Toy Storage Ideas

We had the same issue so I went to target and got some put together wire storage bins. They are a set of six and they are about $15.00. They work awesome!!!

S.

This isn't going to be a response to your question, but a plea for help for my own!! My husband and I are going through the same problem right now except our children are 3.5, 18 months, and we're having another on May 2nd. The amount of toys this Christmas can be described in one word: Stupid. Plus, many are HUGE. If you get some good responses of how to deal with all these toys in a feasable and cheap manner, please forward them on to me!!! Thanks in advance :)

Storage tubs are great. Rotate the toys every few weeks. Having too many toys available at one time is overwhelming to you and your child. I find that if I rotate toys, they are like new each time. Plus, I am not picking up toys that are dumped all over.:)

I eventually used the diaper changing table to store toys in our family room when my son was bigger. Now I just use a changing pad on the floor in his room, freeing up more space there, and use the shelves on the changing table to get the toys off the floor. I know this only helps with the bins situation, but as for the big toys, we just got used to the idea that part of that floor space was the kids' and I would rather have them playing happily than more empty floor space for me.

If you have a basement, you can always build/buy shelves to store the toys, or just box some up, and rotate which ones you keep out. If you invest in closet organizers for kids' closets it can also help store these toys much better. Another suggestion I can think of is to 'float' your living room couch away from your wall if you have the space and store toys behind that. You could use a coffee table to double the storage behind there too, putting toys on and under. You're not looking at them all the time, but the kids know they're back there and you can declutter before company too. Good luck!

Hi,
I got two inexpensive bookcases from IKEA for the kids room and store not only books but most toys there. It looks nice, is on display for kids to see, is more gentle on the toys, plus it is easy for kids to put toys away by themselves. I use higher shelves for toys that require an adult supervision or for toys that are not used that often. I have bins for Legos/ Little People etc that I have placed in shelves.
Good luck,
Z.

Hi B.!

We use the rubbermaid storage containers (the inexpensive ones with the detachable lids) for our daughters toys. 1 is a short long one with all the toys she likes to dig for (you know whatever they want is always at the bottom!), then we have 2 deeper ones with all the stuffed animals.

I found that keeping the books in a separate area helps me clean up easier. We just have one of those Target 3 shelf bookshelves. It's pretty stable. We keep the board books on the bottom 2 shelves, and on the top shelf we keep more of the books that we have to read with her (because she loves to tear pages and the pop-ups or flaps!). So far that has worked good. She is 16 months now.

Also with the books, I like to keep the different holiday books separate. For example, now that Christmas is done, I put them all in our closet. When February comes, we'll get out the Valentines books, etc. It helps switch up the books so she doesn't (and we don't) get bored with the same ones over and over and over.

But now, since Christmas just passed, I plan on phasing out the old toys with the new! I think I will keep a few toys she just loves out, and put the lids on the current bins and store them atop the garage, and buy new bins. We can fill the new bins with her dolls, dolls, and more dolls...and bottles and strollers, etc. The bins are relatively inexpensive, and after christmas they should have some sales/clearances (I hope!).

That's what I do! I hope it helps!
:)
K.

I hear you! I have 7 kids and a 4 bedroom house, my three little ones have to share a room, and they are ages 16 months to 6 years. I have had to be very creative when it comes to thier toys, I had a lot of factors, how to keep my oldest sons toys small parts out of reach of the baby, and how to incorporate my daughters "girlie" toys, plus set it up so the baby could play with his stuff.

What I found worked was those plastic shoe boxes, go for the better ones they are a little bigger, and everything is devided into a box, army guys in one, ponys in another, barbies, legos, ect,..Next I bought shelve for thier room, nothing expensive as they are kids and not gentle on anything, just the plastic ones you can find at Wal-mart and lined thier room with them, I also secured them at the top so if climbed on they wouldn't fall over. Some of the shelve have taller....whats the word.....spacing in between, so bigger toys can fit in between, I have pirate ships and castles in between a lot of them, and even a race track or two. My kids also have A LOT of books, so I placed those on the bottom shelves. It works well for mine for know and actually helps in the clean up cause everything has a place and they can only pull out one cox at a time. Hope I gave you some new ideas. And I know I wait for the older ones to head off to collage and that starts in a year and is consecative every year after that for 4 years.....YIPPEE.

It might be time to get rid of some. About a month before Christmas I go through the toys and get rid of about 1/3 of them. I also do the same before birthdays. Another suggestion is that you don't buy so many toys for these events. Books, outfits, dishes, a piggy bank, shoes, etc. make good gifts as well. My kids all got a rocker and a HUGE teddy bear for their first Christmas. Growing up our toys had to stay in our bedroom. With my kids I allow one toy at a time into the living room. They also have a playroom but by getting rid of old toys on a regular basis helps the storage.

