Controlling Toy Clutter

When my children were younger, I would put about half their toys away in a box for about 6 months at a time. Then I would put those toys back into their toy box and take the other half. They often had multiples of toys, like 4 balls, 6 dolls, etc. so I would take out half at a time. When they got them back it was almost like Christmas for them and helped them to enjoy playing with them more without boredom setting in.

To help organize what goes where, take pics and tape them on the ends of the tubs or baskets. You can even make a game out of it... "Let's see if you can get all the trucks in to this tub and all the balls in to this one."

If everything has "a place" and is organized, you can then only allow each child to play with one tub full at a time. They will pick them up if you keep working on teaching them. Organization is a WONDERFUL skill to have! Might as well try to teach it early...

Hello Lana,

I am a Professional Organizer in the Richardson area. I would suggest that you containerize a certain group of toys for only a certain day. Monday legos, Tuesday army men, etc.

Can you tell I have boys...

Anywho, by doing this it does not allow your child to dump all the toys out at once and they really look forward to seeing a grouping of toys they haven't seen in a week.

You don't need to containerize each toy but just the small toys. Also you could label the containers Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and also by color and have your child learn colors and which day it is.....

I do hope that I have helped you .... one of our main goals at Get Organized! is family management. Giving moms ideas for not only how to get organized but to run their homes.

Thanks,

L. B.
www.GetOrganized.ws

Hi! Kids do come with clutter! The thing is that you should be in charge of your stuff, not the other way around! I clean houses and I think one of the biggest reasons moms are so frustrated is that there is too much stuff! The most wonderful supermom in the world wouldn't be able to keep up with the amount of toys kids seem to have these days. It's like a plastic wonderland. I have done a couple things that work. One is I have storage bins inside my house and a set in my garage. When the kids want to play with something new, we rotate. If they want something big like train or our zoo, we trade for another big thing like race car track or our army set. (yes, we have 5 sons). Locked storage(or somewhere they can't get to ) works great for puzzles, marbles, games, play dough etc. Kids never carry around one puzzle piece or one potato head part. They like to play with a set. But if the toys are spreading all over and then get scooped up into a bin, you just get parts of fun. Also, it is sometimes me that has the bigger attachment to toys. Maybe I paid a lot them or they are educational...Having more toys out causes more dumping..causes more clean-up time...causes less family hang out time...causes more worry--where to store--how to organize--how to keep clean. We pay in the long run for having more. Kids also stop appreciating their things and taking care of them when there is too much. Just because you can fit them into the room doesn't mean we need to have it. I just went through our toys and had one of sons help me pick out his favorite 5 elephants and favorite hippos etc. We just had too much. I finally let go of more stuff i thought was great but they didn't care for. Our nightly clean-up time was cut in half. I had been telling them that we couldn't go buy a new toy with allowance because they weren't able to take care of what they had. After cleaning out, I could let them each buy one thing and we are still way ahead. I love to use over the door clear plastic shoe holders for the little "cool" things my boys collect. They find shells, BB pellets etc. They get little notebooks and whistles from parties. Of course I have to weed thiese out but they do ahve a place that they can be seen and found and run their course. This works great for hair do-dads and jewelry etc too. Call me if you want help! ###-###-####. Good luck!

Hi Lana,

A neighbor of mine places excess toys in a big bin (or two, or three) and stores them up in the attic. Then once a month she swaps them out for the current toys. That way, the kids always have something fresh and "new" to play with and the amount in the house is kept to a reasonable level.

Blessings,

M.
P.S. I am building a team of 5 financially free champions over the next 2-5 years. Want to be one of them? Email me through Mamasource if you are ready for change!

I have a couple of large tubs that I store toys in so I always have something to rotate in and out when he gets bored with the toys he's been playing with for a while. I also keep all the little pieces for stuff (like little people) in ziplock bags labeled with the toy the belong to. We are lucky enough to have an extra room that is our playroom. We took the doors off of that closet and put some shelves in there all the way across, and keep a lot of toys (and books he hasn't grown into yet) up there. That way he can see them and can ask for them if he wants them, but we're not always tripping over stuff. And if I take something down, I try to put something else back up. Of course we still have plenty of toys everywhere, but it helps some.

