When I work with families with young children, ‘what do I do about all these toys?’, is the most common problem I am asked to address. (Well, that and ‘where do I put all the kid’s snacks, so I don’t eat them myself?).
Before you organise your toys remember to declutter them. Have your children do part of this with you, you don’t want to accidentally give away their treasures. But – remember you are in charge. When it comes to discarding broken toys that can’t be repaired or are now sharp and dangerous – you make the decision.
The most common storage problem items I encounter are Lego, Teddies & Dolls and Light Sabres – I’ll talk about these specifically and then give you some general ideas for the rest. Hopefully some of these will be new to you.
LEGO
I love Lego almost as much as my son, so we have a huge collection. We are Star Wars / Marvel fans, so we have a lot of big sets. Lego kids are usually one of two types, the ‘build once and keep’ type or ‘build, play with and rebuild’ type. For the first I suggest popping the large items on shelves or hang them from the ceiling with invisible string. Not only do they look impressive, but they are out of harm’s way and won’t get damaged.
For Loose Lego, there are some terrific draw string fabric bags on the market. They range in price from £14 (bit small for real enthusiasts or Duplo) to £35 Good sturdy bags that are very pretty.
I prefer to save my money to buy more Lego, so I use an old single fitted sheet, it works just as well. Here is the one we use at home. At Tidy up time, we just gather it up and pop in into a pretty basket.
££ MONEY TIP:
$$ TIP: Lego holds its price well and is easy to re sell. Keep the instructions and the Boxes, if you sell a whole kit your price can go up. I pull the edges apart without damaging the box, wrap them in plastic and store them in the loft or under your bed. I know it sounds like a pain, but I once sold a Marvel Kit that was no longer in production for more than I paid for it!
Light Sabres / Swords:
Star Wars fans usually have a bit of a light Sabre addiction (you can’t have a Light Sabre battle with only one, so most kids end up with 4 or 5). An umbrella stand is a perfect solution (here is mine). But they also look terrific when wall mounted. Use the cheap hooks from B&Q or the £3 Damage free ones – if your hooks don’t fit perfectly add string so Sabres can slide out easily. (Amazon sell lots of fancy made to fit versions of these, but you really don’t need to spend that much).
Here is an excellent site for Star Wars Storage
Cars & Trucks
My son was a Hot wheel’s fan, we tried a big box, but he always wanted to have them out and visible. So, we switched to a wall mounted rack. It was perfect! He would spend hours arranging them and because he loved the display, he was always happy to tidy them up himself.
TOP TIP Be sure you mount it a ground level, your child will use it more if they can sit comfortable on the floor to see the cars. I made this mistake the first time I installed mine. (By the way … old large spice racks or video tape racks work for this too… look for them at car boot sales).
Larger Trucks are more difficult. Many Clients uses the Kallax system for these, but personally I feel that you end up with a lot of wasted space (you can’t fit two trucks in one box, but if you only put one in a box the unit is not being used to its potential.) I prefer to use a Bookshelf for trucks. They are not overly expensive (Face Book Marketplace often has these available for as low as £5), try to find one with shelves that can usually be moved to fit the trucks you have.
Teddies & Dolls
Beds are the obvious solution for storing teddies, but it can take ages to sort out what to sleep with, remove the rest and then put them back every morning. Most kids have one or two must have teddies so encourage them to pop just those on the bed. To store the rest, I love the hammock idea: It’s great for kids that want to keep the teddies close and in sight. For older kids that don’t want them in sight but are not ready to re home them, try a vertical storage solution – I love these colourful plastic-coated bags.
The Hammock is a great way to store foot balls too!
Ideas for DIYers
Sliding drawers under the sofa: If you are into a spot of DIY, here is a fantastic idea from Ikea hackers. Awesome for storing just about anything. (When the kids grow out of toys you can hide your wine collection under there!)
Movable Storage. Put wheels on it!: Move it out of the way when you don’t need it.
Think Upwards – Use Pulleys: We have all seen these in the laundry or the garage, why not use the same system for the playroom. Just add some pretty boxes and some colourful cord and you are all set. Just be sure not to store anything heavy up there. Best for soft toys / Duplo / dolls etc.
Think Upwards – Use Wall space
High shelves or cupboards work well for board games that are not used weekly. Put pictures on the door fronts for ease of finding what is in there. See more on this in my Storage Furniture Blog. ‘Maximising Storage: Part 1 Furniture’.
Alternatively try these cute ideas. Both are cheap and relatively easy to install.
Build a Bucket Store: If you have the space, I love the Bucket Tower. It can be used to store a huge variety of items and has the added benefit of looking really cool.
A Note on Furniture.
Furniture with built in storage: This is a terrific solution for toy storage, but It’s covered quite well in an earlier blog called ‘Maximising Storage: Part 1 Furniture’. Part 2 will be all about storage boxes – so keep an eye out for that!
Storage Furniture
The almighty Kallax is every one’s favourite (including me) but I’d keep this in the kids Bedroom. If you store toys in the living room consider the Hennes Console, it hides a lot of toys & Games but is a little more stylish. Here is mine: I store cards, small games and all those annoying knick-knacks that kids get and won’t throw away in the pretty green boxes (Can you spot the deck that didn’t get put away properly yesterday!).
Last But Not Least: Playroom Rules
Once you have your toys and games beautifully stored and arranged, the adorable tiny people in you home can and will destroy it in a matter of minutes. This is the nature of play, some simply Playroom rules may help. Here are some guidelines to help you create your own set of rules.
Give each child gets a small box or bag of ‘go to’ play with everyday toys. They can swap the contents whenever they like. These are also a terrific idea for quick hops in the car. No need to go looking for favorite toys.
Rotate the toys that are on display or within reach monthly. That way the kids don’t get bored.
Tidy up time. If your child is in nursery this is not a new concept to them, so use it at home too. Schedule it at lunch time and dinner time.
Have your little person help you to clear away an activity before getting out a new one.
If you get it out, you are responsible for putting it away.
Be clear that broken toys need to be removed if they can’t be repaired. In the long term this will stop your kids fixating on things that can’t be fixed and build resilience.
I am Behaviour Analyst with 9 years experience creating work / play environments for children with Autism and ADHD, if you need specialised help for your playroom please contact me.
TOP TIP: Don’t spend a fortune on toy storage. Here’s Why
It gets a lot of wear and tear so won’t resell for much.
Kids grow out of toys, so parents no longer need the storage… so there are always lots of cheap or even free storage solutions for sale online.
Avoid storage purchased to fit a specific toy … chances are in a month or so your child won’t play with it. Aim for multiuse storage instead.
Avoid storage with pretty stick on nursery pictures. The first thing your child will do is try to peal it off. Your lovely piece will be ugly in no time. If you really want decorative storage get painted.
Nursery style storage won’t be suitable for anywhere else in your house when you no longer need it.
There you have it – my Toy Storage Solutions. If you have any cool ideas I’d love to see them, or if you put any of these ideas in your home send me the pics.
Happy Organising xx
Clutter Free & Organised 