hf1

Toy storage and toy quantities?

My avatar
clothmama
Cloth Nappy Chatterbox
Cloth Nappy Chatterbox
Site Admin

Toy storage and toy quantities?

Postby clothmama » Sun Apr 08, 2018 2:59 pm

Help - I am struggling with the mess of toys - I have bought a shelf - in theory everything has a place or a box to go in on the shelf. It is in the living room as he is still in our room - some books and the cuddly toys have just moved up as I bought him an Ikea shelf to go next to his bed. Part of the issue is that the floors are tile so everything just slides under the sofas and I'm slack at getting it out until it becomes a huge nightmare that involves an hours work :loopy: :x :x He isn't great at putting stuff away and I'm not good at making him, by the end of the day I just want to get him to bed and collapse :loopy: :loopy:
In terms of what he has there are labelled boxes - Cars, people / animals, Little People, Duplo, Play-doh, wooden blocks, a little 3 drawer thing with colouring stuff / stickers etc plus a pile of puzles (I guess I could find a basket for them), a wooden garage and a wooden castle.

A few questions:
  • How do you store your toddler / preschoolers toys?
  • How many do they have?
  • Do you rotate or use any system like that?

As they are open shelves I wonder if making a curtain would be a good way to go to help hide the mess visual clutter :loopy: :loopy:

My avatar
ems101
Cloth Nappy Disciple
Cloth Nappy Disciple

Re: Toy storage and toy quantities?

Postby ems101 » Sun Apr 08, 2018 3:46 pm

Nightmare mess especially after the birthday weekend.

We have a couple of boxes of cars/transformers. A box of dolly stuff, a box of brio train, a box of instruments, the games and puzzles and some books. Paints are restricted access, playdoh and colouring etc is in the craft cupboard in the kitchen. Closed storage would be much better I think. I also think less is more when it comes to toys!

Image

My avatar
clothmama
Cloth Nappy Chatterbox
Cloth Nappy Chatterbox
Site Admin

Re: Toy storage and toy quantities?

Postby clothmama » Sun Apr 08, 2018 4:08 pm

I was worried about posting a pic but I see mine is totally normal then :hohoho: It is just such hard work isn't it!!?? I don't think he has that many toys really (although J and the boys don't agree :giggle: ). When they are all tidy and in the boxes it is fairly reasonable I think. I'll do a pic later.

My avatar
ems101
Cloth Nappy Disciple
Cloth Nappy Disciple

Re: Toy storage and toy quantities?

Postby ems101 » Sun Apr 08, 2018 4:31 pm

Well this is for both the boys and quite a few of the games and puzzles are Jens. So it's three kids worth really. They have some stuff in their rooms but not tonnes. It usually looks like this, but it can/could look tidier!

My avatar
autumnalgirl
Cloth Nappy Passionata
Cloth Nappy Passionata

Re: Toy storage and toy quantities?

Postby autumnalgirl » Sun Apr 08, 2018 7:36 pm

What feels like hundreds here, but not sure how much counts as some of it comes under the work umbrella. :giggle: Storage wise it's mainly Ikea, I'll take some photos in the light tomorrow.

My avatar
confusinglady
Cloth Nappy Passionata
Cloth Nappy Passionata

Re: Toy storage and toy quantities?

Postby confusinglady » Sun Apr 08, 2018 10:33 pm

Ok so this is a constant battle and much of the battle is also with myself.
We have a 4th bedroom downstairs as the girls share a room upstairs. Ours don't tend to spend much time upstairs in their rooms at all. They play together downstairs so most of our toys are in the 4th bedroom/ playroom.
We have ikea square unit with storage baskets in the holes. It works quite well , well it would if anyone other than me would put things where they should go!

I m a bit of a hoarder and don't like throwing things away if they still get played with or might come in handy.
I feel like I spend my live picking up toys and things and putting them away, I get annoyed...I try to get the kids to do it and I ve been trying to get them to do it as a regular daily thing before tea or bed. But as you say it can be more trouble than it's worth. Dd2 has an allergy to the work 'tidy' and she really does struggle to know what to do or where to start, the job just seems too big for her( I know how she feels !) .
Tonight they were tidying when suddenly they had created their own build a bear shop.
So here's my battle with myself, I like the kids to be able to have the freedom to be creative and imaginative in their play and to mix up the carefully constructed categorised boxes of toys and use them as they see fit in their little world. The other half of me shouts ' why is this on the floor? Have you finished playing with it? Well put it away then' :hohoho:

I then go into the lounge to find DH has emptied a whole box ( think very big box) of Lego onto the floor and everyone is rumaging through it.

I just tell myself it won't be forever.... And I have a fair few toys of my own in the form of random craft stuff and gardening stuff about the house :oops:

So my tips:
Embrace the toys
A storage unit with places for most things
Craft and painting stuff separate.
Try to establish a 'tidy up time' with lots of warning. I find a timer helps. - when the timer goes off we ll need to start putting all of the blue cars away or the Barbies with the blonde hair ( my way of making it more directed for dd2).
You have to tidy with them. Kids will not do it alone.
Set a good example, make yourself put your own things away before moving onto anything else.

My avatar
ems101
Cloth Nappy Disciple
Cloth Nappy Disciple

Re: Toy storage and toy quantities?

Postby ems101 » Mon Apr 09, 2018 7:47 am

I have that philosophical struggle too @confusinglady. The mess and muddle make me crazy, but it's lovely to see their imagination at work.

My avatar
autumnalgirl
Cloth Nappy Passionata
Cloth Nappy Passionata

Re: Toy storage and toy quantities?

Postby autumnalgirl » Mon Apr 09, 2018 6:09 pm

Image
Toy storage on one side. I've not taken a picture of the shelf above as it's really untidy.
Image
Books and craft stuff they're allowed free access to.

My avatar
Aeseldyr
Sucker for Cloth Nappies
Sucker for Cloth Nappies

Re: Toy storage and toy quantities?

Postby Aeseldyr » Wed Apr 11, 2018 5:16 am

Love this thread :yahoo: and Happy to see that its not just my preeschooler that has way too many toys :hohoho:

Next

Return to Baby and Toddler