Keeping the Playroom Picked Up

[AmyDoll]

The playroom is driving me CRAZY. We have a HUGE playroom & all the toys are organized & categorized.

The little pieces are driving me NUTS tho - the puzzle pieces from the puzzles that don't get picked up, the playfood from the kitchen, the tools & wood from the bench, the legos, the little cars.

The toys are *basics* but it's UNMANAGEABLE. The kids play in there all afternoon. Would you get rid of toys that they play with?

Would it help? What would you do? What's your cleaning strategy?

[WanderingJuniper]

Oh I am so at the same place right now! We are already at what I'd call basics or minimum for my kids and everything has an easy to put away place but lately it has all been a mess.

[Kiera]

Ummm we're having the same problem here too. Bleck... toys! They are everywhere!!!

[AmyDoll]

Lots of commiseration ... any tips??

[Kiera]

I like to clean up the playroom/girls' room every evening with their help but that doesn't always happen. As I have said on here before I have this cube box with cloth boxes inside of different colors which hold their doctor stuff, barbies, baby stuff, polly pockets, etc. That has helped tremendously, but now their dress up stuff and other things are all over. I truly think it is all about storage. We don't have adequate storage so the floor is where it ends up. :shrug

[greenjellysnakes]

Would you get rid of toys that they play with?

Would it help? What would you do? What's your cleaning strategy?


No, I wouldn't get rid of toys they play with (as much as I'd like to!). We don't have a playroom. Most of our toys are in the main living area, so motivation is high to keep it picked up fairly regularly. It doesn't always happen, but we try and tidy up three times during the day - once around lunch time, again before DH gets home from work, and then a third time before bed. I don't know how well that would work for more toys though.

[BHope]

The playroom is driving me CRAZY. We have a HUGE playroom & all the toys are organized & categorized.

The little pieces are driving me NUTS tho - the puzzle pieces from the puzzles that don't get picked up, the playfood from the kitchen, the tools & wood from the bench, the legos, the little cars.

The toys are *basics* but it's UNMANAGEABLE. The kids play in there all afternoon. Would you get rid of toys that they play with?

Would it help? What would you do? What's your cleaning strategy?


Oh my goodness, I almost came on yesterday to say what you've written word for word.

My solution, as of today, has been to organize everything into little bins, and to put those little bins up. If they want to play with a particular type of toy (little peoples, wooden blocks...), they will have to ask permission and will be required to pick up their playroom before I bring down a small box of those toys. A new box won't come down until the other toys are picked up and put away.

It's going to require a lot more involvement on my end.

I've resisted it for quite some time, because I've wanted my children to be able to play with whatever they want. Unfortunately, my sensory seeking eldest, is easily over stimulated, and it's become apparent that having too many choices just becomes overstimulating and results in what I call "tornado child." Subsequently, their playroom stays in a state of perpetual chaos, and I continually find myself frustrated and angry that there isn't more respect for their belongings. In fact, what prompted this current change was a particularly terrible "playroom toy mess" day yesterday that nearly resulted in my throwing away every. single. toy. in a fit of big feelings.

Thankfully, my mom calmed me down and talked me into trying this new system before doing something as drastic as throwing all the toys away. :bag So, while I don't believe my solution is ideal for all homes and all children. Right now it's a last resort solution for my child(ren). If this doesn't work. I don't know what I'll do.

[ArmsOfLove]

can you put them away and rotate them?

[MarynMunchkins]

At their ages, I'd just put away a lot of the toys. Or buy some storage cabinets to go in the playroom that can be locked. :)

[BHope]

At their ages, I'd just put away a lot of the toys. Or buy some storage cabinets to go in the playroom that can be locked. :)
Where do you find such lockable storage containers? I walked all over Walmart yesterday looking for something I could lock up and came up empty.

[Radosny Matka]

I wouldn't get rid of toys they played with, but I would rotate them out on a bi-weekly or even monthly basis. That way you cut down on all the pieces but the kids still get to play with the toy. And the bonus is that they are "new" again. My kids get so excited when I rotate toys. :)

[Singingmom]

I would keep the puzzles up for one thing, and maybe bring them to the kitchen or living room where they could only work them when you were supervising or GCMing nearby. Maybe some other things could be moved to other "centers" in the house where there would be only one mess and it would have to be cleaned up before they left it. When my boys were little we'd end up with cars and other little things everywhere, and they would help me sort it back into the tubs before bath time. If there are just too many toys to do that within 5-10 min, I'd put some up and rotate them. :)

[me]

