Kids Stuff

I don't have kids, but as a former nanny and someone who worked in a daycare for several years I know how easy it is to accumulate countless toys, clothing, movies, books, photos and other completely random paraphernalia related to your kids. Kids stuff tends to overpopulate the house if you don't keep the lid on it. Now is time to put your foot down and regain the rights to your house if this is happening to you.

Do a walkthrough of your house and take notes about where your kids are hoarding their toys. If their toys are consuming your house it's time to set some boundaries. Include the kids in this discussion, for example, suggest that kids indoor toys are only to belong in the respective owners room and the play room or the den. We'll cross the bridge to the outdoor toys later.

Great, you've identified that the kids' toys are everywhere. Now you need to decide what to do! My non-parenting suggestion is to limit where toys are allowed. After you come to a consensus that your family can agree on it's time to get to work. Take note on your current organizational system. What is working and what isn't working? Do you have enough storage and it just isn't being utilized by the kids? Do your kids have too many toys for the spaces that you have now decided to contain them in? Can you come to an agreement on having a garage sale or donating some of the kids old toys to give the kids more space to play in? How can you improve the storage areas you already have for the kids toys?



So, say you've decided to contain the toys to your kids' bedrooms and their shared playroom. Great! If you're starting from scratch, some basic things I would recommend to you are to bring in some shelves or big cubby holes like preschools have for basic storage and book storage; add a stackable drawer set (or several sets...) that is easy to house your kids' arts and crafts supplies, papers, school projects, random decks of cards, small toys and anything else that can easily be stored in a drawer; buy or search your house for large buckets or bins that can be turned into storage for larger toys like Tonka trucks and Barbie dolls; even consider bringing some old laundry baskets that you no longer use to be a storage spot for the various toys.

Zones are a great way of sectioning off space in the playroom. Some zones that might be applicable to your kids' playroom are: board game zone, Barbie or doll zone, arts and crafts zone, "play house" zone, trucks/cars/automobiles zone, music and dance zone, video game and TV zone or reading zone. These various zones will help to keep specific toys in their area - think of this like the setup of a kindergarten classroom.

Now, for your kids' bedroom. I hope they at least have the basics: a closet, a dresser, maybe a nightstand or another table, and a bed that can double as a storage area (under-the-bed storage). My guess is that most of the things occupying the dresser and closet are clothes. Make sure that at least the clothes are organized. Use the same things that you would use to organize your own closet: additional shelves, shoe storage and consider a custom closet. For the outlying toys in the kids' bedrooms I think it's a great idea to employ the same types of storage ideas as you do with the playroom: add a bookshelf for book and toy storage, buy some under-the-bed bins to store Barbie's and other toys in, find some additional bins that can sit out on the floor for added storage and use the dresser or other tables to display prize toys, awards or double as extra storage.



For further inspiration, please read The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room. This book was probably my childhood inspiration for being the way I am. I LOVED this book. Every time I read it I would be so excited to go clean my room and organize everything. Maybe your kids will be too!

It seems like I'm always coming back to the same generic "solutions" for storage: bins, buckets, baskets, boxes, over-the-door hangers, shelves or drawers. Why do I always say the same thing? Because it works. Run out to Target or The Container Store with the kids and find some great storage solutions to put into use in your home.