organizing toys | Imamother

amother

Tue, Oct 28 2014, 11:55 am

I am not an organized person by nature but love the look of a clean room, organized drawers and cabinets - only it's hard for me to figure out how to organize!

My playroom for example ---it has a decent size closet with shelves. I have some games/toys stored in bins and other games in their boxes. But there are a lot of odd and ends that make the room so cluttered and messy. What should I do with a plastic toy shofar, a rubiks cube, a toy camera .... just an example of stuff that has no where to go.

I could really use some organizational tips. Thanks!

ra_mom

Tue, Oct 28 2014, 2:20 pm

amother wrote:

I use an extra bin for miscellaneous items.
But I also need to be on top of disposing of odds and ends that don't belong every once in a while. These little prizes and extra pieces that do not belong anywhere really add up and end up making a mess so every once in a while I go through that miscellaneous box (and other boxes) and toss some items.

amother

Tue, Oct 28 2014, 7:09 pm

op here - yes, I have a miscellaneous bin ...the problem is that at this point there are 3 of them and they are overflowing and it seems that my kids only want to play with the miscellaneous stuff so they dump the whole bin or bins and then you have a very overwhelmed mom in a very messy room! I see from the responses that it is normal to have miscellaneous items but things have to get thrown out and reorganized from time to time. I guess I thought that by designating a bin for "miscellaneous" I would avoid the tedious work that I resent of organizing.

bookworm10

Tue, Oct 28 2014, 7:15 pm

I started deciding not to have any miscellaneous. If I can't classify it, I don't want it.

A toy camera would go in a bin with house toys like a toy iron, or even food or dress up. Toy shofar- I would make a jewish toy bin and that would have dreidels too.

No miscellaneous!

And I also use the cubes with different colors and find that its amazing.

amother

Tue, Oct 28 2014, 7:17 pm

bookworm10 wrote:

that's a very good idea! thanks!

chani8

Wed, Oct 29 2014, 12:22 am

I rotate toys. Take away the ones that are getting ignored and tossed to the side, box them up and store them for a year. When you take them out again, it'll be like getting new toys. And some toys just need to be deleted. They're just clutter and not played with past the first day.

vicki

Wed, Oct 29 2014, 12:28 am

I also have overflowing miscellaneous items. The problem is my kids LOVE these items the best. They can play with thingie-dingies all day and I feel bad throwing them out. Like they are losing their best friend. And I just know the day after I throw out the annoying whistle from the shekel store - which is cracked on one side - they will search for just that toy. "I can't believe you threw out my broken whistle. It was my favorite toy." Really?

ra_mom

Wed, Oct 29 2014, 12:39 am

I find that it is the miscellaneous items throughout the home too, not just in the toy area, that are an issue. There is no other way to deal with these besides thinning the stock and just reevaluating and dumping on constant basis. (somehow the kids always come home with new thermos/sippy cup/plastic character cups. Whether they get them as party gifts, make them as arts and crafts, I don't know why we have so many! I hate that they have no set place in the cabinets, that many are not bpa free, that plastic does not clean well, etc. I hate when the kids use them too, they're just another thing to clean. I am constantly, constantly throwing these things out. I let 2 or 3 pile up then one day I look in the cabinet and just have enough)
With the kids' stuff I often tell them straight out when they get something new that they will need to choose something else to get rid of in their miscellaneous 'prize' box to make room for the new item. I do the same with their colored pictures/papers. One per child allowed on the fridge. If you want a new one hung up, throw the old one out. Otherwise things get out of hand. And I admit that sometimes I let things get out of hand before I reinforce again because life is so hectic but we are trying.