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Original poster

Is it worth trying to organise children's toys?

50 replies

Bumperrlicious · 31/01/2011 11:27

Just going through my 3 yo toy boxes and trying separate things out a bit, but I wonder if I am fighting a losing battle? Is it worth organising her toys or just having a cull every now and then?

What things do you keep separate?

OP posts:
belgo · 31/01/2011 11:29

Yes keep them separate. eg. Fisher price in one box, barbie in another, lego in another, special toys get locked away and come out every now and again.

Puzzles are put on a shelf and I always try and make sure they have all the pieces.

mylifewithstrangers · 31/01/2011 11:32

Loosing battle here too Sad

Have just had a cull after xmas and we have a 4th birthday looming.

So I cull (poor DS he is only 16 months but I have moved on all his baby toys), throw anything broken and have IKEA trofast and storage boxes for the rest. I rotate between downstairs and their bedroom too. Boxes work well because when they have got a bit bored one of the boxes at the back comes out full of stuff they haven't seen for a while.

I hate having toys lying around though, I'd love some proper cupboard to put it all in - especially the puzzles and craft stuff.

The big stuff that you can't box gets on my wick too - pushchairs, ride-ons, scooters, trikes AAARGH!

Othersideofthechannel · 31/01/2011 11:37

I think it is worth it. It's a pain when they are little but it is a good habit to instill. DCs are 7 and 6 and mostly put things away with similar things. They both have a small for random stuff.

Belgo, I'm curious about 'special toys' that get locked away. What kind of thing are you thinking about? I can't think of any toys that would have needed locking away.

mamaloco · 31/01/2011 11:37

I do like Belgo Blush. We have 3 baby toy box in the living room which looks like adult drawers so DD2 can think that she is rummaging.
DD1 has one noisy toys box, a cars, playmobils and legos box, a fairy/animals box, a doll box, and an art and crafts box.
Board games and jigsaw are kept in the living room to avoid loosing pieces.
I am not even very organised!

I throw anything broken and was going to give baby toys away when DD2 showed up, so I have more than what I want.

Othersideofthechannel · 31/01/2011 11:39

a small box for random stuff

mylifewithstrangers · 31/01/2011 11:42

We have one of those Otherside, it is officially known as the 'Box of random plastic rubbish'. It's a shoe box full of all the plastic tat that materialises in party bags, kinder eggs etc. DD is very attached to it and can spend a happy half hour rummaging. It is getting a bit full though so I'll probably have to have a cull before it starts breeding more boxes!

WhiteLight · 31/01/2011 11:44

We bought Ikea Tromfast storage last year for DS's toys, so now have Lego, Dinosaurs, Cars, Happy Land, etc all in separate boxes (most of the time).

GooseyLoosey · 31/01/2011 11:44

I too have loosely organised boxes. If I didn't, they would never find anything at all.

Othersideofthechannel · 31/01/2011 12:12

Envy at shoe box mylifewithstrangers

Ours 'random stuff' boxes are much bigger. But the kids don't want to part with it and its not the sort of stuff you can sell so I can't even use that argument.

belgo · 31/01/2011 12:21

Othersideofthechannel - I have a locked craft cupboard mainly to keep it away from ds.

Mainly I need to keep the playmobil and lego away from ds who is too small for it and the girls don't like it when he messes up their stuff.

They have loads of books on the bookshelves but a few books are kept separate and only looked at with me eg. speical copy of Peter Pan that was a present, don't want to risk ds scribbling on it.

Board games etc which need to be kept together.

belgo · 31/01/2011 12:24

for example I just had to get the special marbles out for the game of Hungry Hippos for ds. He loves the game but the marbles just roll everywhere.

Original poster
Bumperrlicious · 31/01/2011 12:28

I do have some organisation. We have a basket for peppa pig toys, happy land in its own storage box but that's it. Dh doesn't like trofast so is resisting against it. We have a lot of random crap.

OP posts:
munstersmum · 31/01/2011 12:28

Only things I keep separate are books, boardgames & jigsaws. We have Ikea bookcases with some wicker baskets stuck on the bottom shelf.

I tried the seperate road early on & made some progress ...but it lead to DS getting agitated over preschool friends who put cars in the plastic plates/food basket etc. So now it's just chaos but happily shared chaos.

Othersideofthechannel · 31/01/2011 12:53

OK, that makes sense.

Our two are quite close in age so we never really had that problem.

And I don't really count craft stuff as toys!

