Comments on: Conquer kid clutter

By: Preventing kid clutter | Bohemian Revolution

Preventing kid clutter | Bohemian Revolution — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:13:15 +0000

[...] clean up after your kids with a few simple preventative measures. Unclutterer talks about ways to organize and store kids’ toys so they make less mess to start [...]

By: Lucy

Lucy — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 19:27:18 +0000

All of our toy bins, baskets, boxes, and open containers were overflowing with a jumbled mess of mismatched (and therefore unused) wooden and plastic pieces of toys, until recently… Another mom told me about a great inexpensive solution that doesn’t involve accumulating and stockpiling even more bins.

They’re zippered mesh fabric toy bags called Kids Klutter Katchers (http://www.kidsklutterkatchers.com).

We use them to keep the toy parts grouped and sorted within the bins. Since they have a zipper, the toys stay put and we don’t have to use a separate bin for each toy. Since they’re mesh, we can see what’s in them and, as opposed to the plastic baggies we thought were a great solution for awhile, these are more durable, can be more easily opened and closed by my toddler, and are not a suffocation hazard for the baby.

By: Megan @ Disorder2Order

Megan @ Disorder2Order — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 03:51:17 +0000

You had me at the analogy of the 20 month old and a drunk friend. Great post Erin!

By: Chris

Chris — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 02:19:15 +0000

As my 14 month old gets more adventurous on a daily basis the tip regarding being vigilant in the disposal of older toys is spot on. It seems we’re donating a couple grocery bags every month.

By: Anne

Anne — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:23:59 +0000

first off…I love this site!!
The purging of stuff is SO SO important…four kids here and my kidlets 11, 9 and twins 8, already know the value of correct storage (mom is a fanatic)…when they purchase a toy (via savings), a storage place is brought into the thought process. This has really helped. It isn’t perfect, but it is helping. the person who suggested one bin at a time! YES YES!! We did that for years, and now I know they can pull every single bin out and it will be put away almost(lol) perfect!
Having a place for anything is a great attitude!

By: skyler

skyler — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 16:01:44 +0000

Having an overwhelming number of possession underfoot all the time can be overwhelming to a child, so adult assistance is valuable in keeping what a child has to deal with in manageable limits.

Their possessions are a child’s world. Children have so little control over their own lives that their toy/imaginative world can give them the feeling of being capable and in control. This is their own little world to make decisions about – in preparation for making decisions in the adult world.

Children do not always categorize things in the way an adult would. If a child is given just Legos to play with and must put them away before taking out another toy, she misses the opportunity to see a doll shoe lying near a lego block and getting the idea to create a lego shoe store for a Barbie doll. A certain amount of disarray can lead to highly imaginative play, and in fact has lead to some wonderful inventions by adults.

If we are bringing out certain toys at a time, it would seem a good idea to mix and match a lot, so children has an opportunity to see how various combinations of things can work together.

I suggest also that we be careful about the sense of loss a child may feel when a toy disappears. I still regret a baking powder tin with my doll’s dresses I had carefully packed when we moved. I felt very grown up and responsible like a real mommy packing her baby’s things. It still bothers me that I did not take care of it better and I looked for it for years. I had just turned four.

skitter (a primary school teacher)

By: Courtney

Courtney — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 04:55:30 +0000

I havn’t read all the comments to see if anyone has already thought of this – but lego was a huge thing in our house of two boys and when they were younger I cut up an old quilt cover (dinosaurs) and backed it with a plain red sheet, sewed around the edges,added large heavy duty eyelets to the four corners and bought a hook from bunnings. Lay it flat on the floor and it’s a play mat, ready to pack it all up, just pick up the four corners and hook the four eyelets over the hook in a wardrobe and the lego is all packed up!! it worked well and the boys didn’t mind cleaning up. Quick and easy.

By: Jill

Jill — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 00:05:17 +0000

I recently got an awesome idea for the kids toy storage system. Just as an aside here, I find it almost shameful that in our very rich society we have so much that we have to go through what we have and get rid of stuff. People in 3rd world countries would not be very understanding of our need to de-clutter regularly. Anyway, I’ll get back to my suggestion. I photographed the contents of what was in each container and attached the picture to the front of it so that even the non-reader in the house could put away toys and find what he needs. Amazing how it helps the big kids too. I’ve never had a system in 10 years of having a family that has worked like this does.

