The child barely had time to be born, and happy parents and loving relatives have already begun to shower him with a variety of toys. This collection is growing steadily, and if in the first years you still have a chance to somehow place old and new gifts, then the question of where to store children's toys will become an issue. The area of the apartment may be clearly too small for this.
Toys in the house appear as if out of nowhere. It seems that they are pouring out of a cornucopia, occupying all the corners. And only you, it would seem, managed to stop this toy invasion and concentrate everything in one heap, when something will certainly try to roll out at your feet. So where should we put this child’s happiness so that there is no chaos in the house and at the same time, the child can easily use them? How to organize a children's play space? How, after all, should you properly store these so different toys so that you can live comfortably and your baby can play with them freely?
wardrobe with open shelves for storing children's things
You need to start with the main thing - sorting. Look at the toys scattered on the carpet. You can't help but notice how different they are. There are animals here that are almost life-size, and tiny surprises from Kinder eggs, and it’s simply impossible to look at the abundance of construction elements, balls, cars and dolls without panicking! And there is nothing to throw away, because your child simply cannot imagine his existence without this bear cub with a torn ear and will never fall asleep unless he hugs a tailless cat. Well, let's try to at least put the house where the baby lives in relative order? Then let's get to work!
furniture with open and closed shelves
The easiest way to solve the problem of where to store donated children's toys is by owners of private houses . They can allocate for this:
- Lumber room.
- Garage.
- Basement.
- Room.
There’s not much room to roam around in the apartment, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any ideas.
Storage Secrets
“Provide each drawer of the system with a label, then both you and your child will know where and what children’s toys should be stored.”
If you are tired of eliminating the consequences of a hurricane of play that swept through the room, try using several techniques that will certainly save time on cleaning and allow you to involve in this process a child who is happy after active games and is not at all ready to put away everything scattered during them.
open shelf with baskets
- Sort toys by activity.
Look through the mountains of toys and try to select those that you have clearly “grown out” of; perhaps you can already do without them, and you will persuade your child to give them to some kid. Discuss with him what must be preserved and what can, for example, be sold and with the money received buy something more appropriate to his age and needs. Next, start sorting the remaining things, while at the same time thinking about where you are going to store children's soft toys, educational games, accessories for active games, educational books, etc. If you are uncomfortable, you can come up with your own type of sorting. The work done will not be in vain. During this process, you will be able to decide what kind of storage system should appear in the nursery so that the space is optimally used, and everything available can be hidden in it. If the child’s room is spacious enough, then the problem can be solved by dividing its area into certain zones, according to the child’s interests. If the room is inhabited by children of different sexes, then it makes sense to organize a creative corner in one corner, equipping it with frameless chairs, and next to it there is a low table on which you can play board games. Such a table must have drawers where children’s small toys and the game boxes themselves can be stored. There is enough space under a table of this design to organize a garage. In the opposite corner, a small housewife's kitchen may appear, with dishes, a sink, a stove and other accessories. The center of the room is ideally covered with a fluffy carpet, on which it is very cozy to play together.
storing children's things in decorated buckets
- Everything is in place and there is a place for everything.
In a children's room, vertical shelving systems will pay off, especially if children of different ages live in it.
They have easily accessible and secure bottom drawers or roll-out containers. In this case, the baby will always know where his parents prefer to store his children's toys, and will be able to easily get everything he needs. In general, when stored correctly, toys should be located at the level of children's eyes. Having purchased such a system, even if it is very stable, do not be lazy to attach it to the wall. Children's safety must be paramount. Check that the furniture does not have sharp corners or falling off fittings. If it is not possible to order a storage system, use baskets, bags, containers, but before you take them, decide on the number of toys to be stuffed into them, so that at home these containers do not turn out to be miniature and cannot hold a hundredth of a child’s wealth.
plastic buckets mounted under shelves
- Labels.
Provide each drawer of the system with a label, then both you and your child will know where and what children's toys should be stored. These do not necessarily have to be letter inscriptions. If the child is small, it would be more appropriate to replace them with thematic pictures that are understandable to the baby, then while cleaning you can simply show him another toy and ask: “Where is this from?” Thus, the hated cleaning will turn into an exciting activity. This marking will make life easier for you too. If you need help finding the right thing, you won’t have to turn over a mountain of toys.