He's still to young to care, so pick out the "best" ones/what fits in the baskets. Give the rest away or sell it on the net. In the years to come your baby will be a big boy with lots more toys and attachment to them. Twice a year (birthday/solstice) my daughter and I go through her toys and give away what she is comfortable giving to "make room" for new toys.

B. - we have had the same dilemma as I have two boys who have birthdays near Christmas. I have bought a bunch of large totes, and what I do is take and divide the toys into totes (depending on how many I have) and rotate them through the year. I fill up a few, store them in the basement and/or garage. Every month or so I box up the ones they are currently playing with, and replace them with "new" ones. Since they forget about a lot of the items, it is like getting new toys every month or so. They tend to stay engaged more, and I think they get more enjoyment out of changing things up. Also, with gift certificates and cards/money I make sure they wait until summer before even allowing them to purchase or pick anything. It is a great "treat" to use the cards after the hoopla of the seasons have died down. I know my kids get sort of overwhelmed, and don't appreciate some of the great toys they have until they enjoy them on a smaller scale.

This happens at our house too. First of all, it's not like you want to give any away, as these are his first toys, and probably gifts from family members and friends. So, don't guilt yourself on having so much. I found a bookshelf that was made into two parts. They were open-backed "L" shaped, and you could manipulate them any way you wanted to form the shelf. I put them so that they were vertically taller, and that held lots of "big" toys such as his lego boxes, a car ramp toy, the Fisher Price Barn, Play garage, and such, while taking little floor space. Also, used the living room closet, by putting shelves there. Some things fit in bins on the shelf, and some sat free standing. Plus there is the floor space that is available. (And the door closes, so you don't see the toys.) How big are your bins? We use the ones that people purchase for doing dishes. They are much bigger, and hold pretty much most of his toys. AND they don't have those annoying holes like most little bins do. His biggest toys are in the basement, that he can play with anytime he wants to...Train tables, and inside moving cars, and an easel this year. I wish you ton's of luck in this department. Merry Christmas!
J.

getting 2 large storage tubs, seperate the toys. put one in the closet and every few months exchange them, It will be like christmas all over. Shelves up high can be for the toys that are special and when he wants to play with them they can be brought down, but has he goes to bed he can still enjoy looking at them, it feeds the imaigaination and decorates the room. Under the bed bins can be at his disposiale and still out of the way. One or two stuffed friends on his bed will give him company and not overwelm him. The sheltor, The Christmas Box house and day cares will gladly open up for donations. Keep toys that he can grow with, the teddy bear that was handed down from great granma should have a special space where it can last through his own family...sending angels. this is a journey that is filled with experiences..

This is a good time to weed out any toys that he hasn't played with in a long time (rattles, teethers, etc) You can also split all of his toys into thirds Put two thirds away out of site and let him play with the remaining third for 3-4months, and then switch those toys out with some of the hidden toys, let him play with those for 3-4 months switch out and on and on. This will also give you an opportunity to Make sure any broken or damaged toys get out of the toy box before they become dangerous.

One way to store toys and keep things "fresh" for your little one is to rotate toys. If you put 1/3 of the toys out (the ones he plays with most right now) and the other 2/3 away in storage, you can rotate the bins every month or two and he will feel like there are 'new' toys all the time!

I would always keep his favorites out (like a teddy or lovey), but he will grow tired of the others and want a change. Also if you display the toys on the shelf in a way that he can see them he will be more attracted to them and want to play with them. The draw back of large toy boxes and baskets full of lots of toys is that they can't see them all. He will also learn where they belong and where to put them away.

I hope this helps!

rotate, rotate, rotate. Don't keep them all out at once. Keep some toys out for a week, then switch.

With 4 kids, the best thing I ever did was pack them away in tubs. I kept a toy box in each room of items and what did not fit got put in tubs with their names on it. Every 3 months I would cycle through, put away the old and bring in the new. HOWEVER, I also made note of the ones that never ended up on the floor. If they never came out to be played with during that 3 months I donated. They also had a small tub in their closet, up high, that if it was left on the floor at bed time they lost it for a couple of days. I started this when they were old enough to pull it out. I figure if they can get it out they can put it back and they get so excited on the new toy day.

Good luck!

I got a couple of 10 gallon storage bins and filled them up!
the kids get one at a time, every few days we switch boxes, its like getting new toys! they even ask can we get new toys?
they rediscover toys that they had forgotten about so its like getting new toys, and it really cuts down on the clutter!
hope this helps.

It won't help much but my husband just suggested that we take out the dinning room table to make room...LOL...I told him that our son is not going to take over the whole house yet (he already has most of it)LOL!

I have a baby with big toys like exersaucers, etc. I use a screen divider in our greatroom and just put everything behind it when I want to tidy up. Also, under beads, behind furniture where you can for big items.