Toy Storage

A child's room has the potential of being the most disorganized place in the house. Sometimes you are lucky if you can get your child to pick toys up off the floor at all, let alone put them away in any kind of organized fashion.

Many children simply throw toys in one big toy box, or will maybe push things under the bed or into the closet where they won't be seen. Unfortunately, these storage methods present problems. Over time, things tend to get cluttered and it can be difficult to find specific toys. Items can get lost in the depths of a toy box or closet, and if toys are not organized it can take a long time to find a specific toy.

Although children might not love organization as much as adults do, you can still set up a system of organization for your child's toys that is easy enough for him or her to implement and continue. If you are looking for some ideas, consider these organization tips:

• Using shelves and bins, create an organized space for toys to go. Working with your child, create labels for the bins that indicate what kind of toy will go in each bin. For instance, you might keep dinosaur toys in one bin and cars in another. Let your child help you make the labels, even allowing him or her to draw a picture that can be associated with the kind of toy kept in the bin. This can be a fun activity for children and may help them to enjoy organization.
• Get cubbies to store toys. These fun shelves look great in a child's room and are an excellent way to get toys looking neat. Assign different toys for each cubby, and make sure your child knows which toys belong where.
• If your child owns a lot of stuffed toys, think about using a net to keep these toys in. These nets contain the toys and keep them out of the way while still putting them on display. Younger children may have trouble accessing these stuffed toys if you hang the net too high on the wall, so take this into consideration when installing the net.

Make sure that your child knows that toys need to be cleaned up after each use. Putting toys away can become a game when you have an organized system set up, and your child may even start to enjoy clean-up time as he or she races to place toys in the correct bin or cubby.