- Open shelves.
Those toys that children play with constantly are best stored on open shelves. It’s easier to take them from there and they are always in front of your eyes.
full-width cabinet
- Create comfort.
In addition, where to store your children's toys, the child must have a place to play with them, so provide the room with a carpet that matches the scope of children's fun. This does not mean that the toys will focus exclusively on the carpet and will not lie in other places, but you will insure your baby against accidental injuries.
- Tools at hand.
There is no opportunity to purchase expensive shelving - look around, you will probably find several items in the house that are quite suitable for storing toys. This could be a wicker basket previously used to collect laundry, or an old suitcase.
- We teach you to be clean.
The appearance of storage systems in a child's room is a great way to teach a child to maintain order and neatness. For the first time, you will have to show by personal example what to do and how to do it. The next time, ask your child to put it all together on his own, and if the task is completed correctly, be sure to reward him.
textile basket for storing toys
- Gaming space.
If the space allows, then organize a separate playroom for your child. This will relieve you of worrying about organizing free space during non-game time.
How to quickly assemble
Many parents, when thinking about the design of a nursery before the baby is born, do not remember the places where they will have to place toys.
Bottles, pacifiers, diapers and baby vests occupy all their attention
Storehouses for children's treasures have to be created when the furniture is purchased and the room is decorated. How to quickly find storage space:
- analyze the presence of free corners, walls, space under the table, bed;
- empty the bottom drawers of furniture;
- make narrow shelving that does not take up much space;
- Always use the free space above the door to create mezzanines;
- hang a hammock in the corner for soft toys;
- for small figures and cars, use transparent plastic jars with screw caps;
- purchase plastic containers that are sized to fit the available space in the room.
In any case, you will have to use some of the furniture and finish something with your own hands.
Where to store children's toys: original ideas
“Ottomans with folding seats are of particular interest in the question of where to store children’s toys.”
Boxes for toys. Aesthetic, brightly painted plastic boxes are suitable for storing toys. They can be with or without lids. It is convenient to put toys in such an improvised storage, and to make them also convenient to look for, equip the boxes with special stickers and collect toys in them together with the baby, each time pronouncing the name of the toy and focusing the child’s attention on the box with a certain mark.
bed with niche for shelves
Buckets. The toys can also be collected in plastic buckets, and in order to save space, rationally fasten them together, organizing something like a pyramid. For example, you can put three buckets at the base, attach two more to them, and crown the creation with the last one. In such a design the following will feel wonderful:
- Cubes.
- Balls.
- Small cars.
- Designers.
- Small toys.
children's wall with drawers
A bucket pyramid will decorate an empty corner. Faceless buckets can be decorated with bright self-adhesive pictures or painted with felt-tip pens, doing similar creativity with your child. Surely this will delight him and arouse his interest in cleaning up toys in the future.
Hammock. Here's where, but not every mother will think of storing children's toys in a hammock. Try hanging this non-standard home decor element in your child’s room and see how much it will inspire your child to put away his toys. Such a hammock can appear in the hallway. You can put outdoor toys in it. But it should not hang high, but at a level accessible to the child, so that he can take everything he needs without your help. There is also no shortage of toys in the bathroom. Here they are suggested to be stored in ordinary string bags or in laundry bags. As they say, simple and brilliant.
convenient hanging baskets are an excellent solution for small children's rooms
Needlewomen who know how to sew can build a whole patchwork fabric, which will also be used as toy storage. The patchwork piece is attached to a cardboard frame or a regular gymnastics hoop. This is necessary so that the fabric does not deform and the storage hangs evenly. Outside, you can make several spacious pockets where you can store children's toys such as cars or dolls. You can also assemble a similar structure from polyethylene, then the baby will also be able to see which toy is where.
Boxes. Large boxes from global purchases are often left around the house. Don't rush to throw them away. Cover them with fabric with a cheerful pattern or cover them with the remnants of wallpaper with a children's theme, decorate them with ruffles, beads, bows and you, too, will get a wonderful place to store toys.
Linen bags. Such soft baskets, especially those made by yourself, will have an incredibly presentable appearance. Involve your child in decorating them with appliqué; creative processes always arouse children’s interest.
