Organizing the Toys of Multiple Children

Yes, get rid of those McDonald's toys! I did a few months ago and my kids haven't asked for them once.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20087525

This is the toy organizing system we use and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. I bought 3 of them and line them up against a wall in the FR. We have oversized toys on the top, and 2 different sized bins in each. All cars go in 1 bin, Legos in another, Toy Story-themed toys in another, Lincoln Logs, etc. When we first started out I took pics of the contents of each bin and taped it to the outside so the kids could learn what went where. Eventually they tore the pics off, but they still know to separate the toys. Good luck!

One of my friends has the best system, I love playing at her house. :-) She has shelves with plastic bins and on the bins are a picture of the toys that should be in it, like the tea set, or barbies, or zoobles, or whatever. Even though we dont play there very often, I know when it's time to clean up I wont feel overwhelmed because it's all so organized.

bins with or without pictures at kid height- already mentioned

bookshelves for boxed things like puzzles and games

books in baskets or soft material crates- they are always a mess on bookshelves

We weren't as organized when my first was little but I showed him that everything has a place and he gets it now. My youngest grew up knowing that everything has a place and since he could walk puts stuff back in the right place. I never even explained it to him.

I rotate toys- when they are not played with much but are still age appropriate, I put them in the garage in a plastic bag or in a closet in a rubbermaid bin. Then, when they are bored again, I take em out and reintroduce em. Works everytime. And there are never too many toys out at once so it's manageable. You also don't have to constantly buy new toys when they are bored cause you have a new toy stash in your own house.

I try to squirrel away the toys my girls don't play with often when they're not looking :) But for the most part we just try to have a place for everything. We've got a shelf with plastic bins and a couple of clear plastic drawer units for things like kitchen/play food and barbies/accessories.

I have and 8 year old girl (who, God love her is a hoarder) and a 5 year old boy (plus a 9 month old who now has toys too). I used to worry about everything. Making sure stuffed animals stayed in her room, batman in the cubby etc. But now i find it easier to let them make a mess. Make them clean it up, in their own way a few times. And then, when the complaining about not being able to find anything starts up, I give them some suggestions on what to do with their favorite things. That way, THEY are organizing it. I'm not spending hours a week doing it, only to be frustrated 10 minutes later at the mess. They drop it, they pick it up. Now this only works with the older kids. I doubt a 2 year old would be able to help! LOL
Good luck!

we have bins, cars in one bin, blocks in a bin, dolls, etc

I have a toy closet in my living room. It has almost all their toys organized in there. I use baskets and rubbermaid tubs and label the toys so I know what is in each one. The kids are only allowed to have out one bin each to play with and they must clean it up in order to get another one out.

I have smallish bins and have them put a group of toys in each bin. And, I throw away the junk almost as soon as it enters our house. I cannot stand cheap, plastic junk toys. Garbage. Toys with missing parts? Trash. Missing part with no toy? Trash. I try to be ruthless on this. My frustration is the stuffed animals they have. Way too many. But, they really do play with them all. I have them sorted and they all have a home, so I can cope with it. As soon as I notice one not being played with it is gone!

Those little cubicle systems are great!
http://www.target.com/s?keywords=wood_organizer_cubes&amp...

You can laminate pictures of what goes in each cube and put it on the front, that way the kids can help put the toys away. It really does work. You can even make a bin or 2 just for all those McDonalds toys (which I secretly get ride of when the kids aren't looking). :)

I bought a cabinet on wheels with 5 drawers. Each drawer has a theme..small misc. toys that would include happy meal toys and similar things... One drawer is hot wheels, a couple types of building toys, etc...

Then I have a big bucket that's for electronic toys and we have tons. We have another big bucket with the largest building set. We have a chest that has all the doll babies, clothes, blankets, and baby toys that we let them have when we don't have a baby in the house and we steal them back and wash them up when we do.

I'm very strict with the kids. We keep the bins, drawers, and buckets organized. We have book shelves for other things and a closet full of art supplies.

I use the McDonald's toys for party favors, and for the visiting kids as rewards for good behavior, games wins, good sportsmanship, or other skill building rewards... I have the moms send a small bag, so I can place all their items in it, to keep their items from infusing into my home... Yet, I'm passing it on to my friends, but, they recycle, too! So, the kids keep getting new items of interest, but, we moms are saving money, and reducing the waste from the landfills... Our kids are happy, and we are getting cleaner homes, by recycling on www.freecycling.org

http://www.walmart.com/search/search-ng.do?search_query=p...

And you put each toy type, in its own drawer.
These are great for office/desk/hair items too.
ANYTHING.
I love these.

I do go through on a regular basis and purge out the "junk" toys, I also rotate toys in and out so they stay fresh. Sometimes toys have to go away for a while if kiddos do not cooperate or misbehave with them...I have two large totes, one with regular legos and one with the big duplo blocks, we never have them both out at the same time. I do like the toy bins that have the multi colored buckets.
I have scaled down stuffed animals but gave up the fight on you can only have as many as will fit on your bed, we now have a tote of stuffed animals and we go through them and see who is willing to part with what.
I have a two out for every new, meaning if they get a new stuffed animal two have to go...otherwise my house would be filled with them. We have a toy room but toys manage to make there way into the front room and I use clothes baskets and kid power to help with clean up. Kids love a challenge, it is who can pick up the most in their basket = )

I have bins. You know those clear plastic storage drawers? One drawer gets cars, one gets action figures, one drawer has leggos. We have a large bucket for stuffed animals and one large bucket for building blocks. Larger toys, like say a car ramp or toy vacuum gets set aside. I go through their toys periodically to donate or throw out ones that are broken or no longer played with.

I use the organizer bin, shelves, bookcases, etc. Each bin has a label on it (one for Dollhouse stuff, baby doll clothes, blocks, balls, cars, etc.) and her littlest petshop stuff has it's own containers and shelves. Her barbies live on a shelf in the bookcase, play food is a big container on a shelf, etc.
I go through about once a month and dig into the bottom of the toybox and get all the broken, crappy toys and throw them out.