Mary Poppins tidying up the nursery with the kids singing gaily along as everything magically organizes itself may be the stuff of parenting fantasies, but getting the kids seemingly massive collection of toys from warzone to neat can actually be accomplished.
Here are some foolproof tips to follow:
1. Functionality
Create a space that is easy to use and easy to keep clean. Make play space separate from study-space (for older kids) and sleeping/resting areas.
2. Shelves
Consider wall-to-wall shelving. If you’ve been in a pre-school lately you have probably seen these. There’s a good reason. It’s hard to find what you want in a big toy box, so children tend to dig through it and toss or dump everything on the floor making a mess. If the toys are on shelves in plain view, your children will pick up what they want without making a mess elsewhere.
3. Label
Add some colourful labels (pictures are fun too whether they can read or not), and your little ones can put things back where they belong. Make it a matching game.
4. Special Containers For Small Toys, Art Supplies etc.
This just goes for smaller toys, sets (like Thomas� railroad system, wooden blocks, plastic food bits for play cooking, or Barbie�s extensive wardrobe). And it is well worth it to bite the bullet and spend the extra cash on more child-attractive containers, preferably themed to the toy it will contain. Kids will definitely be more prone to put Polly Pocket�s accessories in a cute pink and purple floral box rather than an old shoebox, no?
Originally posted on August 17, 2006 @ 4:40 pm