Wire baskets and string bags. These old things can also be used in a children’s room, where sometimes you don’t even know where to store children’s toys. From these unlucky elements you can create a very cheerful composition. They are painted in bright colors and placed in a chaotic, or less often, checkerboard pattern. Often funny drawings or signs are attached to it. Particularly advanced parents even attach such boxes to the ceiling, creating unique garlands from them. Unconventional, but practical!
Returning to the topic of old boxes and boxes. They can be put on wheels and made mobile. This will make it easier for your child to collect toys.
open shelf with plastic containers for storing small dismountable toys
Sometimes ideas can be really unexpected. Where to store a lot of children's toys in the country? How do you like an old tire as storage? In country conditions, this is a completely acceptable option.
Toys with metal elements can be stored on magnetic holders. Thus, the child will have his own “honor board”. Everyone's favorite toys will be on display.
Suitcases and chests. They will do an excellent job as toy storage units. In a boy’s room they will generally look like a godsend, especially if it was originally decorated in a pirate style. Decorate them in an appropriate manner and the child will be happy to hide his treasures in them. In a girl's room, a small, beautifully painted chest will be indispensable for storing doll clothes, your own cosmetics and jewelry.
four-level wall-mounted open shelf
Poufs. Of particular interest in the question of where to store children's toys are poufs with folding seats. In their depths you can hide a construction set, coloring books, and many other useful things.
Nets, hammocks, hanging sections
Hanging hammocks and nets designed for storing toys appeared relatively recently. Yes, they require some space in the nursery, but how stylish and unusual they look in the interior! They are easily attached to walls or furniture surfaces using conventional fasteners.
Hanging sections and wall cases for toys are several cells with a hole in each and can be used to store something light and not too bulky: soft toys, balls, clothes for dolls and girlish handicrafts.
For doll lovers, you can easily make a hanging panel with rows of rubber bands: dolls, securely fixed with such rubber bands, will hang in orderly rows, waiting in the wings.
Volumetric toys: for each there is a place
There will be no problems with large soft toys. They can be placed on the mezzanine or closet, but a bicycle, scooter or street car will have to look for a place on the loggia or in the corridor. Since these toys are quite bulky, the rule of regularly returning them to the designated corner must strictly apply. If the apartment is too small, then the two-wheeled bicycle, along with the scooter, can be stored directly on the wall, hanging from the frame on special hooks. The child, of course, won’t be able to take them on his own, but there’s nothing you can do about it; you’ll have to help him take them off, as well as hang them up.
Let's return to soft toys. Take a closer look at them, maybe something can replace a pouffe in front of a chair or become a pillow? Or maybe what animal is rich in pockets? Then you can hide various little things in them. Sometimes adults choose places to store children's toys with double benefits. For example, in one family they placed a huge tiger on a closet. His hanging tail became a buffer, softening the blow against the wall of the interior door.
hundred with a niche
You've probably seen funny, bright bags in the shape of ducklings, frogs and little mice in stores. They are very convenient for collecting jump ropes, balls, and rackets. It is better not to put small toys in them, because the baby will quickly spill all their contents on the floor.
You can put small soft toys in such bags. Moreover, compact them tightly enough. Don't worry, nothing will happen to them. They will not wrinkle or lose their shape.
All crocodiles, raccoons, and elephants can, in turn, be sent to an improvised cage. For this, some transparent box equipped with twigs will do. This way, everything remains in sight, nothing falls off the hooks, and cleaning is greatly simplified.
For soldiers, mosaics and other small things, you can use boxes, small buckets with lids, for example, for mayonnaise or ice cream. The main thing is that all the toys of the same type fit into the selected container. In this case, the containers can be adequately labeled, and the child will always know what exactly he needs to take, and not empty the contents of all the boxes and buckets.
cabinet with pull-out containers
There are several other good ideas on this matter.
– Small boxes or baskets mounted on the wall are suitable for light and compact toys. The main thing is not to mount them high so that the baby can dig into them himself.
– Place small toys, such as Kinder Surprises and Lego, in plastic containers.
