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Keeping It Simple | Taming Kids Toys: Part Two

A few months ago I shared some of the struggles I had in keeping the kids toys organised. Talking to my sister, and writing the post really helped me to get to the crux of the issue. It’s not that they had too many toys – they play with every single one regularly –  but more that the way we kept them no longer suited us, and my expectations regarding the kids keeping them organised were too high.

For the sake of reality, here is a picture of the toy room on the morning we finally sorted it out properly. It looks very green and in desperate need of a facelift (in the pipeline), but just making it functional was on my list of immediate needs.

The first problem was that the old shelf was too small and narrow to accommodate large containers. As a result we had small containers over flowing, and jostling for position on the shelf. There was a lot of dead unused space above the containers. Also there were several baskets to hold the toys that did not fit on the shelf, and they just sat on the floor.

The second problem was that I wanted the kids to keep the toys sorted and separated, but hadn’t really created an easy to use system. As a result all the toys got easily mixed up, and left around. This would overwhelm and frustrate the kids so they couldn’t use them effectively anyway.

I investigated several ideas for improving the storage of the toys using our existing furniture. I knew the basket shelves would still be useful, but our other shelf was not suitable. In the end I decided we really needed a wider shelf and bigger boxes, so I turned to Ikea. I drew up a schematic diagram of where I thought everything would fit, and asked the kids for ideas and opinions.

Once I worked out what we needed, my lovely parents popped down to Ikea and picked up what I wanted before they came for a visit.

We set the new shelves up and then started sorting according to my diagram. We did a very light cull at the same time, but to be honest, there weren’t many toys there that were not used. All the planning worked and everything fitted with room to spare.

The second thing I did was to make labels for every box. I just used Microsoft word and some clip art pictures to create them. The pictures are really helpful for Toby who cannot read yet. I laminated them and then used hot glue to attach the labels to the boxes.

The final thing I did was to put the Lego into bigger boxes which fit better into the blanket box we keep the Lego in. I bought a screw and nail box (that would be my technical term) for them to keep their special little bits and pieces, but then just randomly dumped the rest of the blocks into the boxes. I originally hoped to keep the different pieces separately but CB pointed out that I was making a rod for my own back. I would love to find a box that can sort the blocks by size so that the kids don’t need to dump everything on the floor to find the small pieces. One day!

I also allocated two shelves for them to store the Lego creations that they want to keep set up. They know that they only have this space when it comes time to pack it up, so we no longer have multiple creations on top of every surface.

The new shelves and system have been in place now for two months. So far the kids find it easier to pick up their toys and put them away at the end of the day. There are no more disagreements about where things go, because the labels make it easy to work out.

For me, the chaos of the playroom used to stress me out. These days the kids seem to take more pride in keeping it organised, and I am learning to let go of perfection and accept that it will be messy at times. Lets face it, play is messy. It should be. But by having a system for our toys, we have managed to reduce the stress and the mess, but still keep the fun. To me that is a win for us all.

What strategies do you use to tame the toys?

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Comments

  1. Jo@Countrylifeexperiment says

    January 14, 2015 at 8:56 am

    I think the labels have really made the difference.

    Reply
  2. Erin aussiebookthreads says

    January 14, 2015 at 4:24 am

    Looks fantastic!! Yes I'd like a better system for Lego, but as your CB says I worry about making trouble for myself. My system is really the same as yours (just more years of collection;) though I do need to make the labels, you've inspired me
    http://sevenlittleaustralians.blogspot.com.au/2014/11/fabric-boxes-our-storage-solution.html

    Reply

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Hi, I’m Jo

I'm a city girl turned farmer's wife, school teacher, ideas woman, and mum to three country kids. Country Life Experiment is all about simple country living, growing and making our own food, and life on our family farm in rural Australia. Join me as I give country living a try. Read more...
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A lovely, easy Christmas with family, good food, a A lovely, easy Christmas with family, good food, a few presents, an afternoon swim and dinner on the veranda as the sun set. Time to stop and be thankful for the many blessings of the year. I hope you had a lovely Christmas too!
We have been mulling over how to fix up the drivew We have been mulling over how to fix up the driveway and lead up to our house for a while. Currently it’s just a dumping ground for old bits of metal and a big pile of mulch, but C would like to create a turning area and put in a garden. First up though, there’s a huge old stump that needs to go. What better excuse is there to have a fire on Sunday afternoon? C and the kids jumped on the quad bike and trailer, and hauled back a big pile of sticks and logs to help the stump burn. Once the fire was going, marshmallows were found and roasted. No better way to spend time together.
Team work makes the dream work. We were asked rec Team work makes the dream work. 
We were asked recently whether we “make” our kids work on the farm. The answer is of course not. Having said that, all three love to help out whenever they can. They all work hard because they want to; because they take pride in working hard and contributing in a meaningful way to our family life; because they love living on our farm and don’t remember life before we moved here. Whether it be planting trees or doing sheep work or feeding animals, they all want to be involved. As a parent, nothing is better than watching them grow in skill and confidence as they work along side you. We’re so glad that we get to spend time with our three, working together.
We’ve had an unexpected addition to the family ☘️🐑. She is a lot easier to look after than the other family members but she does try to escape her yard and head butt people. Poddy lambs are super cute but they tend to think they are a human. Clover the lamb is sure that Meg is her mum. Can’t think why… 🤔🤣
The perfect way to end a long winter weekend: toge The perfect way to end a long winter weekend: together, cooking damper around the remains of the bonfire.
It’s been a tough few weeks on the farm. We got It’s been a tough few weeks on the farm. We got through shearing without a hitch (thankfully 🙏) but we’ve had a run of the flu followed by Covid run through the family since then. The kids and I have tested positive (this is my second time getting it 🦠) though so far C has managed to avoid it. There has been a lot of lying on the couch feeling pretty ordinary. Han had to reschedule her driving test for a 4th time due to Covid, which is disappointing for her because she wants her freedom and for us because it would be so much more convenient if she could drive herself places. Just to add in to the mix, our hot water system has chosen now as a good time to die so we’re on cold showers until we’re all out of iso. This is not meant to be a whinging post but sometimes life just sucks a bit and it’s good to be real. Fortunately, the sight of the fire going with a stack of wood next to it cheers us up. Things will improve soon. Onwards we go…

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Hi, I’m Jo

City girl turned farmer's wife, school teacher, ideas woman, and mum to three country kids. Country Life Experiment is all about simple country living, growing and making our own food, and life on our family farm in rural Australia. Join me as I give country living a try. Read more...
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