By: Colin

Colin — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 21:58:17 +0000

At the risk of being pilloried, we’ve got enough space that there’s a kid play room in the basement – all toys live down there. There’s plenty of buckets and drums and whatever to collect toys in rough categories, such as “dress-ups.” But we don’t get crazy about organizational schemes for toys because the kids are 5 and 3, they’re not there yet for maintaining it themselves. They do have tidy up under supervision though.

The main thing, as others have said, is to to periodically filter out the stuff you don’t use and find somewhere else for it to go.

By: Kimberly

Kimberly — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 21:33:49 +0000

Well my dog is my child and it is a battle to keep friends and “grandparent” from showering him with toys and clothes (he HATES clothes!) We do have a toy box for him that closes so we decide when it’s time to play and we are teaching him to help pick up toys each night before going to bed. With that being said he really only LOVES 4-6 toys and the rest take up space. So when we get a gift for Peanut, we take a picture (digital so no paper or film) of him with the toy or in the clothes and email it or print if needed to the person who sent it then we re gift it or pass it on to a needy dog. People never ask about the gift months later!

However I have so many friends with “traditional” kids- the two legged kind I have tried not to add to the clutter and buy them a season pas to the Zoo, McDonald’s gift cards, or even gift certificates to the movies. Think “consumable”. Any kid over 3 knows what a gift card it and they love them because it gives the control of what they get.

By: Gina

Gina — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 21:19:42 +0000

We love IKEA’s drawer-style toy storage. You can customize with three different sizes to accomodate all your kids’ toys. We’ve got small drawer/buckets for little toys like Matchbox cars and Polly Pocket, larger drawers for medium toys like tea sets and doll clothes and jumbo buckets for larger toys or collections like Barbies or Legos. For little ones who can’t remember where things go, using stickers to identify the type of toy inside really works. You’d be surprised how early a little girl learns to identify the word “Barbie.”

By: Liz

Liz — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 20:53:28 +0000

I’m trying to do one ruthless sorting of clothes and toys for my three year old every month. (Just finished both for January.) Since I have a sizable basement, I have one plastic container that I keep with great toys that my daughter’s outgrown–we obviously get things from it when people with smaller kids come over. And I have one other container and I throw things in it that are currently out of favor (Mr. Potato Head just went in it)…when they reemerge in a few months, they will be exciting again.

I’m a big fan of the plastic tablecloths from the dollar store–I just toss them when they get a lot of paint on them.

Decided today that the time had come for our first 64 box of crayons and was happy to find that someone (Rose, maybe?) makes it in a plastic box.

By: Dr. Nicole Sundene

Dr. Nicole Sundene — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 19:59:36 +0000

Great Post!

I am launching my own blog in a few weeks and am looking for various “featured writers” to hi-light…Physical Therapists, Massage Therapists, Personal Trainers, Doctors, Counselors, etc…

I have been following your blogs for several months and have really enjoyed what you are trying to do here. People need this.

If you are interested in being a featured writer with my website it just means that you have to submit ten co-blogs (I can pick them out from your archives if you wish) after each blog I will include your picture, contact information and link back to your website. This will also be included on the featured writers page along with your bio. I would then just need permission to copy new posts that I think will be specifically helpful to my readers at my site and your email address so WP can notify you when you have comments! The blog will be going officially public in two weeks and launched to the medical community at large in another month.

I would love to have you on board as the offficial “Unclutterer” Feng Shui expert at Kitchentablemedicine.com

Stop by my website and let me know if you are interested!

Dr. Nicole

By: Ethel

Ethel — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 19:03:48 +0000

We have almost-two-year-old twins, and one thing we do is hide 90% of their toys (except stuffed animals, which are “stored” on their bed). We store them in nice bags and containers out of sight. Other than their large toys that can’t be easily stored, only one bag of toys is allowed out at a time. It keeps the toys fresh, keeps things organized, and limits clutter.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 19:01:18 +0000

The one tip that works well with younger kids (but goes against the divide and conquer above), is to use large bins for toys. My 2.5 year old can’t remember where each little toy goes in a ‘each thing has it’s place’ kindof home. But he CAN put all of his toys up in three cubbies we keep in the living room at the end of each day.