We have something like this:
http://www.target.com/Storage-Organizer-Natural/dp/B000W9R7EG/sr=1-7/qid=1233775269/ref=sr_1_7/179-2955133-4056718?ie=UTF8&rh=k%3Atoy%5Fbin%5Fstorage&page=1

but the trick is to put one puzzle in each. you can even tape a little picture of what puzzle goes in the bin in the front of the bin. (i havent needed to do this but its what i did when i taught)
whatever you do dont put more than one type of thing in the same bin or they will just dump whatever in whatever bin and then that leads to more of a mess later, trust me.
right now if i look in their game room (its a section of one room divided with the shelf with the other side of the shelf being their library) they have 8 bins
1. puzzle
2. puzzle
3. pretend food/plates (if they have to much to fit in the big bin then they have to much)
4. wood castle manipulative puzzle
5. cards
6. magnet dolls
7. jenga
8. assortment of games like candy land/chutes&ladder (i mix these since we mix game pieces and spinners)

Then against the wall is their bag of large legos. All the other things they have in their own room. And in their room they have bins/buckets according to their age and what works best as far as them being able to pick it up on their own.
On the other side of the shelf i have 2 large metal wire baskets with books neatly put in to be able to flip through to choose, kind of like how albums/cd's are done in the stores. With a comfy blanket on the floor and throw pillows.

One area is soley for books, the other area is solely for games, then beside that is their plastic picnic table where they can take a puzzle or play food to. Beside the table is a large box with lid where the crayon container and coloring books are inside. Its easier for them to put things back if the item not only has a bin but the item belongs in a certain area kwim? I could put the games, crayons, books, legos, playfood all together but its just chaos. legos start going into the crayon box, play food is found in the book box, etc.. but by seperating the books and games by just placing the shelf as a divider and moving the table to the side of the room, whala. instant room dividers.

hths :nak2

[MarynMunchkins]

We have one like this in the garage....http://www.target.com/Sterilite-4-Shelf-Cabinet/dp/B000063SLI/qid=1233776231/ref=br_1_11/188-4826636-4749207?ie=UTF8&node=13988041&frombrowse=1&rh=&page=1

It has art supplies in it, and is locked with a padlock.

Or you could do an armoire or something like it with drawers and just use child proof locks to secure it.

[KatieMae]

A few things I do...

1. All our toys are in our living room & kitchen & they play also on the dining table. It's necessary for daily functioning to pick up. If we had a playroom it would be too tempting to just shut the door & walk away :yes2 (which is why I don't ever want one!)

2. Mini-cleanings during the day: Usually at lunch time & dinner time and then I do a quick tidy after they're sleeping.

3. I see them pulling out Toy X - I say, "You want to play with X? Okay, let's clean up toys A, B & C first so you can have room to play! Lilia, you get A & put it in the cubby. Lucas you put B together & put it on the shelf. I'll clean up C - let's go!" So that's two things - cleaning up a little bit as we go AND giving them *very* specific things to pick up & reminding them where they belong.

[4thekids]

Our playroom is a bedroom that has a large closet. We took out the clothes rods and lined the wall with adjustable shelving. All his toys except the large one's like his basketball goal go in the closet with the door shut. We have a child lock on it and if need be when he can figure it out we will put a hook and eye lock further up. He is only allowed one toy (or box) at a time. He knows (most of the time ;) ) to pick up one before he asks for another. It does take a bit of work but his toyroom is never a mess. His books we have on a bookshelf that is available at all times.

[AmyDoll]

OK I took about 1/2 the toys & put them in storage. We'll see how it goes :sigh

[illinoismommy]

Oh yeah we do the bins up high and rotate thing. Its awesome. Kids play better that way too. At any time they can ask to trade something that's out for something that's not. :heart

[WanderingJuniper]

How many kinds of toys do you keep down at one time?

[illinoismommy]

How many kinds of toys do you keep down at one time?


As many as I can stand to see all over the floor at any given moment, literally. :lol

[me]

How many kinds of toys do you keep down at one time?


As many as I can stand to see all over the floor at any given moment, literally. :lol


:giggle :yes i had to keep taking some out till it was manageable

[BHope]

I wanted to report that I finally finished the girl's playroom yesterday. I had almost ALL of their toys put up. Minus a few stuffed animals, their playkitchen, and a couple dolls. The girls woke up from their nap THRILLED. An hour later the place was knee deep in stuffed animals, blankets, pillows, and a couple stray toys that somehow missed the first round of clean up.

Honestly, I'm about ready to pull my hair out. It seems that my children LOVE to live in a perpetual state of chaos. :no