This is a bit of a different one - still organisation related but more focussed towards mums and dads with young kids.
We have been lucky enough to have been given toys as hand me downs and as gifts to the girls for birthdays so we have many a toy in our house! As I'm fairly new to this whole 'mum thing' (my oldest is 22 months) so I wasn't sure how to introduce toys to her or which ones she'd like. So I just put them all in a basket in the lounge room and let her take what she wanted.
I learnt pretty quick that was a mistake. Not only did she bring out Every.Single.Toy in the basket and flung them across the entire lounge room (tidy freaks nightmare!) but she also got so overwhelmed with choice that she wouldn't spend time playing with a single toy. She would just jump from toy to toy to toy not really 'playing' with any of them.
My solution was to play to my strengths and organise them!
I started by splitting the toys into 4 different piles so there was only 10ish toys out at one time.
I then placed those toys in a bookshelf I found for $10 from the Salvos.
I placed the bookcase in a corner and created a 'play corner' where all the toys are corralled so at the end of the day when the kids are in bed, we can have some 'adult' space where hubby and I don't negotiate between blocks, cars and dolls.
The only 'rule' with this storage bookshelf was not to put anything except soft toys in the top shelves so she doesn't pull heavy or hard things on top of herself.
We also have a toy rotation system where every week or every other week (depending on how much she is enjoying the current selection), we rotate out the toys for one of the piles stored away.
As she has 'favourite toys for the month' we don't usually rotate out all toys at once.
Below is where we store the remaining toys not in use under the cot. As the side of the cot stays down when she is awake, they are inaccessible to prying hands :-)
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| Out of sight, out of mind! |
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| Cot rail up |
The toys are stored into plastic bins I purchased for under $5 each from the Salvos. They are both made of very sturdy plastic and have wheels, making them easy to pull in and out from under the cot.
Above is a collapsable washing basket from Ikea where I store her pile of stuffed toys in her bedroom.
This is my favourite Ikea purchase (I also have one in my other daughter's room) These fabric baskets hold her nappies, dirty clothes, some clothes, bibs and her books.
I hope you have enjoyed this blog and again if you have any questions or comments I'd love to hear from you.
Don't forget to visit me on my YouTube channel (here) and Instagram (here)
Have a great day!
Jen
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