Friday, April 27, 2012

Mission: Kid's Toy Organization

As a part of our Easter break & spring cleaning, our kids & I had a mission:

To sort & purge all their toys, games, puzzles, books, & other loot.

Look at the mess that had been going on all winter...

Audrey's room:

Ponies, Princesses, & Pet Shops, oh my!


Messes scattered everywhere because all the storage space was full!


We came to this conclusion: they just had TOO MUCH STUFF

So, before we started, I explained to the kids what we were going to do & that they would have to make some choices as to what they wanted to keep & what they were willing to let go. 

As an added perk, I told them that if there were toys & other items in good condition that they no longer wanted, we could try to sell them on Kijiji & they could use whatever money they made for spending money on our vacation this summer.

I must say that the kids totally surprised me in the amount of toys & stuff they were willing to let go!
They did SO well!

Here are my daughter's bins after we sorted & purged...




I also googled & found pictures of the toys she wanted to keep. I printed off those pictures & used packing tape to label the bins so she can see what goes in each bin, since she can't yet read.




In the middle of the job, I ran out of tape, so that's why the top photo doesn't show them all complete. :) 
Off to the store for more packing tape!

Labels for her bins:
Purses
My Little Ponies
Littlest Pet Shops
Crowns & jewelry
Strawberry Shortcake
Balls
Doll accessories (bottles & clothes)
Tea set

I left a few bins un-labeled just because the toys that she had left really didn't fit into a "category". 
Those toys I leave up to her as to which unmarked bin she wants to put them in. 


Parker's room:



His toy bin was pretty full so the top of these drawers was always a dumping ground... 
hence the housecoat, gas mask, parrot, & play back pack... 
only in a boy's room would you find such a random assortment of items in any one place.





  After organizing all the books, toys, games he wanted to keep, throwing away all the broken toys, & making a pile of toys & books to sell or give away, here is my son's closet. 




Even though he can read, he was happy to have the picture labels on his toy drawers too.

Labels for his drawers:
Top - games
Middle - electronics
Bottom - colouring books, activity books, & markers

The rest of his toys go in the big bin on the left. He has a smaller, separate bin just for his lego as well.



All the other places that were dumping grounds are much neater. 
They are finding that it's a lot easier to keep things tidy when everything has a home that isn't overflowing. :)

Look at the huge amount of toys, books, games, & puzzles that the kids gave away or sold!



And because we all like before & after shots...



So much better!

And another thing I can cross off my spring cleaning list!

Enjoy your day!



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3 comments:

  1. I'd be happy with your before pictures  ha ha my kids' stuff is everywhere. I need to purge again.

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  2. Awesome post! I need to do this to my girls' room. It drives me insane that their toys are all mixed together. If they want to find something that goes with a toy? Forget it! Unless you want to dump out the entire toy box.. Ugh. You have inspired me! 

    ReplyDelete
  3. BakingwblondieTuesday, May 01, 2012

    Nice work! The toaster in Audrey's pile cracked me up. I'm an organizing freak - I love this kind of stuff. Looks great! 

    ReplyDelete

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