Toy Organization - Joliet,IL

I have boy/girl twins (22 mos) and a 6 yr old girl. Toys are becoming a nightmare! We request diapers and clothing as gifts, so as not to get more!!! I like the stackable storage units from Target. You can put together drawers, shelves, and cubby holes. They have these canvas pull out cubes that fit in the cubby holes. Each kid gets one of those in a different color to put their "most recently played with" toys inside. We give away a lot of toys. When we receive gifts of toys, we don't open them all right away or it seems overwhelming. I still have a few unopened things from Christmas in my closet. They're not missing them. And you know what? If I need a gift tomorrow, I could wrap it and go. We do toy trades with friends and family, too. If there's something that hasn't been touched, but is perfectly good, we ask around. The trading part fell into place naturally. We'd give stuff, then people would give us stuff after noticing my kids liked some of their kids' forgotten toys. When I donate good stuff, I usually contact a church daycare or preschool or our community center director to see if they could use them for their early childhood classes. The answer is always a very thankful yes. We also donate "quiet" things to the library for the children's area. My twins have been playing with a toy at the library for months now that WE donated. Yet in our own house, they were never interested in it!!! IKEA also has excellent storage units, by the way.

Good morning L.,
I've got 4 monkeys in my home ages 13, 11, 8 and almost 4. GET RID OF WHATEVER YOU CAN! I wish someone would have told me to do that when my kids were younger. We now have a basement full of toys that need to be gone through and struggle to find the time for it. As a result that living/storage space is being wasted. It is a huge source of frustration for my husband and I.
There will always be more toys, it never ends. With my 4th child I finally got it that less is more. We keep a few things in his room and he uses his imagination. It's actually really cool to see what he comes up with every day :) They don't need much to keep them busy.
Best of luck to you in whatever you do!

Hi L.,
I also rotate once a month (on the 1st). I'd say if they are from their first year (baby toys) you'd be safe in getting rid of them. I probably need to take my own advise and do that, but it hasn't happened yet. :-) I keep thinking 1) what if we have another child or 2) what if someone comes over with a baby and we need a toy! HaHa!

My boys are 4 and 17 months and just when you think that they'd never want to play with it, they do. You're lucky that you've got twins. Without fail, whenever we rotate, the older one wants the younger ones toys and the younger one wants the older ones toys.

Oh and we also use the bins like this
http://www.target.com/6-Bin-Storage-Unit/dp/B00007LVB4/qi...

Its nice when things are picked up, but it can get messy because those things can get pulled out and someone (ie, children) steps on or sits on them. BUT, like I said, it does look nice when they are all put away.

I hope this helps.
B.

Check out Ikea in Schaumburg. We bought the Expedit bookcase for our basement toy room (may be a little big for what you are looking for), but they have tons of different storage ideas for just about anywhere in the house for good prices.

Hi L., I enjoy keeping our kids toys organized too. My friends that come over comment on how things are put and two are even doing the same thing now. I have been buying the white plastic shelving units that you put together yourself in about 2 minutes (I get them from Wal-mart). They are standing units with four shelves for about $18. I put mine 5 high though to use more vertical space. The cloth fold-up cubes fit perfectly in there, 2 on each shelf. However, I have only bought 2 because they were on sale at Walgreen's. I'd like to get more but all in one or 2 colors but also at an affordable price. So, in the mean time, I am using the Sterilite brand large white plastic baskets (which I also get from Wal-mart) They are about 3.50 a piece and can easily be used for something else when no longer needed for toys. I have taped labels on the front of the bins that were made from blank greeting cards and letter stickers. For ex. balls, small stuffed animals, trains, cars, dress-up accessories. Then under their beds, I have some long flat Sterilite brand plastic storage boxes. I have toys separated in those. Ex. Thomas roads/rails, Thomas trains and things, Play Food/Kitchen Supplies, Fisher Price Little People and Things. And there are smaller plastic bins too depending on the amount of each type of toy(these are also labeled). This makes is easy to keep track of everything and to make sure everything is being played with. And then when we are ready to give a certain group of toys away, they are already kept together and as long as everything gets put away where it belongs, we don't have to search through everything to find a tiny toy to complete a set. I also have a small bin with baby toys in case someone comes to visit with a baby, most of the baby toys were already given away. Anyway, that is what has been working for us. Oh, we also have a lot of books, so we do the same for those. I have different sizes of book in diff bins (I use to order from a catalog). The shelving units aren't as pretty as a wooden book shelf or something but they are still clean and nice looking and much more affordable. take care!

Hey there L.,

Rotating bins are a great idea. It sounds like you have a hold on it. We bought those wire shelves that you put together in any shape you want and put the bins in those.

As far as getting rid of things, be ruthless. There's no reason to hang on to toys just because you think they might play with them one more time. Pick out the ones you think are the most educational or stimulating or fun and donate the rest!

Good luck to you!

C.
www.EnhanceYourWayOfLife.com

I use clear rubbermaid containers for some things that have lots of little parts that I don't want to loose and I also don't want the boys to be able to open them too easily.

But the best thing I did was buy two stackable storage bins/cubbies. I like the one with three cubbies. They come in lots of different colors. I got mine at their outlet store on Shermer Rd. in Northbrook. Here is the webiste link.

http://www.landofnod.com/family.aspx?c=2883&f=3835&am...