toy control

[mamamindy]

I'm looking for some reasonable guidelines here.

 

Generally, I'm a saver, HOWEVER, I'm not a really a buyer of toys.  We have the same toys we've always had (and some of them are even mine!)  I will sometimes purge - maybe twice a year.

 

I have a lot of small children, so while I used to have a good system, things have started just hanging out for the next kid to play with (I'm referring to toys appropriate to certain ages here).

 

Things DO have a place, BUT we are very limited on closet space (no closet in the smallest kids' room) so things are still accessible, pretty much.  Think "church nursery".  I really hate the storage set up, but it's what I'm stuck with for the time being.  DH has plans to build a closet, and built-in shelf.  For now I have a couple child-size book shelves.  Any large storage furniture is out of the question as our staircase is somewhat split-level and it is way too difficult to move anything up there.

 

I guess the reason I mention the storage - and why it's such a hassle for me now - is that I used to put things up and away, pull them out when they got bored with what was accessible to them, etc.   It kept me from buying them new toys - kept the old ones "new".  But we've been in this house for almost 2 years now and my toy "control" is deteriorating.  The kids need less available.  (And likely less overall.)  They are getting bored, but they have way more toys than they've ever had before (our house is much bigger than any we've lived in).  A lot of this could be due to the weather...we've been cooped up it feels like for over a month with nasty weather or illness.

 

Also, a lot of the toys my big girls would *like* to play with they really can't easily because of the littles (mostly the 19mo!): puzzles with small pieces, playmobil, train track, lots of games.  Yes, I've had a 19mo before, but this one is....different. ;)  And also my bigger kids are getting bigger and aren't as content to play fisher price little people all the time anymore.  Maybe a baby gate is the answer?  Also difficult without having one installed in some areas since our house is 105years old and not "standard". 

 

I look forward to some ideas thinking outside the box!

[Coco_Clark]

I keep out of rotation toys in our basement so no helpful advice except that questions along these lines may get more responses in the general chat board. It's very active.

[Meadowlark]

The toy thing is a big headache for me too-and I feel the urge to purge just about every week. Anything that has little pieces or things I don't want lost, goes in our living room linen closet. The littles can ask for them and the bigger ones can reach them. They are allowed one thing out at a time. Otherwise, everything else is downstairs. These are the bigger toys that my 22 mo. old can't choke on. I feel like the less toys we have, the more imaginative their play. So my current goal is to keep de cluttering and keep only the quality stuff and stuff that really gets played with.

[bolt.]

When I had one bigger kid and one toddler, I ended up using a reverse-playpen scenario. The playpen was for the bigger child and the non-toddler toys. It had a small desk in it, and big kid could get in and out super-easy.

[lots of little ducklings]

Commiserating.  We have 1100 square feet so storage is really challenging.  

 

Here's what's worked for us, though depending on your space, it may or may not be helpful to you:

 

1.  Getting rid of anything that really wasn't earning its keep.  Storing other items that I couldn't bear to part with but just took up too much space or weren't being used enough.  

 

2. Retractable baby gates (that work like roller shades).  They work beautifully in our tight oddly-sized spaces, and when open are retracted out of the way and very discrete.  Most visitors don't even realize they are there until I point them out.  Ours were purchased at Babies r' Us years ago, and though they still sell the style, it's a different brand with some low reviews, so you may want to google for other brands.  I don't use them much right now for toy-control, but in the past I have.  

 

3. Rolling wooden storage bins (from our Pottery Barn train table that was purchased cheap off of Craigslist).  With 5 in one bedroom, we've had to pack away the train table, but the bins fit beautifully under the baby's crib and they hold heavy items like blocks, tracks, and duplos.  

 

4. These.  (Though Closet Maid makes similar organizers now -available at Target- that may be cheaper.)  We have several and the kids each have a labeled "drawer" that contains their own personal small toys and items.  We also use them for all the kids' clothing.  Even if you don't have a closet yet, maybe a rod could be installed or a portable rod used to hold them?

 

5. Trundles under beds (also found on Craigslist).  One (without a mattress) holds all the costumes.  The other was used for cardboard building bricks until kid #4 moved into it, whereupon the bricks were donated.   :sad:  Trundles may be a pain to move upstairs (we managed it, though).  But rubbermaid underbed storage could also work and not be difficult to fit up your staircase?  

