Too many toys and not enough floor space?

Toys everywhere! Does this sound familiar to you? Yeah, I thought so.

I fight this battle everyday and I think I have found the answer. Containers! Yes those little boxes, tubs, crates, baskets or even pop-up hampers are "the" best holders for playthings to be in when they aren't being played with. You will need many and a variety to corral all those lovely playthings that your kids love to sit and play with and leave all over the home when they're done, waiting for you to trip over or step on.

Kids love to have a place to put their stuff, no they really do. Well at least after the age of five or so.

We have four children and we have lots of toys to deal with so that being said lets see if we can organize all of those playthings that seem to be everywhere except where they belong.

To get out of the toys page and see the organization page click here

I had to think of a way to create places for the kids to put their things when they were finished playing. That's when I came up with containers. As adults we use them all of the time for food, clothes, tools and many other things. So I thought why not use them for the kids things too.

The variety is seemingly endless and the prices range from a few dollars to many, many dollars for basically the same thing. I would think that the size and quantity would be determined by the number of kids and their playthings. The easiest way to determine what you need is to look around the room and see how many items there are to put away, then you can decide to choose baskets or pop-up hampers.

Baskets or crates are good for things with many small parts or items that have a number of accessories like American Girl dolls or Star Wars collections.

Pop-up hampers are great for stuffed animals and miscellaneous things like large toddler toys.

Pop-up hampers are those things that are basically springs wrappd in fabric that "pop up" when you release them. Many of the discount and container stores carry them. They are indispensable when it comes to putting things in a place that's not the floor. One of the nice features of pop-ups is that they can be stored away when not in use. They collapse to nearly flat and can be stuck on a shelf when you're not filling them with toys. Nice!

Crates or boxes are also great and come in a wide variety of styles, colors, sizes and shapes. They are available at almost every discount store and specialty stores as well. Some are milk bottle type that are familiar to LP* collectors and some are solid box type that are closed on 5 sides. Most crates are stackable in two directions and made of plastic.

Crates are by far the most popular choice for storage because of their versatility and variety.

*LP is a long playing record or album. These were very commomn up until the early 1980's when they were basically replaced by CD's. They were about 3 times the size of a CD.

Baskets are the choice for people who would like a more finished look for their storage choice as they are nice to look at and come in very fashionable styles. Some have liners and lids as well as handles. They come in wicker, plastic weave, solid wood, plastic and steel. If you choose to you can also get a shelf that's specially designed to hold them.

I like baskets because they look so good and can fit into any room decor. You can have a wall of baskets that looks good and fits right in to the room as if it belonged there and only you know that those baskets are full of toys.

The battle of the toys looms large in most parents lives and I hope these ideas help you get control of the situation. Don't despair if things don't turn around right away as it will take some time to "train" the kids to put their toys in the conatiners but rest assured that it will happen, just be vigilant.

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