I hope it's okay to put this here. We struggle constantly with toy organization. We have four kids, but one's a baby, so there are three that play with the toys all the time. We have a small bin for each type of toy. We rotate. Now my kids can get in the front closet where I keep the extra toys though, and get all of them out at once. BIG mess. So I moved them all but five bins to the storage room in the basement.
We used to have an "art cart" which was a three drawer cabinet with paper, markers, crayons and coloring books. It was in the kitchen and the boys could use it anytime they wanted, but crayons and markers needed to stay at the table. We had some issues with crayon on the wall and floor in other rooms and they weren't cleaning up, so it's been removed now.
I'm always trying to find ways to make it better and give them more chances. One thing I've been thinking a lot about is how well things work in preschool. They have an area for each type of toy. Puzzles, blocks, trains, dress up, art, etc. I think it's neat, but the room is also huge. Our playroom is 12x11, I think. Right now all that's in it is an activity/train table. We bought it for the train set, but after preschool last year, I regretted it because they put the train together on a big rug, so it could be put together by the kids however they wanted. Ours can really only be put together one way (by me) to fit on the table. I love the table for block building though.
Does anyone do this with your playroom? Do you have suggestions for organizing it? I think we need to find better ways to store things to make it work. At preschool, they have a shelf that holds big blocks. We do need some type of rug for the train set (or they could use the tile in the entry way. It's big and totally wasted space (as long as they keep it away from the front door so people can come in). I wish the builders used some of the space from that and made the playroom bigger.
They all do so well at preschool with playing in designated areas and cleaning up after. Is this wishful thinking and a design that wouldn't work well in a house? Or has anyone done it and found that it's possible? Do you have suggestions for making it work? Or any other ideas for better organization? I want them to actually play with what they have instead of being too overwhelmed with so many.
I've been reading a lot about the Montessori philosophy and it's interesting. I'm not sure how that design would work in a house though.
We used to have an "art cart" which was a three drawer cabinet with paper, markers, crayons and coloring books. It was in the kitchen and the boys could use it anytime they wanted, but crayons and markers needed to stay at the table. We had some issues with crayon on the wall and floor in other rooms and they weren't cleaning up, so it's been removed now.
I'm always trying to find ways to make it better and give them more chances. One thing I've been thinking a lot about is how well things work in preschool. They have an area for each type of toy. Puzzles, blocks, trains, dress up, art, etc. I think it's neat, but the room is also huge. Our playroom is 12x11, I think. Right now all that's in it is an activity/train table. We bought it for the train set, but after preschool last year, I regretted it because they put the train together on a big rug, so it could be put together by the kids however they wanted. Ours can really only be put together one way (by me) to fit on the table. I love the table for block building though.
Does anyone do this with your playroom? Do you have suggestions for organizing it? I think we need to find better ways to store things to make it work. At preschool, they have a shelf that holds big blocks. We do need some type of rug for the train set (or they could use the tile in the entry way. It's big and totally wasted space (as long as they keep it away from the front door so people can come in). I wish the builders used some of the space from that and made the playroom bigger.
They all do so well at preschool with playing in designated areas and cleaning up after. Is this wishful thinking and a design that wouldn't work well in a house? Or has anyone done it and found that it's possible? Do you have suggestions for making it work? Or any other ideas for better organization? I want them to actually play with what they have instead of being too overwhelmed with so many.
I've been reading a lot about the Montessori philosophy and it's interesting. I'm not sure how that design would work in a house though.
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