In our house we don't do toys in the bedrooms. The kids can have one stuffed animal/doll on their beds but that is it (and they can switch it out for a different one). The living room has the dress up (in an armoir in the corner), the stuffed animals (in drawers under the futon), a basket of wooden blocks on the hearth, a wall shelf to display library books and a basket on the floor by said wall shelf with our board books. The bulk of the toys are in a room off the kitchen (built in back porch). The room back there is divided in two by a half wall, one side is the 'toy room' and the other is the 'school' room (though it has been more of a storage room since we do most of our work at the kitchen table and that room has too much in it be be able to work in there). I try hard to weed out things in these rooms on a regular basis but its been a mess for weeks and even when fully clean it is still more cramped than I'd like.

What I plan to do is move ALL toys and most of the school supplies out of this room and into the finished shed/little house that is about 10feet out the back door. This 'shed' was finished inside since I used it for sewing stuff years ago and dh used it as his office the past two years. Currently the room is not being used for anything (except a few random computer related things on a shelf of dh's) since dh is doing most of his work in the house with the wireless.

I spent all day yesterday sorting through the toy debris in the back room, sorting and weeding a bit. What I want to do is get closing plastic containers (don't have to be plastic its just all I can think of, I want it to be closed to limit critters and dust) for each of the 'sets' of toys we have, store them all out there on shelves, label well and then use it as our 'toy library'. In the toy room I want to leave the train table (empty) and one small shelf (empty) with baskets on the shelves (empty) and thats it. I'll let the kids 'check out' boxes from the back room (so up to 3 at a time since I have 3 kids) and they will have that whole cleared room to play with the items. Instead of playing castle on top of train set on top of playmobile on top of girly dolls with a handfull of marbles mixed in....they will have space to just play with a few items, easy to clean up, lots of room to play. There will still be no toys in bedrooms, and living room will still have the dress up, stuffed toys and library/board books- the blocks I will move out with the other toys. The school room side of the room I'm hoping to clear significantly in this process as well since all the board games and mazes could move out easily. Currently there is stuff in shelves, on shelves, towering on table tops in there- I'd like clear spaces so they can be used by the kids to store in progress projects (when I need the kitchen table cleared but they 'arent done yet') as well as their own table for board games and puzzles.

So I'd love some 'been there, done that' advice as well as help with my 'boxes'. I made a list of the piles I have in that back room right now (I need to get containers still). My biggest issue is with the small girl related and small boy related piles that for lack of a better term are just 'misc'. I know rule #1 with that is dowsize and weed as much as possible but then what? How do you manage the little toys that accumulate along the way that are not part of any sets but are loved and would be missed.....should I just put together a 'girl misc' box and 'boy misc' box? Also I want to know about clutter that seems to gather on my kids chest of drawers. This is stuff like special letters from a friend or card from a relative, their 'favoritist' rock they found somewhere, a cool picture they drew they want to keep- little nick nacks and the like that are loved and wanted for the time being but are clutter to a counter top and don't have a 'home' in the toy storage or school storage.

Here are the piles I'm working with:

Wood Castle and related figurines
Puppets
pop up puppet theatre/grocery store/ play house/ post office
wood trains/tracks
play foods and kitchen stuffs
box of lentils for digging
box of baby/toddler puzzles
basket of baby toys
Melissa and Doug game box
box of animal figures
play money tray (school related)
asst board games
marbles
Mr Potato head
Only hearts dolls (and a few barbies)
Castle Works (like marble works only for toddlers)
lacing buttons
magna doodles
toy cars
Duplo lego set
mini lego sets
play mobil
wood tool set
puzzles
veggie tales castle
Monkey mouth
wood block basket

I know there is a bit more that will go out when I really get into the school room side but I'll save that for later.

:help:

Sarah

I didn't see this thread before--sorry!

Anyway, my friend Ben is a stay at home dad and he does the exact same thing you are thinking of. Toys are labeled in bins in their shed (his shed is really nice and clean inside, not like a yucky, dirt floor shed LOL)

It works really well for him.

