Tips to Organize Kid's Toys: Organizing Strategies (part 2)

Welcome back to our series on Tips to Organize Kid’s Toys. If you missed the first article, check it out here first: How to Declutter Your Child’s Toys (part 1).

On Wednesday, I attended an event where I heard Kevin O’Leary speak (one of the sharks on Shark Tank). He shared that of the 50 companies in his portfolio, entrepreneur women are more successful than entrepreneur men. Why? Well, according to his data, women have better time management skills, set achievable goals, maintain lower employee turnover, and assimilate feedback. How awesome is that? We women naturally have better skill-sets to run a business. (Men, you still are earning Mr. O’Leary millions of dollars, so you are doing great as well!)

Why do I mention this in an article about organizing kid’s toys? Because what is a home if not a business? You have an accounting department (mortgage/rent, utilities, insurance, etc.), product and inventory (groceries, clothing, toilet paper, etc.), employees or admin (children, spouse, parents, siblings, etc.), and the responsibility of planning everyone’s schedules, taking care of yard work, replacing filters and batteries, etc. It all boils down to the same skills.

Now, with that in mind, let’s put our amazing business skills to use with designing the Toy Room. By this point, you’ve moved all the toys into the Toy Room and decluttered, keeping only the good stuff. Wahoo! However, you take a look around and still feel anxious. What now, Steph?

Now, we plan.

Organizing Strategies for Kid’s Toys

Step 1: Categorize

Categorize your items into piles: Barbie’s, trucks, books, stuffed animals, LEGO’s, figurines, etc. This step makes the next phase of organizing kid’s toys much easier.

*If you need more specifics, here’s an article I wrote, 4 Steps or Organize Any Space.

Step 2: Design Your Storage

Once you know how many piles you’ll need, it’s time to design. At this stage, you have to ask yourself, am I looking for one simple storage space because I rotate bins? Do I like the idea of labeling everything, or do I prefer hiding toys inside the closet?

The options are limitless but keep in mind when you’re deciding on what design option: make sure it aligns with your children’s habits and abilities. If they won’t return items back to the bin because they cannot reach it, there’s no photo label and they cannot read, or whatever the reason, the system will fail and you’ll be stuck putting everything back yourself. The ultimate goal of a Toy Room is that the system allows your child to explore their creativity. However, to do so, they have to easily find their toys. And to find their toys, an organizing system needs to be in place that they’re able to keep up with.

Suggestion: let your child help you design the space. Create the labels, pick out the bin colors, choose the color paint for the walls. Them helping you allows them to know where everything is but they’ll also have a vested interest in keeping it organized.

Here are a few visuals to start your ideas flowing.

Next Article: Tips to Organize Kid’s Toys: How to Prevent Overwhelm

Congratulations! You’ve decluttered and designed your Toy Room and life is feeling smooth sailing. But how do you keep the clutter from piling up again at the next birthday or holiday?

Next week’s article is, Tips to Organize Kid’s Toys: How to Prevent Overwhelm (part 3). 

Wanna learn how neatening up your assigned spaces can lower stress, improve mental clarity, and bring peace into your home? Listen to Podcast: ‘N’ is for Neatening Up Assigned Spaces