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Five Tips to Beat Toy Clutter
Where did all those toys come from? There are not just a
few little playthings, but enough toys to fill every nook and cranny in a
home shortly after a child arrives on the scene. These toys have a unique
ability to divide and conquer, to spread into the most unexpected places,
and consume one’s already sparse space and time. Toys fill bath tubs,
overflow toy boxes, find their way into kitchen drawers, under sheets and
under foot.
Getting a handle on managing your child’s toys can save a lot of sanity
and give each toy more play value. After all if you can’t find it, it’s
hard to play with it. Most parents recognize the value of
play and the importance of toys for our children... but we can still keep
our houses from being turned entirely over to the toys. Here are a few
ideas for controlling the toy population.
1. Place an old bookcase in your child’s closet. Most small
children’s clothes are too small to need all the hanging space. Use it for
not only books but also stuffed animals and other toys.
2. Picnic baskets make great storage containers! They are easily moved
from room to room, have light lids that won’t pinch little fingers, and
have the added benefit of being somewhat decorative.
3. Try cutting the spout part out of a 4 L milk jug. They make excellent
holders for blocks, cars, crayons etc. It also makes it easy for little
people to carry around those treasures.
4. Color code the back of each puzzle with a felt marker. When the pieces
get mixed up, all you have to do is turn them over to know that the red
pieces go together and all the yellow and so on.
5. Try to refrain from dumping all the toys into one giant bin. You will
quickly find there is a tendency for many children to dump all the toys
out again during play time. Purchase smaller containers and sort the toys
to theme. Your child will be able to more easily find
the toys he or she is looking for, and will also be able to help clean up
with out it being such a huge task.
Taking small steps to organize the clutter can go along way
in providing both valuable play to your children and a little less chaos
for you.
These five tips are a few of the many ideas for
organizing life found at the Between Moms web site at
http://www.betweenmoms.info .
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