One of the best things about the holiday season is watching children unwrap their gifts. The excitement they have as they franticly tear apart the wrapping paper to find out what is inside. When they finally get it unwrapped, and their eyes light up, and they smile from ear to ear, that is one of the true joys of the holiday season. If you have little ones in your life, I am sure you know exactly what I am talking about and look forward to it all year round.
As much as you love seeing the joy on your child’s face when they see their new toys, as parents, that toy may just be seen as clutter, slightly clouding the joy of the holiday season. You start thinking about how often you’re going to be cleaning up after the new art set your daughter received or step on a Lego that has been left lying around. Parents, you’re not alone in this feeling, but it does not have to be this way.
To help you out, I will be sharing my tips for culling, organizing, storing, and systematizing all of those new holiday gifts. Your child’s playroom will be neat and tidy all year round, well, if the kids cooperate.
1. Pare Down Pre-Holidays
One great thing to do every year right before the holidays is to go through all the toys your child already has. Create boxes for items to be sorted into the keep, maybe, or donate piles. This is a great way to eliminate clutter from toys your child no longer plays with and donating them to Goodwill or other organizations that take donations. This is a great, sustainable solution to cleaning out your house. If there are special toys you or your child wants to keep create a separate small box for toys to be stored and revisit it each year to add or eliminate items.
2. Set Up Storage Systems
Another great way to keep your child’s playroom organized and clean is by using storage units. Setting up some type of storage system before the holidays is a great idea so that right after they have opened and played with their newest toys, they have a place to go. Shelving units are a great solution for organizing and storing toys. To keep the toys hidden from sight, lightweight cloth bins that can be placed on each shelf are a great option. There are different seating cubes or benches that open up to provide storage within. This option is multi-functional as it provides seating and storage in your child’s playroom. Creating fun clean up games can be a great way to create systems for cleaning up and ensuring the toys get back into their storage container.
3. Prevent Unruly Unboxing
Children get so excited when they get their new toys and want to tear them all open at once, but they might lose some pieces in the process. Teach your kids how to carefully unbox all their new toys, to make sure they keep all the pieces together. Use reusable plastic bags or storage containers to sort small pieces and find a home for them in a storage unit. With larger toys use cloth storage bins to keep things together in one place. All of these containers can easily be labeled to ensure that items get placed back in the correct spots.
4. Store Similar Items Together
One last tip is to store like items/toys together. Have dedicated spots for games or puzzles, so they can easily be found and put back where they belong. The same goes for Legos, arts and crafts, or other toys. When you have dedicated spots, your children can learn and be responsible for putting things back where they belong.
The holidays should be stress-free and full of joy. Seeing your child’s face light up with excitement from their presents should be a joyful moment for you, so don’t stress over the clutter those new toys may bring. You’ll have an organized playroom in no time if you follow my 4 great tips. The key is to find a home for everything and have the proper storage for the items. If you need a little extra help, I’d love to offer you some more advice or check out one of our other blogs on decluttering your home!
5 Simple Tips for Inspiring Joy at Home
Have any questions about organizing all those toys? We’ve got you! Leave us a comment below and we’d love to share our expertise.
Xoxo,
Jill