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A play room gives children a chance to explore their imagination and develop their own creativity, but amidst all the games, toys, and memories, this area often turns into a messy and unorganized space.
We teamed up with Tidy Up with Tara for some play room organization tips to make a method to the madness in your kids’ space!
Establishing Play Room Cleanup Routines
Make a game of teaching your kids how to organize their play room by showing them the routines and placement of where the toys go.
For the first few times in setting the new routine, clean up the play room with your kids to help them visualize the intended spots for various toys.
Another tactic is to designate a certain time of day for toy cleanup, creating an easy routine to follow.
For instance, clean the play room up together right before dinner. Make this routine fun by talking about what’s for dinner, seeing who can get done the fastest, and race to the dinner table. Establish a pattern of this for a few days.
Before you know it, dinner time will be preceded with play room cleanup time, leaving your after-dinner routine focused on baths, reading, and bedtime!
Organizing a Play Room on a Budget
You can easily find storage solutions that won’t break the bank! Here are a few everyday items that can be utilized as perfect organization helpers.
Door Shoe Organizer
These handy organizers can fit on any door and are perfect for keeping the storage space minimal.
Shoe organizers come in a variety of different colors and can blend right into any play room! They also come with many pockets great for holding dolls, toy cars, or painting supplies.
The lower pockets are easily accessible for children, and the higher pockets can be used to store heavier items you want them to ask help getting down.
Plastic Storage Containers
Clear containers can be categorized with labels, and their easy visibility helps kids find what they’re looking for.
Colorful containers offer a decorative element to the organization. This option provides the alternative of color-coding toy organization rather than the label method.
Bookcases
This simple organizational solution can be used in many different ways and takes up little space in the play room.
Bookcases are great for pull-out storage containers or display shelves for stuffed animals along with books. Half-height bookcases are best so that kids can reach toys and books on any level.
Regular Play Room Upkeep: Decluttering and Updating Toys
Decluttering is one of the most important factors in keeping a play room organized. This involves going through toys and books and picking out the items that your child has outgrown, broken, or don’t play with as often as other toys.
Involve kids in the decluttering process so that they understand why the process is happening, and get them excited to donate their toys for other kids to play with!
Ideally, go through the toy updating process every year to keep your kids’ play room stocked with only the toys they love and conserve space.
After a successful keep vs. donate session with your kids, leave an open slot in the storage cubbies or bins and reward them with a trip to the toy store to pick out one new toy or gadget.
For a fun way to organize, use a label maker to correspond toys to their storage space; your kids and even friends can go on a scavenger hunt and treat it like a puzzle. This also helps younger kids practice reading skills!
As your kids age and grow into new toys, reassess your current organization plan and revise where needed.
Do you need different storage solutions? Are there ways to redecorate and upgrade storage at the same time to refresh the play room to fit your kids’ current favorite things? Are your kids ready for a game room with a TV instead of just the current toy setup?
It’s a wonderful feeling when you find an organizational solution that works! Share your creative ideas for keeping your play room organized.
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