How do you sort the toys and find room?

Question

The same thing happens every year at Christmas in our house. Lots of new toys and the old ones are still everywere. I have three kids 19mnth boy, 3yr girl, and 8yr girl. What do you other moms do with all the toys. We have Bratz, Pollies, Barbies, craft stuff, coloring books, ect. How do you organize it all? And keep the babies out of the big kid stuff and the baby stuff from taking over the house? The girls share a room and the baby is in our room until we finish renovating our basement, could be another year until that is done.

Answer 1

My children are about the same age as yours (2, 3, and 8). We have one toy box in the kitchen/living area that is used for toys they regularly play with out of their rooms. They 3 & 8 year old boys share a room and have an armoire that I have turned into a bookcase/shelves for toys they don't want sissy to have and two toyboxes. Our 2 year old daughter is in ours still (for now). Her toys are in the living room (4 activity type toys) and a corner of our bedroom (medium Rubbermaid tote). As for sorting out, I go throw about every other month and sort out broken toys to toss. My boys can be brutal to their toys. :-) Twice a year the kids help sort through the toys they no longer play with and these toys find a new home at Grandma's so they and their cousins have something to occupy them while we're there. Our craft stuff is stored in two Rubbermaid totes under my bed, the messy stuff (glue, paint, playdoh) is stored on a shelf in the laundry room. They have their own shelf in our computer desk for coloring books, notebooks, paper, and crayons.

Answer 2

We do some cleaning and get rid of the old or broken toys. Some go to charity, some we sell, give away etc. As far as organizing the rest, I use those plastic bins. I am a pre-K teacher and this is what I do in my classroom. You can use categories and even put pictures on the front of the bins so the kids know what is in each one. Like you can put all the dolls together or sort by each one if they have lots of one kind, then all the cars, blocks, craft stuff, etc. You just have to separate each one and then teach them how to put the things back into the correct box when done. Separate the baby stuff and put it where the baby is most of the time and keep the girls stuff in their room. This does work, it just takes a little time and training. The kids in my classroom can clean up everything in like 5 minutes. Hope this helped you.

Answer 3

I have a 20 month old son but he has enough toys for about 3 kids-they have taken over the house!We live in a condo so do not have a basement-otherwise most would go there that he was not playing with.
I bought 3 big plastic tubs and put all his toys in those every night and then each day he takes out what he wants to play with and the process repeats itself every day.The bad thing now is that I am 33 weeks pregnant and have a hard time bending over and picking up all his toys each night-so our living room is filled!

Answer 4

The way I do it with mine is for every new toy, he has to put one away, in the closet for a couple months. That way he never has more than 10 or 12 toys out around the hosue. Then after about 2 months of those toys, I rotate them out for the other toys in the closet. (it's supposed to be more stimulating, yada, yada)

To keep the baby stuff to a minimum, I have a soft, pop-up toy chest in the living room, it's not very big, and keep all baby toys in there, in one spot, instead of all over the floor. And he plays with one toy at a time, and all the rest are in there. If I give him another one, I just put the other one back in there. That would keep all your baby toys in one spot.

For the big kids' stuff, I would suggest having a designated place for all their toys, where the littler kids can't access it. And the same rule applies. Whatever they aren't playing with at the moment, it needs to be put away. Once you get into a routine and your kids do too, it's easy as pie. It's just getting into a routine that's difficult. :o)

Also, like the other person suggested, donating any toys your kids no longer play with is a GREAT idea! It minimizes clutter.

Good luck, and hopefully in a couple weeks' time you'll have much less mess!

Answer 5

I am a mother of 4 i have 2 boys in a room and 2 girls in a room. Each room has bunk beds, I go through the toys before Christmas and Birthdays and make sure all the ones they dont play with or have outgrown or are broken go to the trash or to a needy family. I dont like giving them to the salvation army because they resell them I prefer to give them to people who need them but cant afford them, then I have cubbies in there rooms for certain toys and tubs for other toys. In these tubs I keep like items. I figure out what size i need and get it. They have to pick up there mess when done. Even my 3 yr old helps pick up the toys he has played with. I keep an eye on the tubs they never play with for next time I do a toy clean out. Those are the first to go. It keeps it nice and neat "most of the time" and I dont have toys overtaking everything.

Answer 6

It helps to use those plastic storage bins -- call them "departments" so all Bratz go in the Bratz department, Barbies in the Barbie dept., etc. Definitely sort through and make a pile to donate. Explain to your 3-y.o. and 8-y.o. about kids who don't have any toys, and what a gift they will be giving. When I do this, I always let my son make the decision about what to donate -- I never just took his stuff and donated it. Keeping the baby out of the big kids' stuff is a challenge! One thing you might find that your 19-mo-old will love is a huge box. Go to U-Haul or some other storage place and buy one of the bigger boxes -- bigger than he is. Make sure you seal the edges with tape because they can be very sharp. You'd be amazed at how much kids love playing with a big box -- that way you can say it's "his" box and his only, but he has to keep out of his sisters' stuff. Not easy, I know, but you can start to teach him. Good luck, and have fun with your precious kids! :-)

Answer 7

I de-junk before Christmas. Throw out the old toys that don't get played with (donate the decent ones, set aside in the garage for the next yard sale, and just throw some in the trash). As far as keeping the toys separate you might just have to wait until everyone has their own room.

Answer 8

What I do is go through all the toys, I pick the ones my child is not playing with longer that say 2 months like just sitting in a toy box, I ask my child if she wants too keep or give away or throw away. It may that she just doesn't like the toy anymore and is not interested in it.

Answer 9

I do this before every birthday and before Christmas. I go through all the toys, throw out anything that's broken and take toys they no longer play with or have outgrow and send over to Salvation army. I also buy clear plastic bins that are stackable and store toys in closet. only certain bins are left out and they are rotated out regularly. I have a bin for legos, one for art stuff, one for hotwheels, etc. you can do the same with yours. also, I do this when my kids aren't around. They want to KEEP EVERYTHING. they never even notice old and broken stuff is gone plus new birthday/Christmas stuff replaces it almost right away.

Answer 10

lot's of boxes with lids that can stack. ie: a box for barbies, a box for leggos, a box for cars.
Before Christmas and birthdays we also go through the toys to see if there is anything we can give away. It also clears out the broken toys and any junky toys that have snuck there way in (Lollybags)