How to Organize Your Kid’s Toys Efficiently

Need practical solutions for how to organize your child’s toys? Here is the ultimate guide for how to organize your kid’s toys.

If you have kids in the house, then you know just how quickly toys can start to take over every room in the house. Whether it’s board games, board books, or even LEGO pieces, no matter how much time we spend organizing our kid’s toys, they just seem to take over the house again. If you’re looking for a few practical solutions for how to finally get your child’s toys under control, we’ll show you how to organize kids toys.

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How to Organize Kids Toys

Don’t stay overwhelmed and overloaded with toys. Use this guide to walk through every step of toy organization and storage. 

One added benefit of keeping kids toys organized – your child will spend more time playing in a clean room and with toys they can find, instead of trying to find their favorite toys in a big pile. 

Sort your kid’s toys

The very first step for organizing kids toys is to sort through every single one. This is also the most time-consuming step and the most important. 

The number of toys our children receive over the years can be incredible, and many of these toys end up at the bottom of a toy bin to be forgotten about.

Donate Unused Toys

Let your child help you with this part. Pick out toys they don’t play with anymore and give them to children that don’t have toys. This is a valuable life lesson that will stick with them their entire life. 

Store Outgrown Toys for Future Siblings

If you have younger children (or some on the way), pack away toys your child outgrew and save them. Store these toys out of sight until your next child is old enough to play with them. 

Shuffle Toys

If you have enough closet space, consider putting toys your child doesn’t play with on a top shelf. Then, once a month, replace their current toys with the toys you stored away. 

Shuffling toys like this keeps them thinking they have new toys, without having to deal with a big mess. 

Put away unused toys

The second step of toy organization is to set up a plan for preventing it from getting this way again. 

The key to making sure your toy situation never gets out of hand again is to cycle through toys. Don’t leave all of your children’s toys out at once, but cycle through them regularly.

Often there are too many toys for your child to choose from, so they just go for the same ones out of habit. Have a place where they can “check” out a new toy to play with in exchange for an old toy.

Use bins to separate their toys

Third, look at all your child’s toys and buy the exact kind of bins for storing their toys best. 

Instead of having all the toys they own in a large bin, consider using smaller bins to organize their toys. Keep all the LEGOs, Barbie accessories, and blocks all in different bins. This will make cleanup easier, and also help keep things organized.

As your child starts to outgrow certain toys, it will be easier to remove them from the play area.

If you have multiple children, consider separating them by the child as well.

After you put all the toys in their dedicated tubs or bins, label them. If your child is too little to read, print a picture of the toys and tape it to the box. 

Dedicate a specific area for toys

Another tip that will help you organize kids toys is to dedicate a specific area for toys to be stored. 

Toys tend to take over the house when there aren’t designated areas for the toys. Limit certain rooms such as the playroom or your child’s bedroom for toys, and leave the other rooms off limits.

This will not only keep toys from getting lost throughout the house but also keep all of the toys together.

If you aren’t sure which rooms to dedicate to toys, think about where your children tend to play the most and start there.

How to Store Toys in the Living Room

If the room your child plays in most is the living room, you’ll need to find some creative ways to store toys so that the living room doesn’t look like a toy room. 

Here are some ideas for how to store toys in the living room:

• Use a hollow ottoman – Buy an ottoman that can double as storage
• Buy decorative baskets – Fill a bookshelf with decorative baskets that match your decor and fill the baskets with blocks and books. 
• Vintage Suitcase – A vintage suitcase can add a touch of style to your living room. Fill it with toys and books to keep them out of sight. 

Find creative solutions for toy storage

The final step for organizing kids toys is to think outside the toy box. Try to find unique places to store their toys that is still within their reach, so they can help pick them up.  

Under Bed Storage

Bins under your child’s bed can hold lots of different toys. Get a tub with a lid for LEGOS, or use a bin with wheels on it for holding their dolls and doll clothes. 

The Sunny Day Family uses platform beds with drawers for storing extra toys and books. There are so many ideas you go with for under bed toy storage. 

Vertical Storage

Hang things from the ceiling for even more storage space. Think of hanging baskets for plushes or a hanging organizer for dress-up clothes. 

Instead of just resorting to bins, find creative solutions for your toy storage dilemmas. Toy storage doesn’t always have to look like toy storage, especially if you are storing toys in common areas such as the living room. Bookshelves and pull out bins can be a lifesaver, but will keep your kid’s toys contained and organized.

Organizing your child’s toys might not be as difficult as you think! With a few quick tips, you can have your child’s toys under control once more. If you have need a little more organizational help with your kids’ toys, check out our Complete Guide to Kids Room Organization.

Struggling to get motivated? Sign up to get our FREE guide, The 30-Minute Organizing Secret, and discover easy ways to overcome the chaos of clutter – even with kids at home!

More Home Organization Articles

Now that you learned how to organize kids toys, here are some more home organization articles that will help you in other rooms.

• How to Fake A Clean House – Ever wondered how they do it? Learn how to make your house look super organized, even when you are crunched on time. 
• Upcycling Ideas – Take your empty cereal boxes and other trashed items and turn them into home storage solutions. 
• Closet Organization Complete Guide – Organize all your closets entirely with this thorough guide.