Organizing for Kids- The Do’s and Don'ts

Whether you’re reading this right after the busy Christmas holiday season, after a kids birthday, or you’ve stumbled upon this during a panic search for help with general toy overwhelm, you’ve found the right place. Toys and kids stuff should be fun, not a source of stress. And to be clear, there is not one size fits all for organizing solutions, but I’m here to guide you to determining what works best for you and your family. We are also not going to talk about clothes and accessories today… that is a conversation for another time.

Now as a reminder, AS ALWAYS— Please purge/declutter each space before you try to follow some of these organizing tips. Organized clutter will never stay organized.

Stuffed animals aka Stuffies-

Don’t: use a beanbag that you fill up.

Not only is it uncomfortable to sit on, but once the animals get stuffed in there, they are out of sight, out of mind… and will never be played with.

Do: use a hammock or basket.

Hammocks only work if they are within reach. Consider putting them lower to the ground in a “quiet corner” or above a bed. Baskets are also great, but if you notice the top one are only being played with, consider mixing them up, or purging the ones that have fallen down below.

Craft Supplies-

Don’t: expect things to stay in rainbow order.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a good rainbow sort of craft supplies. But for kids, it is a hard expectation that they’ll stay that way. Set them up however you want, but know, if they’re in rainbow order at the end… they likely aren’t being played with.

Do: sort enough that things can be found.

Micro sorting isn’t ideal for kids, but they should be able to know where to go when they want to find crayons or plain paper.

Don’t: organize everything and put them in opaque bins without labels.

Do: use clear bins and label them!

General Toys-

Don’t: use opaque bins without labels.

Out of sight, out of mind!

Do: use clear bins if possible, or if you want the aesthetic of not seeing the toys, label label label!

Don’t: label with just words if your child can’t read.

Do: consider labeling with pictures or pictures AND words so they can learn as they grow.

Don’t: use one big toy box full of toys.

These types of toy boxes can be super overwhelming to kids. If you’re using a toy box, try to make it one category of big items like weapons or sports.

Do: sort toys by categories.

i.e. Balls, Friends, Animals, Cars, Blocks

Don’t: put out all toys at once!

Do: ROTATE

While I understand an official toy rotation is not possible for some families, I highly recommend you try some version of it. Statistics show that the ideal number of toys for kids is around 10. Anything more than that is overwhelming to them and can cause a lowered rate in play. I am not saying that they can only own 10 toys, but try to limit them having access to all toys at once. When there is less to decide from, they typically play for longer periods with each item.

Books-

Don’t: give access to all books at once (sound familiar?)

Do: consider rotating them seasonally, or just a regular rotation.

Just like toys, when kids have access to an overwhelming number of books, they’re likely to read less and be more distracted.

Don’t: store them out of reach.

Do: keep them within reach!

This might sound obvious but often I see so many kids books that are just out of reach of kids. Keep baskets or stacks around your house to keep your kiddos interested and able to read whenever they have the urge!

Now I know this doesn’t give you all of the answers you’re looking for. There is so much to cover when it comes to organizing for kiddos. I would love to hear what categories you’re having trouble with. What else would you like to know?

Shoot me an email or send me a message on Instagram!

And in the meantime, take a deep breath, and know that the overwhelm can be fixed!