Toys Toys everywhere!

PrairieMom wrote: I am sifting through all the kids toys today, and I am having a hard time finding places for all of them to go. What do you guys do for storage? I have lincoln logs, those big legos, play doh, match box cars, 2 train sets, puzzles... It seems like everything comes with a million separate pieces, and everything is so SMALL! I am trying to find hiding places for all this stuff before Ally gets to mobile. Is there some trick to it?

I can't even give some of this stuff to good will, because Ally will grow into it eventually. Ben is pretty protective over his stuff, so I am trying to secretly pack some if it away when he isn't looking, but it is a slow process.

I am the kind of person who likes neat places for everything to go, I don't really like having things sitting out. I'll take some pics of my living room and Ben's closet. Any ideas would be appreciated.

lisar replied: Well in Lexi's room we have places for everything. It doesnt always go back that way though . But I try. And now Raygen is not allowed in her room due to all the small pieces that came with alot of her christmas toys. But I organize it the best I can. I have big binds that have normal toys. And her littlest pet shop toys are all lined up on the wall. And her baby dolls are in the basinet and the clothes for the baby dolls have a bag they all go in. I try to keep it that way but like I said it doesnt always work that way unless I go in there and do it.

mummy2girls replied: well for my dayhome i have different rubbermaids for each toys. so one for trusck,cars,tracks... one for dolls...one for barbies and acc... one for blocks.... etc etc etc. it actually looks pretty neat and tidy...

holley79 replied: I am the most disorganized person ever. Maybe I need to take some tips from the ladies here. I have to find homes for all of Annika's stuff also. I think tomorrow I am going to go on a toy box hunt.

PrairieMom replied: Okay, here is what I am dealing with space wise...

3_call_me_mama replied: When I was a nanny they had similar storage issues with their playroom. What i did was get those clear plastic bins at Walmart and made labels with pictures and words to show what went inside.. AND they were clear so the kids could see what was in them. We stacheed them on the floor in teh closet adn out things that needed adult supervision like crafty stuff and paints and playdough higher up in teh closet and teh bigger stuff in bins on teh bottom. ALso for books we sorted by size and only left about 10-15 books out and I rotated them every 3-4 days. (except favorites they always stayed out)
We put the trainset and tracks and extra all in one bin (until they got the traintable and then it went in teh drawers under teh table) and like shelly said had separate bins for dolls and clothes and one for blocks etc. Bigest thing I found tha tworked was to make sure they only had one bin out at a time, and that it was put away and closed up after use.. It prevented huge messes and made clean up far quicker. BUT on teh weekends when I wasn't there it wasn't as easy as parents didn't uphold the rules. We also had different areas for different things.. liek stuffed toys and books in a corner with beanbags for more quiet type play and not so many pieces . Now if only I could get my house in order and follow my own advice!!

Cece00 replied:
I do just about the same thing. It works really well.

Hillbilly Housewife replied: I have a big armoire in my basement which hides the majority of the toys. Then I have one of those 4 drawer storage rooling carts, for things like puzzles, a bowling set, magnetic alphabet, dress up clothes... I have a bookcase that we all put our books in. In my back storage room, I keep my rubbermaid containers with other stuff in them, like out tractor/train set with the tracks in one. Legos in another. Plastic food and plates etc in another.... I don't let the kids dump all the bins to play, really... it's directed play mostly that we do. So the basement is usually pretty tidy... and if they want to play with the train set, then the other toys need to be put away for the bin to come out of hiding... The kids can all do a different activity or play with different things... but they can't dump then ditch the toys. They have to put it away when they're done playing with it...

The toys they love the most are up in their rooms, in shelves for them.

PS - I had that exact same horse... but I made my inlaws put it at their cottage because it took up wayyy too much space. Specially since we have a wooden rocking horse here too.

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied: I use rubbermaid plastic bins with lids. They stack really nicely and are super cheap at Walmart. I also have one of those large blue circular bins that you would use for maybe a keg for a party (that's all I can think of to describe it). A lot of Wil's random toys go in there, but it's hard to dig through sometimes. I like the seperate bins because you can keep things like cars and train pieces seperate. Wil has a small walk-in closet in his room, so I store a lot in there (things that we haven't opened yet). We also have a huge storage unit under our stairs, plus a guest room...so a lot goes in there too. I'm actually really GOOD at throwing things out too (giving things away that is)!

Calimama replied: We just got Bella some Disney Princess canvas storage bins for her toys. They are beginning to overfill now so we're looking for a toy box with a bench. She has a bookcase for her books and shelves in her closet for everything else. It seems to be working okay for now... as long as she completely stops getting toys and books.

stella6979 replied: We use the Rubbermaid bins as well. Very durable and very cheap.

CantWait replied: I know what you mean, I saw the huge mess today and got Robbie to go through his toys and burdge everything that he either didn't want or that was broken. He only got half a grocery bag. Anthony and I went through his toy box downstairs, and actually got rid of enough where his box isn't overflowing into the rest of the room.

We have lots of boxes, storage bins, ziplocks, and rubbermaids. Ikea has some great toy storage units.

PrairieMom replied:
OMG. Your not kidding. I HATE that thing. Its noisy, the music is annoying, and it does take up a TON of space. I would love to get rid of it, but it was a gift from Grandpa, and Ally will grow into it. I was just thinking this morning, "only 2 years to go..." before we can get rid of that dumb thing. 2 YEARS! I saw one for sale at "once Upon a Child" for $55. I wonder how much I could get for it...

PrairieMom replied: What size bins do you all use? I have some, but I have a hard time finding a standard size that will stack well, that will hold everything.

stella6979 replied:
We use the 7qt. ones and a lot of places will sell them in lots of 3.

siblingtooolivia replied: I use small tubs/plastic bins with covers inside the toy box, each is labeled Dora stuff, dolls, polly pockets, etc. etc. Even though Olivia can't read she seems to know what goes where, every once in awhile I have to sift through and reorganize but it keeps things tidy and not in a heap in the toy box...............