How Can I Organise DS' Toybox?

[LetThereBeCupcakes]

DS has a lovely toybox - my dad built it for me when I was a child and my mum painted it. I've kept it all these years and now DS has it in his room.

The trouble is it's just a large box, which means everything gets chucked in and it's always a mess. Little bits fall to the bottom and we can never find anything. He rarely plays with the toys in there as they're a faff to get out.

I know it would be easier to ditch it and get him some IKEA storage or something but I'd really like to keep it. Any ideas?

We had the same situation (but with a big ugly plastic box). Swappe for Ikea Trofast, made a huge difference to DDs actually being able to find (and so play with) their toys. Could you use the lovely toy box for something else - blankets/bedding/towels etc??

keep the lovely box for cuddly toys and maybe a soft sided box for one other type of toy like eg drassign up stuff or something bulky that you won't lose the bits of. wilkos have some great kids boxes and ikea also. Then get shelves for everything else.

Use these to store the small things. We have these for Barbie shoes, hex bugs, nerf bullets, hotwheels, tiny parts of Lego or playmobil sets. They are fantastic and easy to dig out of the toy box.

m.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/art/80098583/

I'd also recommend those ikea boxes but drawstring bags are great for keeping things separate but packing away together easily. Look on ebay for shoebags, swimming bags or drawstring bags. Even better would be ones made of mesh, so you can see the contents. But they are not actually going to make it easy for him to get stuff out.

Ikea do a set of many different sizes tupperwares with green lids for £2.99. That's a good source of flexible box solutions.

I do agree with the others, I find a traditional toybox difficult for most toys, once past the baby stage. How about using it as a fab dressing up box or soft toy storage, or maybe for a dedicated set such as cars, rather than all his toys?

Could you source some plastic or fabric boxes that just fit inside to separate it into 2 or 3 'bins'? Idea being that the boxes stay in the toybox and he lifts toys out of them.

Thanks for all of the ideas. I can't fit other toy storage and this toy box in his room unfortunately as the toy box is huge (though he does have some Trofast in the living room for downstairs toys), so I need to make this box work some how. Like the idea of drawstring bags - I could possible put hooks on the inside of the box and hang the bags on them to keep them tidy. I've got loads of fabric so could make a few myself.

Thanks for the links to little tubs, too. I'm thinking bags around the edge for specific medium sized toys like musical instruments and cars, then the bigger toys in the middle with associated little bits in tubs.

Thanks all!

Ive tried to organise DS's toybox many times and with all the best intentions, within a few days its completely messed up again.

I wish we could get rid of it but MIL bought it and she would never forgive us.

I hear ya basin. But if my dad had built it and my mum had painted, I'd find a way to make it work too.

OP i think the key is not to overfill it. Consider the tallest trofast for extra storage, it takes up v little wall space and is not too deep. Ours fits behind DD's door.

Absolutely Amateur, I just think the only way to make it work is embrace the fact that everything is just chucked in!

The one saving grace about DS's is that we were too lazy to ever paint it, so I think that I might treat it instead and put it in the garden instead. It could double up as a nice little coffee table on my nice new patio!

Good plan! Ours was only a cheapy pine blanket box from argos, would work well in the garden as storage for balls, skittles etc.

That's what I thought. DS is almost 2 and we've just moved to a house with a garden that is nice and safe that he can play in, and he loves being outside so I expect that there will be an influx of garden toys this summer.

We have a large box full of megabloks and large construction toys.
Another full of dressing up stuff/swords/all other role play bits like first aid kit and tool box
We have their gran's toy box as a memory box. Just chuck stuff in I want to keep!