How to Keep Toys Tidy – 10 Top Tips from the Expert

How to Keep Toys Tidy

Are you the parent of a toddler? If you’re reading this article, chances are that you’re pulling your hair out wondering where all these toys have come from. They just seem to multiply. You’re could be wondering how to keep toys tidy yourself. Or you could be looking for solutions to help your kid keep their own toys under control. 

Believe me, we have all been there before. If not managed correctly, toys end up EVERYWHERE. Before I go through how to keep toys tidy, I want to share with you one of the best tips you’ll probably never think of – many of your kids toys can be washed in the dishwasher. This is a great way to keep them clean and hygienic.

Firstly, it’s worth noting that this is not an article about minimalism. We’re not suggesting that you throw away all of your child’s toys. There are many reasons that you should encourage free play – it’s better than having your child sit in front of the TV all day. Toys can be fun. Toys can be educational. Play is important. It encourages children to:

• Use their imagination
• To share and interact with other children
• Improve hand eye coordination and build motor skills
• Develop the senses

It’s amazing how eager children are to explore the world around them and how toys can help with those things – colours, shapes, numbers and letters.

Toys are not cheap these days. You can pay top dollar for premium quality toys so you’ll want to look after them too. Below we share some tips from the experts on how to keep toys tidy. If you follow these tips you are much less likely to be tripping over toys all the time. Check them out below.

10 Tips to Keep Toys Tidy

Make Sure Every Toy Has a Home

Every toy needs a home. As soon as a new toy comes into the house your young one should be able to identify somewhere for it to “go” – with your help of course. This step alone will save you hours of heartache when you are wondering how to keep toys tidy. Toys just seem to multiply. There are those toys that you buy yourself – e.g. birthday and Christmas presents; these can be in larger boxes. But you also get the smaller toys and knick knacks that come home from all those birthday parties your child inevitably attends. You will need a box for these knick knacks as well

Invest in Quality Storage Options

When coming up with a system to keep toys tidy, and following on from ensuring that every toy has a home, you are going to end up buying a number of storage boxes. Make sure you invest in quality storage boxes – not cheap plastic ones. 

We are talking about children here. They can be a bit rough at times so durability is important. You don’t want containers that are breaking all the time and ending up in landfill. You may even want to invest in storage options that have wheels. That way you may even encourage your kids to take their storage boxes around the house as they clean up.

Choose Visually Appealing Toy Storage Options

A visually appealing toy storage system is a great option for you. They look better and they can make it easier to keep toys tidy.

Companies like Ikea have a great range of systems that can expand as your child’s toy numbers expand too. The beauty of Ikea is that many of their containers are also kid friendly – i.e. they are less likely to hurt themselves and get their little fingers caught.

You can also create a fun, colour coded system. Choose different coloured, and different sized, boxes for different types of toys. This makes it easier for your little one to remember where all of their toys go.

Bigger isn’t Always Better – Unless You Opt for Quality

At some stage your child is going to want a toy that doesn’t fit into one of your storage boxes. They are going to want a toy that ends up being left on display. When this is the case, make sure you choose quality items that don’t age and will continue to look good. It’s definitely worth spending a little more on larger toys to ensure that they continue to look good whether they are on display in the lounge room or the corner of their bedroom.

You Don’t Necessarily Have to Hide Soft Toys Away Either

Soft toys shouldn’t be kept hidden away in boxes. Your child is going to end up with a lot of soft toys so you should give them an option to keep these toys tidy too. 

We suggest a little bookshelf to display some of their soft toys, as well as keeping some on the bed. (Yes, some of them can be stored in a box if they need to be)

Create Different Storage Spaces for Different Rooms

Does your child like to do puzzles in the lounge room? Do they like to paint on the kitchen table? Make sure that they have toys easily within reach in the room where you want your child to do that particular activity. If it is easy for your child to tidy up their toys in the room where they use them you can be confident that they will be more likely to do so.  

There’s Nothing Wrong With a Toy Declutter

You don’t have to keep every toy forever. Eventually your child will get over some toys or simply outgrow them. A great way to keep toys tidy is the occasional declutter. Before Christmas, or their birthday, it might be time to “move-on” some of the toys they are no longer playing with.

Depending on their condition, this could be a learning opportunity to teach them about charity donations to those that are less fortunate. Please don’t dump rubbish at your local op shop though. And always try avoid landfill where possible – we’re all in this together, so lets look after mother Earth.

We’ve got a different article on decluttering you can access here.

Make Sure Their Current Favourites are More Easily Within Reach

As well as decluttering their toys, you should create a toy rotation system. Your child is going to have favourite toys and these are going to change from time to time. They often then will go back to a toy they haven’t played with in months. It could be around a particular cartoon they are playing with at the time. 

Let’s use Bluey and Peppa Pig for example. You may have a range of toys related to both cartoons. You should have separate storage options for both of these.

If your child is going through a Peppa Pig phase, you could put the Bluey box away in a cupboard – so there is less clutter in their room or around the house.

As Bluey becomes more popular again you could swap these boxes over. 

A smaller set of toys, easily accessible to little ones,  will be easier to keep tidy and it will also make it less likely that your child gets bored.

Join the Toy Library

A great way to save money, and limit clutter – especially if space is tight – is to join the toy library.  This gives your child a couple of weeks to play with some toys and then they are returned. This will most definitely keep your child interested – they can’t get bored if their toys are ever changing.

Another option is to speak to some of your friends with children of a similar age. You could swap toys with each other to keep both of your children entertained without the huge cost burden that would come with buying all of these toys. 

Teach Your Children How to Keep Toys Tidy

They aren’t your toys. Why should it be your burden to keep their toys tidy? You should teach your children how to keep toys tidy and make the regular doing of their chores part of the process associated with them keeping their toy privileges (and even getting new toys.)

You might want to make a chore chart and reward system. If they do their job properly over a period of time you can reward them with a new toy.

Teaching your kids how to keep toys tidy is important for your sanity. There’s nothing worse than risking stepping on a piece of lego in the middle of the night!

Now that the toys are sorted, lets give you back some more free time by taking the cleaning off your hands. You can get in touch today or use our website for a no-obligation quote.