HELP !! How the hell do you keep a play room playable in?

[Peckarollover]

I am sitting in a bomb site and have no kids until 4pm today. For the last hour and a half Ive been attempting to get the playroom in order but Im just going round and round in circles and there is still stuff everywhere!

What are your secrets for organizing toys etc

plastic crates and baskets!

We have cheap kitchen units along one wall on stainless steel legs - looks like a very long sideboard. We just open the doors and chuck it all in:)

Little fiddly stuff gets chucked into storage boxes first then chucked in too.

Takes 10mins max to clear up!

I have a big unit from Ikea with sixteen square compartments. In these I have plastic boxes or baskets to fill with smaller items then bigger items are stacked in the others with 3 taken up with books. Also have toy box that just gets filled with crap. A laundry pop up thing full of soft toys. A unit full of books and videos on top of that two further storage boxes a childs desk and our desk with pc and a filing cabinet yet there is still stuff everywhere

i've got an open shelf unit thing from ikea, and use those plastic stacking crates to keep the toys in some semblance of order. Also ds has a big old tin trunk - any plastic toys (robots etc) just get chucked in there. Things like yu-gi-oh cards go in shoe boxes. Soft toys go in a big basket. Doesn't take long to tidy it all up!

Hmmm - sounds to me like you need a mega clear out. Good time of year - charity shops would be grateful for the stuff!

If they have too much of it it never gets played with anyway.

Go on! Be ruthless!

ooh it sounds like you do the same as me already

what stuff is still unputawayable?

chuck it in a big box! if all else fails chuck it in a bin liner and put it away. Then you'll rediscover it in 3 months time and the kids will be delighted with all their "new" toys that they'd forgotten they had

very good tips here

The big box for miscellaneous is a very good idea.

I have found over the years that the trick is not to give a hoot about how messy it gets throughout the day, let them do what they want, just spend the time putting it away every night, glass of wine in hand if need be, because if you leave it in a state two days on the trot you will go mad.

In fact I am on here in a successful attempt to put off tidying the playroom tonight.

Must say, I've never been one to make them put one toy away before they are allowed to play with the next toy. Is a pain in the arse with things like K'Nex though.

Thats exactly (one of!) the job I'm supposed to be doing right now as dh has taken them all out for a bit. (That and the dreaded ironing)

We have crates and baskets but I have to go through it all regularly because they just can't seem to play with it after a while cos it gets in such a muddle and drives me mad. Method of playing when you're 3 yrs seems to be the 'tip it all out, mix it all up and move onto the next box' technique. I hate tidying it all up because I know within 20 minutes we'll be back to square 1 again, but I'm anal enough to let it bother me iyswim!

I suppose the answer is to only give them a few toys at a time to play with, but that somehow never works out for various reasons here, and I suppose I've only got myself to blame...who's been out Christmas shopping buying in the next pile of stuff that will be driving me nuts by Boxing Day?

Ive just chucked a load of books and put the videos away - Im actually a bit staggered by the amount of videos we have - Id say at least a hundred and she must only watch one every 2 months or something. Crazy really isnt it.

I second Soapbox, big black bag and charity shop. Worked wonders on my DSs' bedrooms last week!

Be ruthless.
Hold back stuff and reintroduce a new batch every few weeks. Doesn't really help with the mess but at least you know that they are playing with what is out.

Teach them to put one thing away (eg fiddly jigsaws and games) before getting out another. A bore but possible.

Major sweep every night

Restrict crap to one room

Know what you mean about tipping it all out-WHY do they do that? Drives me mad!!

I met a couple the other day who had 14 kids(!!!)
Asked her lots of questions that she has probably answered a million times before, but a few things stuck out.

The kids beds folded back against the wall in the day in order for them to have more room to play.

They would have to 'check out' (ie sign for!!) a game if tghey wanted to play and check it back in again (signing that all pieces present)

The parents would take them all on holiday, each driving a car and pulling a caravan.

Unbelievable, esp. when she said they hadn't originally wanted a big family 'just 5 0r 6 children'!

gordon bennett!

My boys have usually been quite good, but this term they've been dreadful, and the playroom has been a tip for months despite three massive clear-out sessions. They did some tidying this morning, but haven't finished yet. (I've told them they can have their own tree - to decorate with their own tatt - in the playroom if they get it tidy and keep it tidy!)

I think we need to have a big clearout too. I may put the dressing up clothes away for a bit, (or permanently?) as they seem to cause a lot of the mess at the moment.

Hey! Just remembered my mother's tactic!
Burst in, drag everything out onto the floor (presuming it isn't already there!),screaming 'This place is a bloody tip. I want it ALL tidy by the time I come back. Exit, slamming door, leaving stunned offspring to tidy very quickly,quietly and fearfully.

(When we remind her of that now, she denies all knowledge! :))

Excellent Moondog!

I can't even keep my living room livable. I am a lazy, slovenly housewife. If my colleagues could see how messy my house is they would keel over in shock - I work in a nursing home and am relatively anal about cleanliness there - however I can bearly move my foot in my living room for fear of stomping on a toy, my kitchen surfaces are covered in pots, and my kitchen table is covered in clean, folded clothes.

My house is so messy I don't invite people round anymore, cos there wouldn't be anywhere for them to sit

I bought a large one of \link{http://tinyurl.com/6ehbe\these} from Argos.

What doesn't fit it in gets thrown out - nine boxes of crap is enough for one child.