TOYS.If you are a parent, they are in every crevice of your house, your cars, and probably your pockets too! I would safely bet that you've stepped on one cursing its name...plus a few other colorful words. So how do we stop the madness? How do we keep them {relatively} organized? Today I will be sharing 5 tips to organizing toys in your home! Lets start by defining a toy. Toys are anything a child plays with. A sock can literally be a toy. As we discuss organization, I want to clarify what I mean by toys. To me, toys are things like action figures, battery operated toys, dolls, and trinkets -> think McDonalds toys. More often than not our kids have more toys than they can honestly play with, much less want to play with. I feel with toys that less is more. Open-ended toys like wood blocks, legos, magnet tiles, bristle blocks, marble runs, and items like art supplies make up some of the best basic toys for children. Puzzles and games are some other great options, as well. Check out this blog post where I share our Top 5 most used toys for some inspiration! So let's delve into how to keep your child's toys organized! 1. Play the "Keep, Give, Toss" Game "Keep, give, toss" refers to the process of controlling toy inventory. I suggest playing this game twice a year, ideally right before birthdays and holidays. If your family does not celebrate the holidays, birthdays work just as well. This will be the first year we actively include S in this game since she will soon be 3. As the holidays approach, I will set out 3 boxes with the mentioned labels and sort through the toys we own using the following rules: Keep- These are toys your child regularly plays with, has an attachment to, or recently received. Give- These are well loved toys that do not see much use anymore but are in decent condition or toys that never really got much use. **trinkets** Toss- Is the toy or game missing parts or pieces? Is it broken or dirty? Toss it! Keep in mind, this will not come easily for your child, at first, but assure them that they are helping other children and bringing them joy by donating toys they no longer want or play with. Meeting resistance? If your child is hesitant to give up a toy , or 3, that you know they no longer play with, give it a few days. If they don't touch it, mention your observation and invite them to consider donating it again. You may also mention that in order to make room for the new toys they will receive, they must donate or toss an old one! 2. Utilize a shelf or cubby system for display I cannot tell you the number of times I have seen toys stored on shelves or cubbies, crammed in bins or loosely on a shelf. If this is you, IT IS OK! No judgement! But, I have an idea for you! If you have the room, consider buying another cubby system or shelf for toys currently being used. If space is limited, as it is with ours, try reorganizing a closet or garage space for some toy storage {blog post coming on that soon!} and utilize the shelf/cubbies you already have. Hopefully, once you play the "Keep, Give, Toss" game you will not have as much to store. We are currently using shelves like these in S' closet. Placing toys on a shelf or cubby instead of bins helps to provide a clean, organized system for your child(ren). Here is S' current toy cubby in her room. I will explain the how and why I set up her toys in my next suggestion. 3. Only place ONE toy or game per cubby/ TWO per shelf Children have a natural sense of order. I can see your eyebrow raised. And for those of you laughing, I thought the same thing not too long ago, also. I want you to think back to when your child was very young, around 18mo or so. For those of you with children around this age, take note of what I am going to share. Children around this age have a natural tendency for order. You might notice them group things by color or size. You may see them line up cars or blocks. You may notice they throw a tantrum when dad gets or does something mom is supposed to. They might complain when they don't get the same breakfast every morning, no matter how many times you offer the healthier options and varieties. Does your child lose it when the bedtime routine is not the same? How many times have you read "insert child obsessed book here?" All of these examples speak to a child's natural sense of order. So when we provide children toys, they crave a sense of order. Whether you are looking at S' toy shelf or her "work" shelf, you will only find ONE activity per cubby. Not only does it look nice, it has some benefits. Placing one item per shelf
I will be the first to admit that her shelf does not always look organized or tidy. She will not always put away toys in the right place and she will even add a few more toys to a cubby. Hey- nobodies perfect and plus, she is 2, we are learning! 4. Rotate - Differentiate Have you ever gone to the grocery store to get one of your go-to products only to find it is not on the shelf? So you ask the grocery clerk if they have any in the back? She/He comes back with your product and in that moment, you are so happy to see it again and cannot wait to get home to use it. This is basically how children feel when they see toys they have not played with in a while. Leaving all of their toys in one place to see constantly creates a sense of complacency. #1- Seeing them out all of the time causes them to lose their allure. Hence the phrase "Mom! I have nothing to play with. All these toys are boring!" #2- Having so many options can be overwhelming causing them to not want to play with any toy because they do not want to put the work into finding the toy they want. Think the shopping racks at Ross, Tj Maxx, Marshalls --- it is overload!) #3- Depreciation of value and excitement occurs when something is constantly available. Chocolate is not as good if we had it everyday, all day. So, what do you do? Rotate toys out! By rotating toys out, you give them new life. It may have been 2 months since your child played with "said toy", but once they see it on their organized shelf, they will play with it just as joyfully and with such intention as they did they day they got it. Benefits of rotating toys out:
Differentiation is very simple to achieve. For example when I prepare S shelves I do two things: 1. Notice what has been interesting her lately (Is she into taking tops off containers? Is she loving animals? Has she asked for puzzles? Etc) 2. I include toys that meet different developmental needs. Let's take a look at her shelf right now: ![]() Behind the fun of playing with these toys lies this... Puzzle- helps hand-eye coordination, problem solving skills, and cognitive ability Memory game- improved focus, develops cognitive skills, and trains visual memory Doctors Kit/Hairstyling Set/ Driver's Set- improves language skills, builds vocabulary, helps develop social and emotional skills. Bristle blocks- provides sensory experience, offers creativity and problem solving practice, and builds on fine and gross motor skills. 5. Make your child(ren) a part of clean up This one is self explanatory. They made the mess, they help clean it up. Depending on your child's age, the level of participation will vary, but they should take part regardless. This takes time and consistency, but it is possible! 0-9 mo: Solely the parent, but verbally express you are cleaning up after the mess 9mo-18mo: Parent modeling and inviting child to put up a toy or 2 (often assisted) 18mo-2.5 yo: Child-led clean up with parent assistance 2.5 yo+: {Mostly}Independent clean up Your child doesn't want to clean up? -Try offering choices: Do you want to clean up the blocks first, or the action figures? -Make it a game: Let's see if we can beat the song before it ends! (Shake Señora is a fun song for this!) -Make it a race, Who can clean up their toys the fastest and neatest? -Set a timer: I'll give you 15 minutes to begin cleaning up *For older children* -Offer assistance: Let's work together, I'll clean up the dolls. What will you clean up? I hope you enjoyed todays blog post and found some insight in the tips offered. I will be sharing more tips over the next couple of weeks, so keep an eye out for more organization solutions! Thank you for the support and love!
Have a great day! -Dee
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