Kids and toys and stuff go hand in hand. One of the most-asked questions I receive is how to contain toys and how to keep the toys clutter-free. Is there such a thing? Kids love toys and they love to play with them and leave them out and make messes and forget to pick them up. If you have a love-hate relationship with your kids’ toys, you’re going to love this post. You might not love everything I have to say and you might choose to store toys differently but hopefully you can grab a couple ideas for storing kid stuff in a way that makes it fun for kids to play with and easy for them to pick them up after themselves too.

Just remember – everything is a stage and as much as you despise those Legos being dumped on the floor yet again, they’ll soon move on to something different and you’ll miss those Legos.

Sources are linked up at the very bottom of the post.

I just walked through the house and snapped pics of some of the organizing tricks and products I use in our home – I hope it helps you get some ideas.

 

Group things together – this is just a scene from a bookshelf in my middle’s bedroom. Nothing special but he knows where to put these puzzles when he’s done with them.

My middle guy’s bed – books and a basket to keep the smaller ones in. He keeps trinkets in the drawer but this simple set-up works for him.

Everyone has books by their bed – this is my youngest’s – just a fabric basket stuffed with books. We’ll eventually get him a nightstand but this set-up works for now.

Oh Legos, how I love thee. The boxes below are filled with Legos and this table stays pretty much like this all the time in my youngest’s room. He keeps small pieces in those little boxes so he can easily grab them. The bins are pulled out from underneath the table as he’s building and playing and then the bins go back when he’s done. It’s not a perfect solution but it’s perfect for him. My other two kids had completely different set-ups for Legos. One of which was sorted by color – that doesn’t work for him at all.

Small card games and small games go in small boxes in this basket in our living room. The coffee table right next to this end table makes for the perfect card game spot.

See those lidded bins? That’s where we keep our family board games – in the coat closet. Pull down a bin and play a game. Pieces are contained where they belong and games are still accessible.

I have to keep Xbox controllers in a cute container. This works well because it won’t scratch any wood surfaces and it looks nice for me – ha!

We keep library books in a designated basket – this helps to keep them from under beds and intermingled with other books so we keep the fines to a minimum.

Bins on top of closet shelves are great for items that kids play with but not every day. These store American Girl Doll stuff.

Backpacks and lunchboxes go in an open basket for simple reason that this keeps them off the floor. 

I love open baskets with handles for small books, trucks, animals, and other small toys. So easy to grab, play with, dump out, and put away.

Furniture that closes its doors and conceals toys is aways a good idea!

Here are a couple posts about kid stuff if you’re interested….

If you want your kids to clean you might want to put together a cleaning caddy to encourage them. Here’s what’s in ours.

Contain art and school supplies – I keep this little caddy in our kitchen and its pulled out daily for homework and drawing. It’s super simple for the kids to pick it up and put it away.

I read the book, Simplicity Parenting about a year ago and found it to be really helpful when thinking through how many toys everyone has and how we store them. I highly recommend it!