy storage system that works in our household.

Child toy storage tips

First, limit the number of toy your child owns. Avoid duplications. A child does not need two stacking rings, or two shape sorters. If your child ends up with a lot of duplications for some reason, consider donating the less favorite one to charities or selling it at a garage sale.

Be selective. Don't buy a toy just because it strikes your (or your child's) fancy. Only buy toys which are most beneficial to your child. See guide to choose child toys.

Don't buy toys which will take up a lot of indoor space and difficult to storeIf your children want big toys such as a play tunnel or a play house, make sure to buy the one which can be disassembled easily and stored compactly.

Stop giving toy as a gift.

Don't be a pack rat. Inspect your child's toy regularly and discard non-functional toys. Encourage your child to give away old toys. One trick to make your child realizes that she no longer plays with a particular toy is to put the toy away for a certain amount of time. If she does not come to you and asks, "Where is my ...", then it means that she doesn't care about that toy anymore. You can then ask her to give the toy away.

Second, create a system for organizing toys. There are some popular system that people use for organizing toys: child toy chests, toy shelves , toy bins and toy hammock. Regardless of which system you are going to use, there are a couple of things you may want to consider before you invest on either system:

• The storage unit has to be low enough for your children to take the toys out and put them back in themselves. What's the point of having a storage system which makes you clean after your child after each play session ?
• Inspect each storage unit for safety.
• Train your children so that they know how the toy storage system works in your home. Label each compartment with both the toy picture (for instance: car picture for container designated to store toy cars) and in writing.

Third, rotate toys. Toy rotation is a powerful way to avoid toy clutter in visible areas. Bring out a few toys at a time and store the rest away in the attic, garage or closet. Not only this will cut down on the number of toys which need to be put away every play session. This approach will also make the toys feel new again and will increase your child's interest on them. Why ? When all the toys are out, kids get overwhelmed by the choices available to them. And when there are so many other toys staring them in the face, each one loses its individual value. By only bringing out a few toys at a time, those few toys will regain their value and hence your child will be more interested in them.

Fourth, use your imagination and creativity to store toys. Here are some creative ideas for organizing toys:

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• Creative board game storage
• Creative jigsaw puzzle storage
• Wooden puzzle storage tips
• Unique storage unit for stuffed animal storage
• Toy storage ideas for small-size toys: toy cars, theme-play set, art supplies and more
• Creative kid's toy storage for big toys organization: ball, big cars, and more
• Toy building block and Lego storage
• Unusual and unique toy storage system solution
• Bath toy storage tips

Toy Cleaning-up Tips

Having a good system for storing toys does not guarantee that the toys will not invade places in your house where you don't want them to be. Regular cleaning up is necessary to avoid having toys scattered around the house.

Here are some toy cleaning-up tips:

• Use a laundry basket or any basket to carry toys as you pick them up during the quick cleaning up. You can then leave the basket at the final destination (which is likely to be your child's room) until you have time to sort them out.
• Spread a blanket or a big piece of fabrics on the floor before you young child starts to play and ask her to play on it. Later on you can just pick the whole things up and leave them in a closet until sorting time.
• Designate a place to play so that the toy will not invade the whole house.
• Train your children (if they're old enough) to put the toy away. If your child keeps on ignoring your repeated requests to pick up her toys, then don't let her play with that particular toy until she is willing to put away her toys for a certain number of play session.
• If your child is young, put toys which are difficult to sort out on a high place so your child has to ask each time she wants to play. Examples of such toys are: theme-play set and puzzle with a couple of pieces. It's a nightmare to sort these things out when two or more sets are mixed together. Putting them on a high place ensures that your young child will only play one set at a time.

We all know that it is a hard task to keep the house tidy once the baby arrives. Toy collection can easily grow uncontrollably. Without a proper child toy storage system, the toys will undoubtedly take over your house. So start organizing your child's toy NOW !! Remember that having a good system for storing toys is one way to ensure that the house is in a decent condition and pleasant to live in.