June 21, 2013

Let’s Clean House – 5 Ways to Contain the Toys

Let's Clean House - 5 Ways to Contain the Toys - Clean Mama

If your house is anything like mine, without a few systems, toys would run the house. Today I have some simple ways to keep the toys contained and make clean up time easier to begin with.

1. CONTAIN THE TOYS – keep like items together in containers. Baskets work well for larger items, and bins work well for smaller items like Legos and Playmobil. This way it’s easy to know what goes where for kids.

2. ROTATE THE TOYS – if toys aren’t played with on a consistent basis, try putting them away for a week or two and rotating other toys in. The toys will seem brand new and will be appreciated a little more.

3. LABEL THE TOYS – everyone loves a label – no mystery containers, and everything has a place. If you have little ones that can’t read yet, use picture labels to help them know where to return their toys.

4. ONE IN – ONE OUT RULE – if lots of toys out gets to you, teach your kids to put away toys when they are finished with them. This is a good rule to model to children because us adults need this gentle reminder too.

5. LESS IS MORE – more toys doesn’t mean more fun. Having a few really great toys is better than a whole house full of stuff. Sounds like a good mantra for all of us (says the girl with 8 cleaning concentrates).

How about you? What’s your favorite way to control the toys?

This is a mini series all about getting kids involved in cleaning the house – you can see the other posts in the series here.

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image credit ©iStockphoto skodonnell

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Cleaning With Kids