Categories For toys

Ravenclaw

Mon, Jan 14 2019, 12:01 am

Ok, so am organizing playroom and placing each kind of toy in a basket. But am not sure how to divide the following:
Baby toys I wanna put in container, but should I put big stuff with it like tops etc? Should I put books in a basket or on shelf? Playmobil: do I put ambulance, big parts, etc in container also or separate on shelf? My 2 year old likes the people, but I give him fisher price furniture when he plays with it, so do the playmobil people go separate from other playmobil? Or I just pull them out when he wants some? I dunno I am so bad at organizing this is so overwhelming....help

lucky14

Mon, Jan 14 2019, 12:13 am

put the playmobil people with the fisher price stuff or in a small container by themselves- don't put with the other playmobil stuff if he doesn't play with them together, that's a pain. books go on shelves in my opinion. Not sure what you mean by "tops" with the baby toys. I like to try to put everything in containers. Keep things in the same containers always so the kids will learn where they go. It really is just grouping stuff that makes sense to you and your kids. We have magnatiles in a box, magformers in another box, small cars and trucks in a box, big trucks (fire trucks and big construction vehicles) in another box, legos in like 3 different boxes, I have art boxes, small random toys in another box, food stuff in a box, a box of small animals. Seriously I'm a huge fan of boxes. Especially with lids. It's so much easier to clean up. You dump it in and put the lid on. Everyone knows where it's supposed to go. Take a picture of what's inside and stick it to the box so your kids can easily learn what to put in which box.

lucky14

Mon, Jan 14 2019, 12:16 am

Ravenclaw wrote:

And all the odds and ends like plastic animals? Do I mix it with playmobil? And stuffed animals? Argh

If there's enough of one similar item- like the plastic animals, the go in their own small box. You don't want your kids dumping big boxes of stuff to look for small things. Stuffed animals you can even get big bins for. Or maybe someone else has a better idea for those. I have one big "random" box of random small stuff that doesn't really fit in anywhere else (like things that we just have one or two of that are played with individually so nothing to really group them with).

Ravenclaw

Mon, Jan 14 2019, 12:42 am

Whew thanks! I get so overwhelmed by this. Ok, I guess playmobil people will go separate (cuz when my older kids play with them they do use it with playmobil toys).

amother

Sienna

Mon, Jan 14 2019, 1:04 am

Stuffed animals can go on a hammock you string across a corner of the room. Mid or low level.
I love compartment drawers for small games or puzzles or wooden sets ...the sets of 3 or 6 depending on your needs.

amother

Mauve

Mon, Jan 14 2019, 1:29 am

In general, IMHO, toys go into two categories:

1) Open-ended toys
2) Sets

Open-ended toys include things like stuffed animals, blocks, and magnatiles. They can be used perfectly well even if a piece or two goes missing.

Then there are sets, where the toy's enjoyment will be minimized if pieces get lost. These include Playmobil sets, lego sets, games, etc.

I think open-ended toys should go in open bins, and sets should go in smaller boxes with lids. In general try to put most sets up in a closet, and rotate them out periodically so only 2 or 3 sets are out at any given time, because those are the ones that are stressful as far as making sure we have every piece.

flowerpower

Mon, Jan 14 2019, 9:23 am

I separate each toy into a different bin. No mixing toys. I have a few different sized bins. If any toy is stupid or uninteresting then I give away. We only have toys that get used. I got different sized drawer bins for the playmobile( I have a lot). One has the people, another the furniture... on top of the bins I displayed the vehicles.