Organising Toys

Have you ever been so overwhelmed looking around your house at the number of toys, books and other “stuff” that has accumulated since you’ve had children? 

You wonder, often exasperated:

Where did all these things come from?

How did we accumulate stuff?

Do the kids even know what they have?

Do they even play with any of it?

Why can’t they be better at tidying up?

Should we even have any of it?

Whether it’s stuffed toys, lego, cars, figures, STEM sets, board games or anything else, it’s very easy to accumulate these things without realising it.  With each passing year, every birthday, Christmas, house visitor, party… our kids just seem to get more and more.

Now, having a lot of stuff isn’t necessarily a problem in itself. 

The problem arises when our kids are overwhelmed with HOW MUCH they have that they can’t actually do their job of playing.  Or when they don’t know WHAT they have because there is just too much or it’s all jumbled up.

The problem can also be that WE as parents might feel that our child is spoiled or ungrateful when they are surrounded with STUFF and yet tell us they are bored and have nothing to play with.  It can make us fume, feel so frustrated and wonder if we should get rid of it all.

So putting aside all the reasons why you might have a lot of stuff in the first place and why that might be (that’s a whole separate topic), what can you actually DO about ALL.THE.TOYS???

Organising Toys - The Benefits

The key to ensuring that your children make the most of the toys that they have and have the mental and physical space to engage in creative play is to be ruthlessly organised.

Organising your child’s toys is really important.  Not only does it give everything a home, but in the process of organising you can also do some sorting out and culling of toys that are no longer loved, played with or needed.  (Those in good condition can be given to another family, donated to charity or sold.  The rest binned - more on that in a bit!)

When every toy has a home and you have a system in place, you can then teach your child this system so that they know exactly where things belong and can put things back after they are finished playing.  When they know where things belong, they can build the habit of tidying up after themselves which means you’ll nag them a lot less about all the mess and tidying up!

And when your child knows what toys they have and where they live, they can make their own choices about what to play with and know exactly how to find what they need on their own.  They become more independent and play more creatively - often, for longer periods of time.  (Which has the added benefit of you getting more time to get other stuff done while they are happily playing.)

Practical Steps to Organising Toys

So if you’ve got toys everywhere or feel like your child’s bedroom or playroom is overrun, how do you even start organising everything?

Here are some practical steps you can take to get your child’s toys under control:

Create Categories

Before you start actually decluttering and organising, take a quick walk around your house to get a mental picture of the task ahead.  Get an idea of what kind of toys your child has and start to think about how they could be grouped together.  For example, dolls and dolls accessories, lego blocks, play figures, cars, kitchen stuff, dressing up, puzzles, books, etc. 

Depending on how many kids you have and how much stuff they have, you may want to jot these categories down on a piece of paper so you don’t get mentally overwhelmed.

Pick a Place to Start

Once you’ve got that overview, decide where to start and then work systematically through the house.  So if your child’s toys are all over the house, pick a room to start with.  If their toys are contained to one room (e.g. their bedroom), start with an area of that room (e.g. one corner or shelf).

Create Piles

As you go through your child’s toys, start physically grouping them into piles for each of the categories you had come up with.  If you’ve got empty plastic tubs or other containers that can help contain the piles or keep them separate while you sort, by all means use them.

In addition to these categories, have two extra piles - one for stuff to be given away or sold, another for stuff to be thrown away.  You can sort through those two piles later and decide what is to be given away and to whom and what is to be sold.  If you struggle to throw stuff away, use the criteria of if a toy is broken or missing a critical piece that means it doesn’t work properly,  it needs to be binned.  A puzzle with a missing piece just isn’t functional - get rid of it.

Decide on a System

Once you’ve gone through all the toys and organised them into their various piles, it’s time to decide on an organisation system that you’re going to use going forward. 