 

6.  Small playmobil sets (we have lots of them) are stored in these pods which are kept in file bins from Target.  On a high shelf.  To be played with only at the table when 2 yr-old is napping.  I could have just thrown all the sets in a big bin, but getting just a couple sets out at a time has really cut down on mess, loss of pieces, broken items, etc, and it's easier for the kids to find what they want.  Sadly, our large playmobil castle is packed away for now (sigh). 2 yr-old was destroying it, and then baby #5 moved in and we ran out of space anyway.   You might also try storing puzzles and games in the pods, though I haven't tried that yet (they just stay on high shelving and are used with supervision, which means games and puzzles aren't used much.)  :sad:

 

7.  Don't know if your kiddos are the arts-n-crafty sort, but crafts are my lifesaver.  My children never seem to be bored of making "stuff" and spend HOURS creating things from our recycle bin and whatever else they can find. Storage was a nightmare though, mostly because someone always left caps off of markers, and someone else always jammed staplers, and someone else used waaaaay too much tape and paper, and not everyone was old enough for glue, and everyone lost everything, and I had to lock my desk to protect my stuff, and the house was a MESS, and I had no idea who was guilty of what… ugh.  So for Christmas this year everyone got one of these art bins, filled with their own age-appropriate craft stuff (markers, colored-pencils, stapler, glue, tape, scissors, beads, spools of string, spools of washi-tape, foam stickers, pom-poms, pipe-cleaners, etc).  It all fit into one bin per kid (except duct tape… that still has no home), and all the stuff (including individual markers) is labelled in each child's color (we color-code for school as it has really helped manage everything).  A little type-A obsessive, I'll admit, but now when kid #1 is out of tape because he used his roll in one hour, he's stuck until I can afford more; yet no one else has to suffer with him. When kid #4 has a dozen dried-out markers because she just can't remember those caps, she's the only one who will go without. And when kid #3 loses her scissors, she can't steal someone else's because we all know her color. Been a major lesson in responsibility.  And the bins are portable, stackable, and stand up like a briefcase, so you can really fit them anywhere. (You can also buy shelving for them).  It's been a much bigger success than I'd ever hoped. So worth the time and effort in putting them together.  

 

8.  Play-kitchen items.  I actually packed these evil things away somewhere around my most recent third-trimester. They were everywhere and no one but me seemed capable of picking them up.  When I got them out again last month, I took a tip from our nursery school teacher to use picture labels on the play-kitchen shelves so the kids would know exactly where to put everything.  Worked wonders.  Now I send a team to clean it up each afternoon (a "collector" and a "sorter") and the job is done.

 

9. Legos.  I have no system for these at all yet.  Mostly I just spend a lot of time cursing them as I pick them out of the dyson. But I dream of doing this some day, in my dream house with more space.    :thumbup1:

 

So, hth and best wishes! 

[mamamindy]

Commiserating.  We have 1100 square feet so storage is really challenging.  

 

Here's what's worked for us, though depending on your space, it may or may not be helpful to you:

 

1.  Getting rid of anything that really wasn't earning its keep.  Storing other items that I couldn't bear to part with but just took up too much space or weren't being used enough.  

 

2. Retractable baby gates (that work like roller shades).  They work beautifully in our tight oddly-sized spaces, and when open are retracted out of the way and very discrete.  Most visitors don't even realize they are there until I point them out.  Ours were purchased at Babies r' Us years ago, and though they still sell the style, it's a different brand with some low reviews, so you may want to google for other brands.  I don't use them much right now for toy-control, but in the past I have.  

 

3. Rolling wooden storage bins (from our Pottery Barn train table that was purchased cheap off of Craigslist).  With 5 in one bedroom, we've had to pack away the train table, but the bins fit beautifully under the baby's crib and they hold heavy items like blocks, tracks, and duplos.  

 

4. These.  (Though Closet Maid makes similar organizers now -available at Target- that may be cheaper.)  We have several and the kids each have a labeled "drawer" that contains their own personal small toys and items.  We also use them for all the kids' clothing.  Even if you don't have a closet yet, maybe a rod could be installed or a portable rod used to hold them?

 

5. Trundles under beds (also found on Craigslist).  One (without a mattress) holds all the costumes.  The other was used for cardboard building bricks until kid #4 moved into it, whereupon the bricks were donated.   :sad:  Trundles may be a pain to move upstairs (we managed it, though).  But rubbermaid underbed storage could also work and not be difficult to fit up your staircase?  

 

6.  Small playmobil sets (we have lots of them) are stored in these pods which are kept in file bins from Target.  On a high shelf.  To be played with only at the table when 2 yr-old is napping.  I could have just thrown all the sets in a big bin, but getting just a couple sets out at a time has really cut down on mess, loss of pieces, broken items, etc, and it's easier for the kids to find what they want.  Sadly, our large playmobil castle is packed away for now (sigh). 2 yr-old was destroying it, and then baby #5 moved in and we ran out of space anyway.   You might also try storing puzzles and games in the pods, though I haven't tried that yet (they just stay on high shelving and are used with supervision, which means games and puzzles aren't used much.)  :sad:

 

