Experiment of the Week: Toy Organization

A year or two ago, I was taken aback by my mom’s rule of only playing with one set of toys (LEGOs, doll house, etc.) at a time at my parents’ house.  Our toddler also seemed to not have any idea of what she was being asked to do as she was instructed to pick up all the toys and put them away before moving on to the next thing.  I thought the idea seemed unrealistic at the time.

A few weeks ago, I reconsidered.  Toys were everywhere in our house.  Everywhere.  While I had tried various systems for making clean-up easier for us all, none of them had really worked.  Woody’s hat was missing again.  Jessie has been MIA for weeks.  The neat dishes and piggy utensils from a special friend were strung across different rooms.   I decided something had to change.

But, I also decided to start small.  Call it a trial run or a pilot study.  🙂

I took a fabric box I got on sale at K-Mart after Christmas and simply put all the play dishes and cookware in it.  I placed that box in the living room (so Melody could access it easily, too) after picking up all the other toys that were there.  I initiated a new rule that the dishes must be returned to the box.

And for a week or so, it worked!  My two-year-old was excited about the piggy utensils again!  She was “cooking breakfast,” hosting picnics, and teaching the one-year-old how to mix.  Then, I think I slacked off on the accountability of that system.  I’m still a work in progress when it comes to keeping things clean and organized, remember?

Still, I’d seen enough success to start dreaming of going through the toys, clearing the clutter, and going to a container system much like what my mom had.  (Okay, so I should have just known that was a good idea of my mom’s.  She worked with preschoolers for years.  I have not.)

But when?

This week, my husband surprised me by stopping by the house after lunch.  He offered to take the three-year-old with him for a while.  I let him.  In the meantime, I was able to bake a batch of peanut butter cookies and get to start on the toy project.

Now, imagine for a moment, toys and books are scattered everywhere, it seems (even to me with slob vision), and I am trying to bend over to pick up said toys around a basketball-sized belly.  It was hard work for me.  I kept telling our one-year-old that we needed to take a little break from time to time.  She just looked at me, confused.  🙂

I was surprised by the success I had in just a couple of hours (maybe less?)!  I sorted the “baby” toys from the rest and boxed them up to be stored until the newest little one is ready for such entertainment.  I put the toys (even some books, gasp!) in a bag to donate to others.

What was left?

• Barbies and clothes
• LEGOs
• Building blocks
• Doctor kit
• Dishes/cookware
• Favorite stuffed animals
• Dress-up dresses and costumes
• Some miscellaneous

These fit well in the number of containers I had, and with a little work, I got the closet cleaned to provide an organized space for them.  The miscellaneous toys are a little larger, and I moved some of them to the old toy boxes that I had tried to utilize before.  One toy box was completely empty!

Our much-better way of keeping toys organized and picked up!

The results?  We’ve been relatively mess-free (toy wise, at least) throughout the house (okay, except for that bath squirt toy I stepped on three times last night) for two full days!  Clara, my almost-three-year-old seems to be having more fun as she plays.  Tonight, she even pulled out the blocks and was building towers on her own!  She hasn’t played with the blocks for a VERY long time!  And, she was the one who initiated putting them back in the box before bedtime, then back into the closet.  I think we’re on to something!

Now, if I can just get the clothes gone through and organized soon…