You’ll want to decide which room(s) they will live in - do you want all your child’s toys to stay in their bedroom?  Do you have a playroom?  Do you want “family games” to live in your family room and other toys to live in the bedrooms?  What happens to “shared” toys?

Next, you’ll need to decide where toys will live in each room, and your system will depend on several factors - which room it is, how old your child is (how high can they reach, what kind of toys they have), how many toys they have and what they frequently play with. 

So, for example, if your child is a toddler or younger, you probably want things to live at a fairly low level so they can reach them.  For older children, the toys that are most played with should live at eye level or lower. 

Toys that are played with less frequently or that might need adult involvement (family board games, marble runs, etc.,) could live higher up where they are visible but not easily accessible. 

Books should have a home too - a bookshelf is a great investment but again, have the most loved books accessible, with the less-read books higher up.

Containers

Getting a cubed shelf system with bins for each cube or else a toy-bin shelf system can be really helpful.  Otherwise wooden crates or plastic tubs also work well.  Essentially, you will need a “container” of some sort for each category of toy.  The size of the container will depend on the category and how much of it you have. 

The trick with containers is to only let them be half, or at most, three quarters full.  If they are filled to the brim, your children will not be able to find anything or will have to tip it all out to get to stuff, neither of which is probably appealing.  When a container is only half full, your child should be able to easily see what’s inside as well as access what they want without tipping it all out.

If your child is little, you might consider putting pictures on the front of each container so they can easily know what lives inside (this can also help you remember!).  For older children, you can always add written labels to the containers if they seem to “forget” the system.

Shelves

Having some sort of shelf space is always helpful for the bigger toys or the toys your child wants to display.  Think big wooden toys for toddlers or constructed lego sets for older kids.  Giving them a shelf to put this stuff on means they won’t be on the floor. 

Shelves are also great for putting out toys that you want your child to “discover” again.  So these might be toys they haven’t played with in a while or toys at their next developmental level.

Rotating Toys

Depending on how many toys your child has and their age, you may wish to rotate their toys.  This means putting some toys away in a cupboard, garage or other storage away from the kids and leaving others out.  If your child is young and/or has a lot of stuff, this can be a great way of ensuring they don’t get overwhelmed with the amount of stuff around them and actually PLAY with what they have.

Some Final Tips

Depending on the age of your kids, how many you have and how much stuff they have, going through and organising it all might be a massive task.  To ensure you don’t get overwhelmed and stop halfway through, consider the following:

Plan ahead. 

Set aside a day or weekend to do this “project”.

Involve your kids.  Do this if you think they can be helpful and are mature enough to be able to stay detached.  Often it is easier to organise your kids stuff when they are not around - especially when they are little.  If you have older children, involving them can not only reduce your load, but is respectful as they can have a say in process.

Make sure you’ve got the minimum required containers and shelves ahead of time. That might involve some guesswork but having a “home” for things to go to as soon as they are sorted out will make the process much more efficient.

Have a ‘homeless’ bucket. This is a place for all the bits and pieces that get lost or separated from their sets.  That way, the next time you’re missing a piece from a puzzle, lego set or board game, you’ll know where to look.  This can also be a place where your child puts the toys when they are not sure of their “home”.  In these cases, you can “teach” your child where these toys live so that the next time they know where to find them and put them back.

Be ruthless in your culling and sorting.  Try not to get attached to the toy and reminisce about who gave it to you, how much your child use to love it, or how educational it is.   If it’s no longer loved, played with or needed, think about rehousing or binning it.

Lighten the atmosphere.  Literally - make sure you have plenty of light and can see everything easily.  Straining is energy draining and you’ll need all your energy.  Put on some music to make it more fun.

Once you’ve culled, sorted and organised your toys, you and your children will feel SO MUCH BETTER about your home environment.  Your children will know where to find their toys and have a system in place to be able to develop the habit of tidying up.  They will have the space to play independently and creatively.  And you will have the peace of mind of knowing all the stuff that’s there is there for a reason and has a home.