Where do you keep your kids' toys?

[TKDmom]

I keep going back and forth on where to put them. I just moved them all back into the bedrooms. But I bet I'll be ready to move the toys back out in a month or two...

Edited February 19, 2011 by bonniebeth4

[plain jane]

We have toys in every room- organized, of course. ;)

 

I have specific toys that I keep in the kids' rooms- they helped choose which ones they wanted in there. They also have a dedicated toy room, where most of the bigger toys are- train table, toy kitchen, doll house, (as well as bins of all the accessories for said toys), and there are some toys in our family room (mostly toddler stuff).

 

The kids know that their toys must stay in the room they are in and not get dragged all over the house (everything is organized in bins- legos in one, blocks in another, balls in another, Leapfrog in one, etc.).

 

This works for us because the kids don't always want to play in the same place all the time. When I'm cooking supper they like to be out in the family room near me but there are times when they need a break (from me and each other) and they'll seek refuge in the quiet of their rooms and play with those toys there. The loud and big toys are in the playroom so I don't have to be surrounded by all that chaos but they kids have freedom to do as they please without being constantly told to be quiet. ;)

[athena1277]

My kids keep their toys in their bedrooms, where they do most of their playing. I do, however, keep a basket in the living room with a few toys for ds because he sometimes just wants to be where everyone else is when we are watching TV, etc.

[Karen A]

Books, playmobil, and AG dolls/accessories-bedroom

Bin of plastic toys (polly pockets/dollhouse/loving family--living room (in a bin behind the couch)

All others (blocks/legos/bin of stuffed animals/games/dress up etc.)--family room on shelves

Edited February 19, 2011 by Karen A
adding detail

[Julie in AZ]

bedrooms and garage

[Unicorn.]

Mostly in their rooms, but board games are in a built in cabinet in our living area. When they were little, we had more in our living room, becuase they had small bedrooms. I also kept joint toys such as lincoln logs, lego, etc in our living room.

[extendedforecast]

Shared toys and sets belong in the playroom. Individual toys that only belong to one person go in the owner's bedroom. For example, each girl has her own doll house, but because they play together and swap furniture and accessories, everything that has to do with dollhouses goes in the play room.

[elise1mds]

I chose bedrooms, but really that's not entirely true. Most of their toys are in their bedrooms, but we have family games and puzzles in the hall closet and a whole drawer of play kitchen stuff located in the kitchen. I wish we had a play room, because I'd happily move most of their stuff in there, but we don't. Maybe one day... :)

[tabrizia]

Here and there and everywhere, but they are organized. The big stuff and most of the building toys are in the dedicated playroom. There are 3 or so boxes in the family room, with some blocks, cars and a random box of other toys, and their bedrooms have smaller toys and other toys that they want up there and that I'm trying to keep out of the reach of soon to be newbie.

[Meriwether]

The playroom, their bedrooms, the livingroom, even the bathroom now that I think about it. I fantasized about the "I don't allow my kids to have toys" a minute after I read it.

[Daisy]

I said other. Most of the toys in our house are out in the garage in tubs labeled by content. The kids can "check out" their toys just like they would library books and bring them into the house. One box in, one box out. We went this route because cleaning up was too big an ordeal for my son. He has mostly building type toys (Legos, Lincoln Logs, train, K'nex, etc.) and he's much happier when everything is easy to clean up.

[AHASRADA]

I voted "other" because I divide their toys between their bedrooms and a basement playroom. This is how I have always done it, in every house.

 

Toys that are their treasured favorites, that are breakable or have easily lost parts, or that they typically play alone or maybe with one friend, basically any toy over which they prefer to have control and supervision, stays in their rooms.

 

The rest of the toys go in the basement, such as large building sets or marble runs that need a lot of room to construct, physical games and sports equipment, games that require many players, and a few toys they may have outgrown but which we keep around for younger my visitors.

 

This way, when kids (especially multiple kids) come over, they can go straight to the basement and find something to play with, with no worries that my kids' "special" toys will be lost or broken.

[Farrar]

Mostly in the playroom. A few in their rooms and they're allowed to bring up anything they want from the playroom, but the playroom is allowed to be a disaster area and their bedrooms aren't supposed to be more than just slightly untidy. Supposed.:glare:

 

We don't allow toys on the main floor most of the time, except for board games. It's mostly respected.

[arghmatey]

We keep all our books, toys, and school items in our library / front room. Our children have a dollhouse upstairs, but they spend most of the day downstairs playing and learning.

 

This makes cleaning a breeze.

[Denisemomof4]

the basement. Years ago I was sick to death of the kids not picking up their toys or picking up half of them. I was tired of tripping over them. I was tired of the battle that had gone on for years. They are now in the basement and when friends come over the girls drag up which toys they will play with.

 

And I don't feel bad about it At All.

 

Oldest dd has outgrown toys but she will play with her sister. I expect everything to be put back downstairs when they're done. When we have friends over, oldest dd and her friends are usually playing in the snow, playing with the animals, playing the Wii, or painting nails and listening to music while doing a TON of laughing and talking.

