Organizing Toys and Decluttering

Anyone who has kids knows the toys seem to multiply overnight.  Fighting to keep toys organized, neat and tidy is a constant battle that all parents deal with.  There are some ways to help though, and here are my ideas.

1. Get rid of toys you aren’t using – If a toy was a big hit for the first few hours and has sat untouched for weeks donate it.  My children love to go through their toys and pick ones to donate to the Salvation Army.  If you remind them Christmas or a birthday is coming and they will be getting new ones soon it can even seem exciting.
2. Store it – Maybe there are some toys you just can’t bear to donate for sentimental reasons.  We have a huge collection of Brio Wooden trains that were my son’s favorite and cost a fortune, and neither of us wants to get rid of them even though he has outgrown them.  So we boxed them up and put them in our storage area. Now they are storage room clutter, not playroom clutter.
3. Sort the toys – Sorting small parts in to categories can be fun for some kids, and helps keep things organized.  We have done this with Legos and Knex very successfully.
4. Use creative storage – Be creative in how the toys are stored.  We stored our dress up clothes in a cardboard dresser we bought.  It wasn’t expensive, but it made more sense to the children to put clothes in a dresser than a bin, so they were more likely to clean up.
5. Rotate toys – This is especially important if you don’t have a dedicated play area.  Put away half of the children’s toys, and then change them out every month.  This keeps the toys fresh and helps prevent boredom.
6. Clean often – It is much easier to pick up daily than to wait until the entire play room is trashed.  So set specific times for clean up, like right before bath time, and enforce it.
7. Make cleaning up a game – Obviously young kids clean up better if you help and make it it fun. We used to sing the Barney Clean Up song while we cleaned.  This still works, because now my teenagers will groan and promise to start cleaning as soon as I stop singing.
8. Model good behavior – Realistically, if the kitchen is covered in dirty dishes and piles of paper are stacked everywhere the children aren’t going to understand the importance of keeping their area clean and tidy.
9. Hide toys – Some kids can’t see a box of toys without dumping it and seem to delight in making the biggest mess possible. When my children have a friend like this coming for a visit we literally hide most of the toys.  The kids quickly realized they were going to be stuck cleaning up after the playdate is over, so they cooperate in putting things they don’t want dumped away for a few hours.
10. Encourage non-toy gifts – I always like craft kits.  The kids make the craft, and then it is done.  One year my mother gave the children an annual pass to the local ice rink as a Christmas present, and we had a great time with it.  So think of creative presents you can give or ask for that won’t make the clutter problem worse.

When the toys are mess, disorganized and the floor is covered in toys it just isn’t as fun to play. So some simple planning can help make things more fun for everyone.  What are your best tips for reducing clutter and organizing.

Disclosure: I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Hot Wheels blogging program, for a gift card worth $40. For more information on how you can participate, click here.