Also, I try to keep a few carefully selected toys in the living room like 1 good ride on toy (like a bouncy horse) and we have wood floors so I pick some good cars that will work well in here. My son has the 2 bottom shelves of the book shelf in the living room. The very bottom shelf has a nice basket where I keep the cars and stuff, and the other shelf can hold 2 or 3 other mid sized toys that don't have too many pieces. With 3 kids, I'd pick something like the cars that they can share, and then let them each pick one or two more that they can have in the living room, and they can switch these out. Maybe get some of those nice leather (or leather-like) ottomans with the removable tops to keep toys in. Maybe even each child can have their own. That way it stays looking nice, but they can have stuff to play with too.

In his bedroom I keep quiet toys for playing with after bath time like puzzles, books, and other quiet activities. Everything that plays music, lights up, has a million pieces, etc, is in the playroom. That way at least if any room in the house has to be chaotic, it's the playroom.

Whether you have a playroom or not, organization is key. Shelves, tubs, buckets - whatever. A tall shelf or two where you can put toys the kids can't reach is great too, so you can be in charge of when those come down.

The idea of putting the rings through the ziplock bag and hanging it in the closet is genius! I will definitely have to keep that one in mind too!

I love the IKEA storage bins. We have 2 of the wooden (Trofast maybe?) storage things for toys. They sell plastic bins that slide into it. They have 3 different sizes of bins too so it is easy to have some bins for large things (or lots of legos) and then smaller bins to stack puzzles, keep little cars, etc.

Right now we have a toy room and I only go in there and clean when it gets out of control. I can close the door and ignore it and not stress about it, LOL! I do make sure the boys pick up what is in their rooms. Unfortunately right now we have a double living room that one end is toys. As soon as we move back to Plano there will be NO toys in the living room or kitchen.

You've gotten good ideas and I only have 1 kid, not 3 so take it for what it's worth but I make use of baskets. I have at least one big basket in every room. One in his bedroom, one in kitchen, one in my bedroom and one in livingroom.

You can even use an old laundry basket or if you you want it to match the decor you can use a wicker basket with a lining of the color of choice. I actually have muliple bins lined up against the wall in the living room (he's not yet 2 and his room is upstairs so i have no choice but to store a lot of toys in the living room - a ball bin, a block bin, a big leggo bin, a book bin, a toy train set bin, a cars bin etc).

When he's done playing he knows he has to "clean up" and put all the random toys he's played with back in the proper bin before he goes upstairs or eats or whatever. So the toys are still there, but they are (in general) always picked up and put in their place.

Whatever age the kids are, they can learn it's their job to clean up after themselves. It's a good lesson to be teaching them anyway. As they get older I suspect it will only get more difficult unless they learn to do their part and help out when they're young.
Good luck!

Lana. I live by the mantra: A place for everything and everything in it's place. I have 4 kids (3-16) and over the past years, I have let them know the rules: 1. Toys stay in the bedrooms. 2. Anything left out over night will be thrown away.
I also took a few days and we went through each room. We got rid of toys they no longer played with and then we separated the toys into different bins. (I went to City Hall and picked up some extra recycling bins instead of buying them). Anything that didn't have a bin or some other home was gotten rid of.
Try and utilize every part of the room. We hang a LOT of our clothes up and therefore often have many empty drawers in dressers or nightstands, so we use these for toys as well. Storage containers that fit under the bed are also good for keeping stray toys from being pushed (hidden) under the bed during cleanups... Closet organizers again are helpful for keeping things up off the floor. Each of my kids has a shelf about 18" from the ceiling that holds "Special" items. (My eldest has collected Harry Potter Legos that he put together then puts up on the shelf for 'decoration' and My daughter has Special Edition Barbies that are for show / not play that are up there).
Since your kids are so small, you will need to help them get everything clean and show them where it all needs to go. It helps if they're involved from the beginning. Then stay vilgilant...
It took my kids a while but they finally learned that once their done playing with a toy, they needed to put it away before getting another toy out.
This is something I had to stay on top of. But now it is pretty much like clockwork. The exceptions are the 3 yo and when they have friends over. (They're still learning the lesson that if they don't put it away while their friends are still here, they'll have to clean it ALL by themselves if their friends leave before it gets put away).
My 3yo I work with everyday. She's slowly getting it.
HTH!
K.
Mansfield, TX

Lana,

Just try to get the little one's to pick up after themselves. Make it a game and your problems will be solved.

