Toy organization DILEMMA!

[WindyCityMom]

Mods: looking for ideas from fellow Waldorf families! Thanks!Eek!

My 7 month old daughter is mobile. And lovin' it!

We have a tiny home... an open living space which is the living room, play area, kitchen, and bedroom (but all kinda divided- hard to describe, I know).

I also have a 2.5 year old daughter, who is extremely fond of sticks, pine cones, acorns, rocks, seashells, and all types of nature's goodies.

The play area is a rug, a small table and chairs, play kitchen (that's gonna go pretty soon, it's cheap plastic and pretty flimsy), DDs dollhouse, and a small bookshelf about 2'x2', with two shelves. We also have an ikea bookshelf off to the side, and DD has her things on the first three shelves. The top two shelves are art supplies (crayons, paint, chalk, paper, etc).

We need to figure out how to store the pine cones and nature goodies, DDs play food, and her dolls for the dollhouse (I made them all- wool roving.. not flimsy but not sturdy enough for my 7mos teething mouth).

What do you suggest?

I posted this question on facebook (a more condensed version ) and all I got were responses telling me to get a toy trunk. I don't like that idea at all- doesn't coincide with many of my waldorfy ideas. I'd like to have things accessible to my 2yo, but away from my 7mo. Does that make sense?

Another question- how do you keep your smaller children from mouthing your older child's smaller toys?

[zoebird]

i'm sorry that i can't answer this specifically. do you think baskets that the little one can't see over the edge, in a slightly higher shelf--but where the elder one can still get to it--would work? then things are open and accessible, but they are not right within the baby's line of sight.

[honeybunmom]

I was going to suggest baskets as well. I have found some nice, sturdy ones at the Goodwill on Washington, just west of the Loop. I put the rocks (which my son will ALWAYS put in his mouth, still at 16 mos) and shells in little baskets (actually, these were from JoAnn's during a sale) on some shelves I put up in the play room. Not ideal in that my daughter has to ask for them if she wants to play with them, though.

[Mom2Camryn397]

Same problem here and baskets don't work for us. My one year old can climb up and reach just about anything so my three year olds goodies are only taken out during hthe baby's naps. Not ideal but it is temporary. Before he was mobile, I would use baskets and put camryn, my older daughter, on top of the table with her treasures so Nathan couldn't reach them. But now all bets are off and I haven't found a new solutioin other than to wait it out. Hopefully he is like his sister and won't be terribly mouthy beyond 18 months. In the meantime, i do take out natural items with him around every so often but only when i am willing and able to sit right with them and teach him to be careful keep everything from his mouth. I am curious if anyone has a good solution to this dilemma.

[lyrebird]

I am also keen to find a solution to this issue... if someone with an idea hasn't posted yet, please do...
At the moment we have some baskets that are big enough for my 1yo not to get into but he isn't walking yet. When he does it's going to get interesting... he puts EVERYTHING in his mouth. I have some things in a cupboard accessible to my four year old - the littlie hasn't figured out how to open the doors yet, but it won't be long. Maybe creating some kind of alcove that the baby can't physically access and which gives the older child a sense of ownership of her own space?? Maybe someone can come up with a nice way of doing this?

[mamaUK]

small size lined baskets with stones etc in put onto windowsil so younger one can't reach.

[mommabeehilly]

Ooh...what if you designed a pulley basket. ok might be far fetched...but it's an idea. Or a closet space that your oldest can get into?

I have a shoe rack on the back of one of our doors with all of our arts and crafts supplies in it. The things at the bottom are ok for anyone to get into and the things at the top "need supervision."

Oh and BTW I thrift all of my baskets. Found several yesterday for less than $2 each. Sometimes just seeing the right basket helps me think of a place to put it.

[lach]

When DS became mobile, a lot of DD's special things had to be moved up to her bedroom. Some of them have already come back down (DS isn't a big mouther), more fragile stuff will come back down when DS grows out of his throwing stage.

Philosophically I don't like putting them in private space, versus the public living area. But it was the most practical way to deal with the situation.

[aprons_and_acorns]

Originally Posted by mommabeehilly

Ooh...what if you designed a pulley basket. ok might be far fetched...but it's an idea. Or a closet space that your oldest can get into?

I have a shoe rack on the back of one of our doors with all of our arts and crafts supplies in it. The things at the bottom are ok for anyone to get into and the things at the top "need supervision."

Oh and BTW I thrift all of my baskets. Found several yesterday for less than $2 each. Sometimes just seeing the right basket helps me think of a place to put it.

I love the pulley basket idea. Another thing I thought of was using long-handled baskets and hangning them from hooks, Shaker style.


I thrift my baskets too, they always have dozens to choose from and for just a few dollars at most.