How do you keep toys from taking over your house? Does your house start to look like a Toys-R-Us after a few hours of play time? Even with a designated playroom for toy containment, our experience has been that they (the toys, not the kids) always seem to find a way into the living room.
While boxes and bins pretty much seem like the simple solution, they can start to overflow, scatter and conquer the living space instead of the clutter. Even when we try to label the bins, the cars end up with the legos and the legos end up with the balls and the balls end up with the games. Don’t get me started on the toys-of-a-million-pieces like doctor’s kits. I still have no idea where my son’s plastic stethoscope went. It’s probably with the dinosaur figurines…
Here are a few of our favorite toy storage solutions that try to offer a method to the madness of playtime, but also encourage accessibility, free play and getting lost in playtime, which promotes learning!
Big storage shelving units like the IKEA Kallax offer a lot of flexibility for holding small and large toys, bins, baskets, and if you’re lucky, maybe even some decorative bookshelf ornaments.
(Land of Not Rattan Reed Hamper)
Clothing hampers can be a great storage solution for all of the balls. If you’re a mom of boys, you’re also swimming in soccer balls, footballs, kickballs, soft balls, and plush balls.
(Land of Nod Leaning Bookcase)
Leaning bookcases actually save space by taking up less area on the floor, and they secure to the wall for safety. They also make toys super accessible for kids at the bottom so children can spend more time reaching for what they need, rather than asking you for what they want, and focus on the really important things: like playing.