[babysparkler]

We've recently cleared out the toys that weren't being played with. Now we are down to a few tubs of legos/thomas train/FP little people in the living area, a game closet in the hall, and some special toys in their bedrooms.

[renmew]

Our bedrooms were too small for any toys, but they cluttered up the living room as well. Now's awful, since the four of us are sharing one bedroom. Once I get my own house again, each child is getting 1 foot locker to keep their toys in. This doesn't count books or board games, just toys. If it doesn't fit, it goes, or they get rid of something else to make it fit. I. can't. wait.

[TKDmom]

I said other. Most of the toys in our house are out in the garage in tubs labeled by content. The kids can "check out" their toys just like they would library books and bring them into the house. One box in, one box out. We went this route because cleaning up was too big an ordeal for my son. He has mostly building type toys (Legos, Lincoln Logs, train, K'nex, etc.) and he's much happier when everything is easy to clean up.

 

That is an awesome idea! I would have never thought of such a thing.

 

I voted "other" because I divide their toys between their bedrooms and a basement playroom. This is how I have always done it, in every house.

 

Toys that are their treasured favorites, that are breakable or have easily lost parts, or that they typically play alone or maybe with one friend, basically any toy over which they prefer to have control and supervision, stays in their rooms.

 

The rest of the toys go in the basement, such as large building sets or marble runs that need a lot of room to construct, physical games and sports equipment, games that require many players, and a few toys they may have outgrown but which we keep around for younger my visitors.

 

This way, when kids (especially multiple kids) come over, they can go straight to the basement and find something to play with, with no worries that my kids' "special" toys will be lost or broken.

 

I like this idea, too. We have been putting certain toys up high lately (to protect them).

 

the basement. Years ago I was sick to death of the kids not picking up their toys or picking up half of them. I was tired of tripping over them. I was tired of the battle that had gone on for years. They are now in the basement and when friends come over the girls drag up which toys they will play with.

 

I wish we could have a basement. The water table is like 2 feet underground here, though...

 

We've recently cleared out the toys that weren't being played with. Now we are down to a few tubs of legos/thomas train/FP little people in the living area, a game closet in the hall, and some special toys in their bedrooms.

 

I was seriously tempted to through out 3/4 of dc's toys last week. :D But now they're all back in the bedrooms again where I don't trip over them quite as much and I've lost my resolve.

 

Our bedrooms were too small for any toys, but they cluttered up the living room as well. Now's awful, since the four of us are sharing one bedroom. Once I get my own house again, each child is getting 1 foot locker to keep their toys in. This doesn't count books or board games, just toys. If it doesn't fit, it goes, or they get rid of something else to make it fit. I. can't. wait.

 

:ack2:

 

I hope you get your own space soon. :grouphug:

[fairytalemama]

The playroom, their bedrooms, the livingroom, even the bathroom now that I think about it. I fantasized about the "I don't allow my kids to have toys" a minute after I read it.

Me too! My son has two bins in his room and a train table. My daughter has plastic bins filled with Barbies and Ponies and a lunch box full of Polly Pockets in her room with a chair full of stuffed animals. There are more toys (mostly Legos, Tinkertoys, puzzles and board games) in cabinets in our family room. Everything else is all over the place in the basement. We haven't ever been strict about making them clean that up because they tend to build things like tents and forts that they use over and over. They do have pegs on the wall down there for dress up clothes so I do make them keep all of that picked up.

 

I said other. Most of the toys in our house are out in the garage in tubs labeled by content. The kids can "check out" their toys just like they would library books and bring them into the house. One box in, one box out. We went this route because cleaning up was too big an ordeal for my son. He has mostly building type toys (Legos, Lincoln Logs, train, K'nex, etc.) and he's much happier when everything is easy to clean up.

 

You are brilliant! I love this idea.

 

At one point, we actually had to remove everything that wasn't a piece of furniture (including clothes) out of my daughter's room so we could only bring back in things she could handle picking up herself and that had a home. If it didn't have a place to live, she didn't want to pick it up, or she didn't want it anymore, it didn't go back in. After that, clean up and life in general was much easier. Prior to that, it was melt down time everyday of the week when time to clean up rolled around.

[happypamama]

Everywhere, it seems. The kitchen seems to be the most popular place.

 

OK, actually, when all of the toys are put back in their proper places, the majority of them are in the playroom. A few special things live in bedrooms (namely DD's dolls, so the toddler and cat don't mess with them, and dress-up stuff for ease of changing), but large amounts or unspecified toys in the bedrooms just make bigger messes. They're only allowed a couple of books at a time in the bedrooms too; most books live in our large upstairs hallway library area (with library, school-related, and toddler board books downstairs in specific areas). There's also a container of toddler toys in the office/sewing room.

 

And right now, there are Legos tracked from one end of the house to the other. Sigh. But normally they live in the playroom as well, with special creations living next to DS1's bed.

[Melissa in Australia]

Ops! I just clicked on My children aren't allowed to have toys when I meant other, my children hardly play with toys and have given most of them away We have kept a few things like Lego etc.