Just a thought, limit trips to the toy store.

our girls are 8 and 4. We put into place a no toys in the living room rule about two years ago and it saved my sanity. The only exception is books and blocks. They both love to build and require the large open space in the living room for thier cities. They are stored in a small toy box behind dad's chair so they are out of site. For their rooms, we have shelves, drawers and our new wonderful find is under bed storage. The kids love to stuff things under their beds and now they can do it organized.

i try to stay organized as much as i can but the kids rooms and playroom stay pretty crazy. but i am pretty strick in our main living area so i don't go insane!! i have two girls 3 and 16 months. we have one wicker basket in our living room that all the toys that end up downstairs get's put into. every once in a while i will take it upstairs and put away the "upstairs" toys. i rotate out some books and toys that stay in the livingroom. it's good for when friends come over too. i also have a "no toys in the kitchen" rule. my main living area can really stay pretty neat and it doesn't take long to throw all of the toys into the one basket. i also try to keep the toys out of our master bedroom. i'm not as good at staying on that one. but i like for mine and my husband's space to be our space. when i notice the toys in there i will get them out and i very rarely let the girls play in there.

have a designated play area.

instruct the children if they do not pick up their toys by a certain time, you will confiscate them and they will not be returned... they will learn after a while that you mean business. oh and do the same thing with their bedroom... anything found out of place particular clothing... you will confiscate.

good luck.

Dear Lana,
You've received some really good ideas here. I'll add my 2 cents worth by saying I recommend giving each child a color. For instance, let's say you "assign" the oldest child the color blue. Get him a blue towel, his personal toys he does not have to share with the baby's go in blue bins, and all of his clothes go on blue hangers. This way when the toys are put up, he knows where his go. When you see the blue towel on the floor, you know exactly who left it there. When you are doing laundry, it's easy to put away clothes. You can carry it further by assigning him the blue sippy cups, or whatever. This works for alot of folks I talk to.

I am a professional organizer in Arlington, TX. My company is Organization Unlimited LLC, my number is ###-###-####. I have organized alot of homes with children. I would stress that less is more. This is especially true for children with Autism, ADD/ADHD, or exceptional intelligence. They are not stimulated by MORE, they are allowed to think for themselves with LESS. The creativity seems to thrive when they do not have to choose from dozens of toys, games, or puzzles, but rather only 2 or 3.

Let me know if I can help you on a professional level anytime. I can organize your files, bills, mounds of paper, those boxes hidden in the garage or a storage shed, as well as kitchen pantries, cabinets, kid's rooms, closets, garages, storage sheds, and professional offices, and on and on. My website is OrganizedByBecky.com. Thanks! B.

I have three kids also...we have night check before bedtime. Everyone participates in 15 minutes of clean up, helping the younger ones do their part. You go to bed and wake up with a clean house. Also, with trash bag in hand, sweep through the house about once a month throwing away happy meal toys, broken toys, etc. Best done when they are all gone. And, have baskets and open storage handy that little ones can easily access to put things away. This all worked for me. Hope it works for you.

I was once told that cleaning up after kids is like shoveling snow during a blizzard. I don't buy into the thought, the only place for kids things are in their rooms or play rooms. They are members of the house hold just as you are - remember you brought them there. Cleaning up daily before bedtime is perfect but don't expect to have a clutter free home until they are out of the house. Do your best and have them be responsible for their belongings. Please don't threaten them with throwing their stuff away if they make a mistake and leave something out unless you are perfect about keeping your belongings put away at all times. Bins and containers will help with the organization. Gradually after you develop a routine that works for you and the kids, you will reclaim your sanity but not your home - it's not only yours but theirs too. Good luck!

Yes. The first thing I would do is divide your toys into thirds. Put 2 thirds away up in the atic or closets etc. Rotate the toys every month or so. That way you will have a lot less stuff laying around, your kids won't be bored and every month will be like christmas when they get a new set of toys.

First, get rid of anything that is broken, missing pieces or no longer played with. I have a storage caddy that I bought at Target. It has 9 crates in 2 different sizes and holds lots of small items. I have 2 boys, so we have LOTS of Matchbox cars and trucks and it holds all those plus many other small toys. I, also, have taken toys that my children don't play with on a daily basis and put them away until they want me to get them down for a day or 2 and then they are tired of them again. For example, they have a Weebles Treehouse and I store it in one of those giant Ziplock bags with all the pieces that go with it in the bag, too. A friend gave me some of those colored plastic rings you use to attach infant toys to the stroller or carrier. I use those to hook through the handle of the Ziplock and then slip the ring around the bar in the closet. I have several toys that are stored this way and it keeps all the pieces together and up out of the way. I use lots of laundry baskets in closets, so we can just through the toys in when they are done with them, too. The Containers Store or IKEA are great places to shop for creative ways to store things.