7.  Don't know if your kiddos are the arts-n-crafty sort, but crafts are my lifesaver.  My children never seem to be bored of making "stuff" and spend HOURS creating things from our recycle bin and whatever else they can find. Storage was a nightmare though, mostly because someone always left caps off of markers, and someone else always jammed staplers, and someone else used waaaaay too much tape and paper, and not everyone was old enough for glue, and everyone lost everything, and I had to lock my desk to protect my stuff, and the house was a MESS, and I had no idea who was guilty of what… ugh.  So for Christmas this year everyone got one of these art bins, filled with their own age-appropriate craft stuff (markers, colored-pencils, stapler, glue, tape, scissors, beads, spools of string, spools of washi-tape, foam stickers, pom-poms, pipe-cleaners, etc).  It all fit into one bin per kid (except duct tape… that still has no home), and all the stuff (including individual markers) is labelled in each child's color (we color-code for school as it has really helped manage everything).  A little type-A obsessive, I'll admit, but now when kid #1 is out of tape because he used his roll in one hour, he's stuck until I can afford more; yet no one else has to suffer with him. When kid #4 has a dozen dried-out markers because she just can't remember those caps, she's the only one who will go without. And when kid #3 loses her scissors, she can't steal someone else's because we all know her color. Been a major lesson in responsibility.  And the bins are portable, stackable, and stand up like a briefcase, so you can really fit them anywhere. (You can also buy shelving for them).  It's been a much bigger success than I'd ever hoped. So worth the time and effort in putting them together.  

 

8.  Play-kitchen items.  I actually packed these evil things away somewhere around my most recent third-trimester. They were everywhere and no one but me seemed capable of picking them up.  When I got them out again last month, I took a tip from our nursery school teacher to use picture labels on the play-kitchen shelves so the kids would know exactly where to put everything.  Worked wonders.  Now I send a team to clean it up each afternoon (a "collector" and a "sorter") and the job is done.

 

9. Legos.  I have no system for these at all yet.  Mostly I just spend a lot of time cursing them as I pick them out of the dyson. But I dream of doing this some day, in my dream house with more space.    :thumbup1:

 

So, hth and best wishes! 

Wow, lots of ideas!  Thank you!!

[IsabelC]

I think it's very worthwhile, in fact almost essential, to have an area where stuff the bigger kids are working on is safe from the little girls. I wouldn't hesitate to rehome 75% of the toys if that's what it takes to create the space in a set-up that will work. It's not fair for older kids to be always limited by their younger siblings.

[IsabelC]

Ps, I loved your thread title. I keep imagining a sort of swat team that descends on your home shouting "Toy Control! All uncontrolled toys come out with your hands up!" and then carts them off.

[mamamindy]

Ps, I loved your thread title. I keep imagining a sort of swat team that descends on your home shouting "Toy Control! All uncontrolled toys come out with your hands up!" and then carts them off.

That would be awesome!  I would definitely sign up for that.  :laugh:

[Sarah0000]

The majority of our toys are in bins in what's suppose to be the linen closet, or in bins in the office or master closet for rotating out.

 

One thing I have in DS's room is installed a plain curtain rod right on the wall and then hung hanging baskets from Ikea on it. Ours is meant for little random toys since we don't usually allow toys in bedrooms, but you could do rows of sturdier hanging baskets or bins this way, and it would only take wall space.

[fairfarmhand]

I just heard a lady at homeschool group wax eloquent about the merits of over the door shoe pocket organizers. She said there's one in every single room of the house.

[g1234]

I used to let my older play sitting ON TOP OF the dining room table with her friends. She loved it because it felt kind of taboo; it gave her a baby-free space; and it kept the baby safe.

[mamamindy]

I just heard a lady at homeschool group wax eloquent about the merits of over the door shoe pocket organizers. She said there's one in every single room of the house.

I have one in the bag of "returns" since it didn't fit on my (old) closet door...I will have to see how this would work in our school/play room.  Thanks for the idea. :)

[Soror]

Fwiw I don't rotate toys, ever. The younger girls have a chest for dress-up clothes, a small baby bed with babies, a desk w/ bookshelf- which houses books, radio, hair accessories, jewelry box, a few games and their cash register. In the cabinet is 3 totes, 1 is for the babies toys, 1 small one for musical instruments and 1 for dd2's toys, that's it. In the closet is just clothes- some hung up and then a couple of shelves for dressier clothes that are just folded  (it is only 3x3 anyway), we have an over the door shoe organizer but it is for shoes, hats and gloves. Rotating toys would just give me one more thing to do and keep track of and I'm against it on principle tbh. Personally, my philosophy if the toys are getting perpetually out of control that means there is just too much and we clear out, if it keeps happening I keep clearing until they can keep it reasonably neat. I take the same philosophy for the rest of the household. We cleared out before Christmas and then again after Christmas after it looked like a tornado went through it. The kids appreciate me helping me clean up the room, I only do it seasonally with my 2 oldest.