How Do You Organize???

Question

Children's toys and stuff? My son has a lot of cars he collects match box cars. And a lot of other things too! His room is cluttered all the time, he can't find anything!!! It's not messy until he needs something. Any ideas?

Don't suggest throwing it all away, not going to happen, although we are going to go through his things and donate some of it to charity.

We also have a problem with too many books that he "just can't get rid of!"

Please, no rude answers. Thanks!

You all have such great ideas. I want to start NOW.

I forgot to mention he's 8. He already has 'big boy books' lol. He reads at a 8th grade level so all his books are quite thick.

Answer 1

Having defined spaces where things go is the key to an organized room. Get baskets , small, medium and large depending on the type of toy. Or small plastic type drawers.

Once you have a place for everything you have to set down rules; like play with one toy then put back, and only then take another one. If that is unrealistic at this time, consider hiding part of the toys, and rotating them every other week or so. Or, take 10-15 minutes at the end of the day (before the child is totally exhausted and done playing), to resort the toys in their respective baskets/drawers, WITH the child. Yelling at him to do it himself, or you doing it for him will not solve anything in the long run. After a few weeks of this routine, he will start learning the skill of being more organized, you can develop this skill at a very young age, even as young as two or three years old. It will make it easier for you too, to keep things organized, when you won't be the only one trying to maintain order.
Good luck, and I hope I was able to help.

Answer 2

Organized.

Answer 3

I was wondering how old your son is? Sometimes younger kids love to help out when it comes to cleaning if you make it fun and if it's something that you instilled in them from the start. For the the cars I would get shelves with removable bins and toss them in there. Since they come in different sizes you can use the larger bins for the bigger bulkier toys, books or electronic. There are one piece stand alone plastic shelving containers that have three or four drawers that I find perfect for legos, magnetics, puzzle pieces and arts and crafts (markers, crayons, paper). I suggest you find a bookshelf - if you can find a good used one all the better! - he will need it in his lifetime. The books he "just can't get rid of" he probably feels a sentimental attachment to and if possible I would start a box of things to eventually give away and give him the option of which books he would like to put in the box so it's a slower process. Explain that you can always go to the library and check it out again and read it. Let him know you will have room for big boy books. Also, let him have a say at where things should go in his room. It is after all his room. Let him feel like he has a tiny bit of power and control in his life. I bet it will go a long way. Best of luck to you.

Answer 4

What we have is a storage unit with drawers. they are maybe about 2 feet -4 feet high depending on how many drawers. They are perfect for little toys. Also matchbox or hot wheels now makes a car storage unit for hanging on the door. It has a slot for each car. May hold up to 100 cars. I saw it at Traget in the car Isle. You can also get the drawers there too. they may run anywhere from 15-20 dollars. IKEA also has storage units with wheels and they are stackable. We have a couple of them too. Label the starage units so you know where to find things....Good luck

As far as the books, donate them as well. I tell my son, if you dont get rid of the old there will be no room for the new...

Answer 5

I would suggest using a large book case. Put all of his books neatly on the shelf (obvious), but also you could get wicker baskets to put on the shelves, and put his toys and cars in the baskets.

Another idea is to utilize his closet or any storage area, and use clear plastic bins to store things in, so that way you can see what's in the box.

Make the organizing fun for you and your son. Create a game of it....like who can put the most toys in one bin. Also, if he has too many toys or books, I would go through them and donate the ones that arent being used. Only store things that you know he will use.

Answer 6

I use boxes or plastic storage bins. Cars go in one, action figures go in another---so on and so forth. they are also required to put away all their toys in the right places at the end of the day. As far as the books go if he dont' have one already get him a bookshelf and just stack them on there. Eventually things will fall into place. Good luck

Answer 7

I use small to medium size plastic storage totes with lids that are see through. I stack them in my kids' closets. We label them and you can also see what's inside so it avoids the constant opening and dumping of items. I also make them ask if they need something from the top so it doesn't spill or fall down on top of them. We've used the storage totes to organize: craft supplies, beanie babies, pencils and markers, etc.

As for the books, a shelf bookcase is nice. I've also used plastic totes for these. If he's ready to give some away, ask if any of the teacher's at his school need some books to build their library or have a garage sale. I also donate to Goodwill.

Answer 8

What I have is under the bed boxes. They go under your bed and I put things like my DVDs and extra books in them. Also, there are coloured plastic stackable boxes that are fun and good for storage.


Here are some examples:
http://www.kmart.com/catalog/thumbnail.jsp?Ne=26&N=44&Nty=1&categoryId=44&pCategoryId=26&gpCategoryId=11&view=20

Answer 9

I agree with the_twenty_car.

Also, I used to collect matchbox and hot wheels cars, too. I had this, and it was great to keep everything organized.

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2402471&cp=&f=Taxonomy%2FTRUS%2F2254197&origkw=hotwheels+case&kw=hotwheels+case&parentPage=search

They also have bigger ones.


WalMart, K-Mart, and Target all have great stuff to store kids stuff. I recommend browsing their websites before actually going to the stores, just to get a general idea of what you want, who has the best deals, etc. Good luck!

Answer 10

Go to Ikea and get some big chests. They're cheap and they look good. Kids don't care if its organized, they can throw it in there, its out of your sight, they can clean up quickly, and everyones happy.