The great toy debate

amother

Thu, Nov 16 2023, 9:18 am

Where is the best place to keep toys? Main floor vs basement.
I don't want to have to monitor every toy being played with but I also don't want a tornado every time kids play.
We have a basement playroom.
Do all toys stay in the basement?
Do some toys stay upstairs on the main floor?
My little kids and younger guests won't go down to play unless an adult is down there, adults are upstairs usually.
In the evening I need to take care of things on the main floor and my littles want to play on the same floor as me.
Also there are toys with small pieces that become impossible to clean and get mixed into things (that's how some of my kids play - making imaginary stores and homes etc using bits and bobs from different toys). What do I do with those toys?

amother

Broom

Thu, Nov 16 2023, 9:23 am

Toys are stored in the playroom. 1 toy/ box at a time is allowed to be in the living room. If they want something else, what's in there goes back to the playroom. If it's a game that needs multiple things like menchies and magnatiles then it's in the playroom.

But also we made the first floor office into a playroom and the basement playroom into an office for that reason

amother

Thu, Nov 16 2023, 9:57 am

amother Broom wrote:

So in your house the playroom is on the main floor?

It's not an option for us so trying to work out the best way to do this.

So every day I bring up one toy for my littles to play with in the evening? Going up and down and bringing up and down toys is a bit much while I am busy doing the evening.

happyness

Thu, Nov 16 2023, 10:13 am

I have the same thing op.

I redid my playroom with a designer to make it fun and playful. (Think wall decals, couch and rug, table and chair, fun shelving)
Hoping it’ll become more of a place to play.

Otherwise I only let one toy up at a time, and not the toys with tiny pieces or clicks. Those stay downstairs

amother

Honeydew

Thu, Nov 16 2023, 10:19 am

Our playroom is very child friendly. I organized it all in bins on cube shelves so it's easy for the kids to clean up. No toys upstairs. They each have a few special things they keep in their rooms but all the playing happens in the basement. I also have cameras down there so I can keep an eye on things, I can speak to them through it, so I break up fights and remind them to clean without having to stop what I'm doing.

amother

Topaz

Thu, Nov 16 2023, 10:25 am

I dont have my toys in the basement for this reason. The kids are scared and won't go down to play. I do have a playroom a few steps down from my main floor but they're even scared of that. So they bring toys up and play with them.
My feeling is, let them feel safe and play at the same time. Basements are scary for kids. This is a time they enjoy being close to you. Enjoy it!
Yes they do create a tornado very often. I'll try to have clean up time before bed, but if not, then DH and I will clean up.

Eta: I also think the 1 toy at a time rule is very hard. For example they might build a road with a toy and then they need cars and menchies as well.

amother

Honeydew

Thu, Nov 16 2023, 10:43 am

amother Topaz wrote:

They are absolutely not scary! We put tons of light in, painted it a light purple and it feels bright and airy not scary at all.

amother

Thu, Nov 16 2023, 11:14 am

Our basement isn't scary at all, it is very fun and kid friendly. Little kid will still prefer to be near their mother. The older kids go down. My issue with the little peices is how big of a mess it makes downstairs mixed in with all the other toys. I think if the toys with tiny pieces are played with on the main floor they get cleaned up easier and I can be on top of what's happening with them. Same with art projects, they quickly get out of control and mix and mess with other things.
The intercom camera thing is actually so cool but (I may be outing myself here) my father has strong feelings against intercoms and shouting across or up/down stairs, that I have never put a system like that in.

amother

Broom

Thu, Nov 16 2023, 11:27 am

chanatron1000 wrote:

One toy at a time definitely stifles creativity.

They have some time with everything downstairs, and less messy toys for upstairs.

amother

Chambray

Thu, Nov 16 2023, 11:30 am

I had the same issue, the kids wouldn’t play in the basement, but the upstairs family room was getting too messy with toys.

Now I only let books and board games upstairs. So they can sit and read or play games nicely together upstairs.
All the rest of the toys are downstairs, and I ignore the mess. 2 or 3 times a week I do a cleanup of the basement playroom.

Coloring and arts and crafts is done at the kitchen table- my new problem is that the kitchen is always a mess from that stuff!

amother

Topaz

Thu, Nov 16 2023, 5:42 pm

amother Honeydew wrote:

They are absolutely not scary! We put tons of light in, painted it a light purple and it feels bright and airy not scary at all.

My playroom isn't scary either. But they feel safer being near me. So it is what it is.

amother

Honeydew

Thu, Nov 16 2023, 5:47 pm

amother OP wrote:

There is no shouting you speak into it in a normal voice, it's like being on speaker phone. Worth getting over that bump and doing what works.

amother

Chartreuse

Thu, Nov 16 2023, 6:05 pm

chanatron1000 wrote:

One toy at a time definitely stifles creativity.

Many child educators feel that too many toys stifle creativity because the child has no need to imagine anything--it's all there in front of him. A child with just a wooden block makes it into a truck, a locomotive, a house, a doll, a book, a rocket...You would of course hope for more than just one block so he could build something and not just pretend, but I would consider a handful of blocks to still be one toy.

amother

Celeste

Thu, Nov 16 2023, 10:57 pm

I didn’t read other comments, so maybe this was already said:

Best place for most toys is the garbage.
I sound like a witch. 😝 but honestly, kids don’t clean up after themselves and toys don’t clean themselves up. So that leaves you.
Keep a few very classic toys (Lego, playmobil, magnatiles…) on the main floor of your home. They’ll get more use than a lot of toys far away from where the adults are.
Hide the rest of your toys in a secure location and take out one every so often so it feels new.
Ugh HOW OLD do I sound.

amother

Amethyst

Thu, Nov 16 2023, 11:09 pm

Basement! My rule in my house is no toys upstairs if I see upstairs I can throw it in the garbage... every toy has a bin and space on the shelf. Crafts I keep upstairs and only allow them to do it at the table supervised. Toys with small pieces that aren't part of a set I throw away so things don't really get mixed up. For example my kids will take out the train set and menchies and magna tiles they each have its own box. I don't leave them too long without supervision I check on them from time to time. My opinion if you keep the toys organized they are very easy to clean up. I go down once a week without my kids and reorganize for some time this way it's never a big build up! Good luck!!

amother

Camellia

Fri, Nov 17 2023, 12:51 am

We keep the toys downstairs except for 4-5 toys that they are currently playing with a lot which we keep upstairs temporarily, when they are done with those, we bring them back down and swap for different toys from downstairs.

amother

Stonewash

Fri, Nov 17 2023, 1:09 am

Building a new house now and This is why I made my playroom off the kitchen. I grew up with a basement playroom and little kids always wanted to play in the kitchen. Even now when my playroom is down the hallway my kids play less than in our summer home where it’s an open area.
I’d rather the kids actually play and keep the mess confined to one area of the house.

amother

Lilac

Fri, Nov 17 2023, 3:20 am

I keep toys organized in the basement but I'm ok with the younger ones bringing up toys. If it gets too much I take most down after they go to sleep but generally having 1 bin of toys + a few random cars ( always cars!) Upstairs doesn't bother me at all. I find the older ones want several at a time & that stays in the basement.

amother

Fri, Nov 17 2023, 3:43 am

So yesterday I moved it all to the basement. After school my 3 year old was kind of looking for toys. He didn't want to go downstairs even with me and I ended up giving him water coloring at the table. When toys are upstairs he would play more independently, I realized.
I may bring some toys back up.