Toys always become a source of headaches for us. They are everywhere, in every room of the house, and they seem countless. It becomes even more complicated when you have several children of different ages. You need to make sure that your one-year-old cannot access your older son’s tiny lego pieces. Meanwhile some toys seem to be everybody’s favorite and played together all the time, so it doesn’t seem a good idea to keep the toys in each child’ bedroom. Here is an idea for what you can do with so many toys in your house.
First, you need several boxes. The transparent plastic storage boxes of various colors but the same size are ideal, but basically you can make do with any boxes. You can even use cardboard boxes and wrap or paint them with different colors.
Put the toys into those boxes. In each box you can combine everybody’s favorite toys with less-often played toys. Some boxes may be reserved for big kids’ toys only – those toys with tiny pieces that are dangerous for your toddlers. Find a place in your house where you can keep all those boxes. In our house we put them on the upper shelves and on top of the kitchen cabinets. As the boxes are transparent, it is very easy to know what is inside each box.
When it’s play time, just take out one box at a time. Let the children play with the toys in that box for several days. The big kids’ toy box can be taken out when the little ones are having a nap. After a few days, the children will start to get bored with the contents in one box. Then you can put the box away and take out another one. With this toy box rotation, your children will get something ‘new’ every time. The toys that are kept out of sight for some time will become interesting when they are out again, rather than if they are around all the time. This system will make tidying up less time consuming for you and your kids.