At first I thought you were referring to super valuable or super fragile stuff.

Original poster
Bumperrlicious · 31/01/2011 14:36

Trofast is pretty expensive isn't it? Might just have to surrender to the chaos but just try and ensure there is less of it.

OP posts:
LadyintheRadiator · 31/01/2011 14:45

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
Bumperrlicious · 31/01/2011 14:49

Ok, if you have trofast can you link me which one you have & how you divide stuff up? Can't afford anything too big & not sure how much stuff it holds.

If you have girls how do you divide stuff up?

OP posts:
thereisalightanditnevergoesout · 31/01/2011 14:50

the way today's going, I'd say no.

Aaaaaarrrgh!!!

LaWeaselMys · 31/01/2011 14:56

We do boxes. I have open topped pretty ones though because they live in front and dining room most of the time and I don't want to stare at plastic after DD's gone to bed.

I try and keep similarish stuff together, but mix it up a bit as DD is still quite young and variety is more entertaining than one toy.

Original poster
Bumperrlicious · 31/01/2011 15:34

I agree about the plastic tat but nice boxes and baskets are expensive. Also I need stuff that stacks really to maximise floor space. I was thinking about making bags that hang on the wall, does that sound like a crap idea?

OP posts:
LaWeaselMys · 31/01/2011 15:45

I got these from Argos If you limit the number of toys in each so that each box is roughly level on top you can stack them.

Not sure about bags on the wall... but probably because I am imagining them in my house and can't think where they would go.

What about child height shelves with boxes/stiff sided bags?

mercibucket · 31/01/2011 15:50

we do both - cull and tidy. keep the branded stuff there's lots of in separate boxes eg lego, playmobil. then another junk box. shelves for puzzles. books on separate bookshelf. but not too many toys at once - we rotate and bring stuff up and down from the attic and tbh I've given up buying stuff that doesn't fit the theme as well - so we get a lot of lego but don't do other similar stuff. have an elc house/dolls but no other brand

fairybubbles · 01/02/2011 12:49

Yes we also have ikea trofast. Jigsaws are now kept stored away and brought out one or two at a time. Craft boxes are kept in the kitchen (he usually does these activites sitting at the table anyway). The trofast means he has a box for the train set, a box for cars, a box for his animals/dinosaurs, a box for card games and a box for all his Toy Story stuff and so on. Much easier to keep room tidy.

Books are all kept on bookshelf. In fact DS's room is probably the most organised in our house.

we have 2 small boxes with lids for downstairs and toys are rotated in these.

It's the larger toys that get to me, like bikes and scooters and his garage.

DreamTeamGirl · 01/02/2011 12:55

Same as Whitelight

I have 2 of the stepped Trofast ones and they are amazing, so so good.

Stillchuckingit · 02/02/2011 10:04

I think it is worth organising it. It's easier to put away at night if everything has it's place. It also models good habits and I find my dd doesn't play with her stuff as much when it is all in a muddle - and then she goes and makes a mess with a load of other stuff elsewhere!

It's also easier to cull (we do this twice yearly - once before Christmas and once before birthday) if it is easy to see and access. Easier to share with friends too (when your dd is older).

I find it is good to decide on sufficient storage (with a little room for 'growth') then cull the amount of toys to fit the storage you have (and not the other way around if that makes sense)

I use two painted wooden tall bookcases (firmly secured to wall) with separate pull-out containers of various shapes and sizes on some of the shelves.

We then have two round paniers on the floor for her baby dolls and their clothes and accessories + another panier for soft toys.
One dressing up chest. One mini coat stand for bags (if your dd is like mine, she will have acquired 30 hand-bags and purses of various shapes and sizes by the time she is 7!! I don't know where they all come from even though we cull ruthlessly - down to 12 currently!)

Bookcases are good because you can keep the more delicate/precious/annoying toys that go all over floor (eg Hama beads and marbles) right up at the top and the toys you are happy for your dc to pull out on their own, nearer the bottom. And books can be stored too of course.

They are also adaptable as they grow. For example, one of the bookcases is going to be repainted and put in dd's room soon as she is starting to play in there more with her friends.

I think I would go for Trofast if I had lots of boys - for construction kits and lego and stuff - but shelving works best for us (one dd only)

As for the hanging bag idea - I tried it and found it a bit fiddly to be honest. The bags (and their contents) usually ended up on the floor. I just reserve a row of pegs now for games kits, swim kit, school bag and coat etc etc and that works well.

Good luck!