As far as the little misc. stuff, can you put up a shelf in their rooms to display favorite items and declutter/change it out periodically? That's what I do in my son's room and it really helps keep it in one place.

sounds like a big project...but fun!

now that ds is tall enough to peek in the top dresser drawer, i keep his little collections on one side of the top drawer...tickets from the movie and museum, a rock, 2 bracelets he made as crafts at different places. when they make their way out of the drawer, we just put them back in at clean up time.

the misc things? i don't know...i don't think i'd do a "misc" box. we have all of the toys in categories here too, except that i keep them all in fabric bins on the shelves. i stretch the categories sometimes and stick little things in a category to which it doesn't totally belong. like we have a bin of "letters" b/c ds loves flash cards and fridge phonics (he doesn't play with it on the fridge though) and his wooden alphabet letters, but over time, it also has a set of puzzles that are in a small box (all of the others are wooden and just stack together in one of the cubes...without needing a bin, i mean) and a couple of other things. so now it's the "learning/manipulatives" bin. i used to have dress up by itself, but over time, i added the play phones, keys, and puppets, and now it is the "pretend" bin. we had this random cloth house with bears that go inside...kind of misc. i stuck it in the "pretend" bin, because it's an imaginative/pretend sort of toy...in a different sort of way, of course. so...all that to say...i think you might be able to get more of the misc into the piles you already have.

maybe you could put the magnadoodles, lacing buttons, and puzzles together as sort of mind/hand-eye coordination/quiet activities sort of bin? :)

and maybe the money with the food for playing store?

just ideas...you may not even be needing help in that area...lol.

Our toy library is in the basement and still sort of in process...my kids have a "play area" in their room and then their sleeping areas.

For the misc stuff, I try to sort it by type...we have bins that aren't sets but are "small stuffed animals and small toys" - the small toys are things that tend to get played with along with the small stuffed animals. Basically Stephanie described what I'm trying to articulate. :)

things are crazy over here until my in-laws leave on April 10th.. but if you need any help after that, let me know, okay? :)

Ahhhhh, its beautiful so far :) I bought all the boxes I needed but was able to find most by just checking the garage before I left. I'm really glad I did it this way, I was able to buy less and I was able to find which things didn't fit in the containers I had and therefore pull out a tape measure and decide what size boxes where needed before I left the house and went shopping. I bought EXACTLY what I needed and thats it!

Everything has been moved to the shed, but not yet labeled (which is ok since most boxes are clearish). I'm a little dissappointed that the 'empty' shed that might have a few miscellaneous computer items (dh's description) actually has two tables, a shelving unit, 2 cardboard boxes of stuff, 4 chairs, several computers and parts......:lol: He'll be sent to 'clean his room' soon, that is for sure!

The toy room currently has the empty train table and an empty small shelf with empty wicker baskets on the shelves. I put a few toys in the baskets, things the kids haven't played with in a while and I'd like them to enjoy- and thats it for now. I took the opportunity to vacuum the whole room thoroughly, taking care of the corners/crevises/and spider webs- looks good so far.

On the school room side there is progress as well. The little kiddo table is all clean and accessible now and the floor is clear. I need to go through the books/puzzles/board games and weed out 'twaddle' and hopefully by then dh will have cleaned up his room so I can start moving puzzles and board games out there (so that the shelves in that room can be used for current curriculum and projects (and puzzles/games that are in rotation).

I asked the kids this morning to pull 10 stuffed animals and 10 items from their dress up cabinet to donate (things fit in the space allotted to them but its not a comfy fit). I have a overfilled large laundry basket from that mini purge and I'm thrilled with how painless it was. It wasn't a 'what do you love best/least' debate- it was just a simple explaination of how much more we will enjoy our space when there is more space to play and spread out in and how much other kids would love their beloved toys. I was suprised to see them willingly let go of a few items that I've tried to purge in the past (not heinous toys- just things we don't 'need' that take up space and are 'repeat' types of toys).

That's my update for now.
Sarah

oh and to update the 'misc' issue.....

I found boxes that were just the right size and came in three colors (perfect since I have 3 kids) and I was able to buy one for each of them. Hannah's has all her girl stuff in it (Only Hearts dolls and accessories, other misc little doll figures like a polly pocket and a strawberry shortcake doll, felt doll set from Storytellers....). Then there is a 'boy' box of stuff and a 'toddler' box of stuff. These are for the items that don't fall in the other catergories. The boxes aren't too big and I'm really happy with the arrangement. I figure with everything sorted out in boxes like it is and only a box or two coming in at a time then I'll be able to weed further in the future.

Sarah

Sounds like you have it all figured out. :) I bet it looks great! I was thinking of coming up tomorrow and know you are housebound again with pox-boy... want a visit? We don't have to go any where, Alex is at Cispus at 7:30am until FRIDAY! lol... Whatdoya think? Email me. ;)

Val

I'd love to see pics of the final results. I get so many ideas from the super creative mamas online.

Oh it looks great! There is nothing in there but three baskets, a small shelf and the train table. She did a wonderful job. :)

Val