Do you often find yourself standing in knee-deep toys whenever you enter your kids playroom? Well, I went through this everyday and thought where to start from! Have you witnessed or witnessing the same? 🙂
Due to the COVID’19 crisis and the lockdown situation- kids’ have got charged-up sitting at home, getting bored playing with the same toy and emotionally being affected. Many a times, they feel irritated, frustrated and sometimes low… With so many toys at home, the house is usually messed-up at the end of kid’s play time…. creating a stressful job for parents to clear them up!
My house has turned into a play area…. as my daughter (4.5 yrs) badly misses her weekends visit to the mall and playing on her favorite game -Trampoline. Hence, to get the feel and the ambience, she uses all the sofa pillows and bean bag available at home to create a jumping area for her:)
As kids in the present generation usually have surplus toys either gifted by their parents; family members who visit home; friends during the birthday celebrations. This unfortunately results in ‘LESS PLAY’ and ‘MORE MESS’. This is because kids get excited seeing so many toys at a time that they get confused what to play with and ultimately end up playing with their regular toys.
‘Organizing Kids’ essentials systematically’ is the only and best solution to the problem! This practice will help kids:
- To get exposed to different toy- sets rather playing only with their favorite ones;
- The fresh toys will keep them engaged for a longer time and spark their curiosity for the next day;
- The room will look clutter free, much neater & cleaner;
- Cleaning up the place becomes simpler;
- Children will learn to play on their own and so on…
Thus, create a beautiful and a secure space for kids to relax; play; read; study and sleep. But ‘How should we go about it? & Where to start from’?
Here are some ‘Tips’ & ‘Ideas’ on ways to set- up / organize your kids’ playroom:
1. Time to let go-
Toys that are broken, any missing pieces, or the toys your kids have outgrown can be donated; recycled for any craft activity or could just go in the trash! Below are a few ways one can reuse the toys and create a purposeful thing as part of their home décor.
A Lego Clock Toy Lid Mason Jars A Dino Brush Stand Toy Clothes Hanger
2. Organize toys in different categories-
- Games & Puzzles
- Art & Craft Materials
- Dramatic Play viz. kitchen toys, costumes, beach toys etc.
- Building toys viz. Lego, blocks…
- Socio & Emotional toys – soft toys, dolls …
- Moving or Motor toys viz. cars, vehicles, ride- on toys
- Musical instruments
- Books
3. Create Play-sets :
Once the categories are ready, it’s time to divide or pack them in a large storage containers that are kid-friendly and easy to use. Here are some ideas for your reference- Multipurpose Stackable Storage Containers having lids; Storage boxes / Colorful Bin /Multifunctional Box Organizer (which has cushions to sit as well as store toys)/ Multi-Purpose Modular Drawer Storage /Laundry Bag Storage/ Foldable Wardrobe . Also, while giving them you can choose the toys that encourages cross- play and promotes their areas of development (mix & match) from their toy section.
4. Toy Schedule-
It is up- to you how often you would like to rotate the toys… either every day, weekly, monthly depending upon how soon your kids get bored or tired playing with the same.
5. Rotation Display-
Keep the toys ready that are assigned for that day and let the kids get a surprise each day!
6. Go for Quality & not Quantity –
Go for toys that encourages teamwork, creativity and imaginative play.
We asked a few moms on their thoughts, ideas for organizing kid’s room & décor. Have a look at their wonderful creativities, love and affection for kids.
Ms. Priyanka Arya
She is a software developer residing in USA. She has created beautiful room décor for her 3 year old daughter and 1 year old son.
A cozy sleeping zone A toy shelf
Kids Playroom
Her advice to parents, “Toys are children’s words and play is their language. Their playroom must be something that can help them explore the world, I tried to do that by adding DIY stuff like rainbow, hot air balloons, moon, stars etc. My kids love to play there. But when it comes to cleaning and organizing, children don’t listen, they just follow us. So, I make sure everything is at its place once they are done playing and this habit really affected my daughter, she loves to put her toys back once she is done playing. She helps me every time I do cleanup. No toys out of toy room -that’s the rule we have set for them. And it works wonder. So, somedays even if you are not able to clean toy room, at least you wouldn’t find the entire home messy”.
Ms. Kalyani Bande
She is an MBA graduate and currently self- employed lives in UK. Kalyani is a mother of 23 months old child. She loves to spend time with her son and organize his toy room.
A beautiful Canopy Neatly Organized Kids Room
Sharing few tips … she says, “We should involve kids in cleaning and organizing activities so that they can learn to organize toys once they are done playing. They will do it on their own after a few days. Kids get bored quickly no matter how many toys they have so what I do is rather than buying new toys every now and then, I make some DIY activities and games for my son.”
Ms.Snehal Mahajan
She is a creative mom residing in India. An art teacher, my partner in running an activity center for kids ‘ Little Xplorers’ and has her own fb page-‘Being Creative’ where she shares various artworks and takes online workshops. She has a daughter who is 4 years old.
She often rotates her kids’ toy shelf, where she adds a mix of toys to engage her daughter that involves different areas of development viz. Reading Time; Dramatic Play (Doctor Set); Story Session Toys; Gross Motor Skills (Ball games); Cognitive Play (Building games/ Solving) and Creative Skills (Drawing, Coloring, Painting)…
Toy Display -Rotation A Pretty Tent
Ms.Vathsala Manjunath
She is a full-time mom from USA and has a 4 year old son. This is how she beautifully organizes her kiddo’s room…
Breakfast area Toy Display Fridge Play Magnets
Before After Bed-Time
She share a few tips for mommies, “Invest in a toy organizer which suits your house. If you have a step wise organizer, do keep on the shuffling the toys as kids tend to reach the top shelf first. Make a rule to place the bins back once they are done playing with them and do not mix up eating, playing and study time:)”
Ms.Poonam Aggarwal
She resides in Ireland and is a mom to a 3.5 year old kiddo.
A soothing bed Attractive Stickers Book-Shelf
Her advice to parents, “Incorporate color in the room, but do not over clutter with toys or decorations… Try to keep as simple as possible to ensure the children don’t get overstimulated.”
So, how have you been organizing your kids’ toy area, do share with us your beautiful ideas, pictures and we shall cover them in our next blog article…
HAPPY PARENTING!