Tackle a Tiny Area: Toys
Tackling toys to many is not a tiny area! But if you tackle it in one hour segments, it gets the job done!
Kids play with toys when they are not ovewhelmed by the quantity. Think about a kindergarten classroom. There are 25 kids and not even 25 toys. So less is more in this space. If you have new toys, you can save them for holiday toy drives. If you have missing parts, just keep a bin of all strays until the parts are rounded up. Summer is great time to organize this area with your kid’s help. This is a teachable skill to be organized and to declutter.
Have black garbage bags with you and your timer. Invite your kids to help and set the timer for 15 minutes. In that time, ask your kids to donate what they don’t love, what they want to share with others, and what is no longer age appropriate. Drop these into the bags, filling only until easily carried to the car. Have your kids drop off the items with you.
Set your timer for 15 more minutes, 3 more times, working around the room. At the end of the sessions, bring the items to the car and be sure to drop them off later that day.
You may have a few keepsake toys to store. Purchase 66 quart bins, with latches to secure closing, to store in the attic.
How many hours will this take? I suggest 2, 3 or 4 one hour sessions to get the job done. Breaking this job into small units makes it happen.
Organizing a kid friendly space means having them have access to their toys. Here are two creative resources for you to use. Busy Boxes from Container Store make rolling toy bins with different size containers. IKEA has Trofast tiered units to help organize toys.
http://www.containerstore.com/shop/toyStorage/boxesCases?productId=10000647
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/series/19027/?pageNumber=0
Remember to label to keep your toys systems and storage in order. Pictures are a great way to label too!
I absolutely love the products available now, like the ones you’ve shown here. When we were kids, and even when our kids were kids, toys were either on the floor or all tossed together in a toy box. Not functional, and not a good way to teach those important organizing skills!
You are so right Janet! There are so many more options available now and it all leads to helping your kids learn organizing skills too. Thanks for sharing!
I am pleased that I found this site, exactly the right information that I was looking for!
Thank you!