How to Keep Your Child's Toys and Room Organized
Toys can quickly take over your house especially when you have more than one child. It can feel like a never ending battle when it comes time to pick up all of the toys that your child has played with through out the day. An excellent way to clean any mess up quickly is to have a good organizational method in place for the toys. This can free up much needed space in your home and also give you extra time in the day for you to enjoy!
Video Game System Storage
Video game systems are a big space hogger. They have wires, controllers, accessories, and hundreds of games to go with them. If they are not stored properly the wires become tangled and accessories go missing. The game discs also can become scratched causing them to no longer work properly and become a waste of money.
An easy way to keep your game systems safe and out of the way is to store them in a container. Depending on the size of the system and the amount of accessories you have for it will determine the size of the container necessary to keep everything in one place. In our home we have one bin for the PlayStation 2 and another bin for the Wii. Each bin holds the game system and accessories that belong to that system.
A solution to our family's problems with damaged game discs was to place the discs in a CD case that zipper shut. Not only does it help prevent the games from becoming damaged it also opened up the space on our book shelf that held all the games in their cases. All we kept from each game case was the game and the paperwork that was enclosed with each game.
Storing Stuffed Animals and Larger Toys
Stuffed animals and larger toys are often hard to keep under control especially if space is limited. Stuffed animals can be easily stored in a collapsible pop-up hamper. This works well because it keep them all in one place and prevents them from being spread across the floor.
My husband built a toy box for our children from leftover 2x4's and paneling. He also placed leftover molding along the edges to prevent the kids from getting scratches when reaching in the toy box. This was an excellent solution to storing the larger trucks when the kids were not playing with them. We already had two store bought plastic toy boxes but they just did not seem to fit enough larger toys inside so this was the simplest and cheapest solution for our family's storage needs.
Plastic Storage Containers
My husband would tell you that I have a strange attraction to plastic storage containers because I can find a use for any size container you throw at me. With that being said I do feel that plastic storage containers are very useful when you are organizing your child's room.
My children have smaller containers with locking lids that are used to store their toys that are smaller and that have smaller pieces. Each container lid is marked with the child's name and the type of toy that belongs inside of it. This prevents all those small sharp toys from lying around the floor just waiting for you to step on them.
We also use larger containers to hold toys that are bigger and/or have many pieces. This helps to keep everything for a specific play set in one location. For example, we have one container that is only for Little People and one that is only for Hot Wheels tracks and accessories.
Milk Crates also make excellent storage devices. In our home all of the Nerf Guns and accessories are kept in a milk crate. We also use a milk crate for their play tool sets because one toolbox does not supply enough room to store all of their tools.
You can also find containers that are small enough to slide under the bed and out of the way.
It is important to remember that some containers and toy boxes can be dangerous for younger children due to the risk of suffocation. Use caution when selecting storage devices for areas of your home that children may play in unattended without supervision.