– If the room has high shelves, then you can display your child’s books and crafts on them.
textile bedside pockets are very convenient to use
– Hammocks where they plan to store toys are hung directly on the wall. They send rubber toys, dolls, along with their outfits, and plastic dishes.
– The bathroom should also have a place where it is convenient to store children’s toys . Such storage can be an ordinary basin, standing somewhere under the sink. You can allocate a whole shelf for this or just put all the ducks and fish in a bag and hide it in the nightstand.
– It would be a good idea to put toys that go outside into a bright handbag that is convenient to carry with you. Inside it the child will always find:
- pasochki;
- shoulder blades;
- bucket;
- watering can;
- ball.
– If you are inclined towards needlework, make an organizer for your child. These homemade pockets are the perfect place for pencils, brushes, glue and erasers. It is better to place the organizer in the creativity zone. For the play corner, you will need to sew larger pockets to accommodate dolls, robots, and cars.
children's dressing room
– In private homes, a large bucket with a lid can be allocated for “street” items. Convenient and inexpensive from any point of view.
Secret No. 3: correct placement of drawers on racks and shelves
The most popular toys, toys that the child can play with himself, are located lower, in the child’s direct reach. And we place small toys that he needs help to interact with higher up. What we want to get out less often and, preferably, on our initiative, can be put away in opaque boxes. And what we would like to remind the child about more often is in transparent ones.
For example, if you want to play some educational games more often and get your child interested in them, you can put them in a prominent place on the shelf. And if you want to keep games with plasticine under complete control, that means we put the modeling material in an opaque box and place it higher.
Furniture for the nursery
If the nursery is spacious, it may have a wardrobe or specific cabinet furniture, on the shelves of which it will be easy to sort everything. Give preference to closed storage systems. Open shelves are only good in pictures. In real life, maintaining any kind of order on them is incredibly difficult, and this is not to mention the dust that constantly settles there.
When buying a table or crib, pay attention to whether there will be somewhere to store children's toys? Not even a year will pass before you will begin to praise yourself for such foresight.
decorative toy boxes
A great solution could be a loft bed, full of all sorts of sections and drawers. Even steps can be used as shelves.
Conclusion
Try to teach your child not to be Plyushkin from childhood. Make a rule: when a new toy appears, give one of the old ones to someone or give it to an orphanage. In addition to the fact that the apartment will not turn into a toy warehouse, you will teach the child to think not only about himself, and the problem of where to store children's toys will disappear by itself.
Consumables
A toy storage box can be made from any materials you have in the house. The main thing is that it is roomy, bright and comfortable.
As consumables you can use:
- wooden boards,
- boxes,
- cardboard sheet,
- any fabric,
- foam rubber,
- braid, ribbons.
The product must be made from environmentally friendly materials. To prevent the child from getting hurt on wooden elements, they are sanded.
Primer and varnish will help increase the service life of natural wood products. All fastening connections must be strong.
You should not use synthetic cord to tie the bag, as it slips and will lead to constant untying.
Photo gallery - where to store children's toys:
Trash box for emotions
For children aged 3 years, the room begins to become clogged with a large number of toys. Just getting clogged. Many things on the shelves are not appropriate for their age - for example, a pyramid for a five-year-old girl. But there could also be another situation - the boy has a hundred cars and he doesn’t remember where they came from. His room is gradually turning into a children's toy store.
It is at this moment that the depreciation of objects and toys begins. A period of boredom begins.
The first thing to do is throw out the bottomless toy box. Every family has this miracle box. But why is it bad?
Imagine - the grandmother came to the baby and gave him a bunny. The child runs joyfully, takes the bunny and charges him emotionally. As a result, he spends the whole day with this bunny. But evening comes and mom quickly removes all the toys and puts them in a bottomless box. Including a donated bunny.
And what happens in this situation - the baby received a new bunny as a gift and it emotionally charged him. And you devalued the bunny by throwing it into a bottomless box. And if this bunny ends up at the very bottom of the box and the little child doesn’t find it there the next day, then he will forget about this bunny. He will forget about the positively charged emotion.
This bottomless box can be called an emotional trash box. How it works? Remember your favorite thing from childhood. You will probably have some image in your memory. This means that this particular image was very emotionally charged. For example, a favorite doll and a very unloved scratchy sweater. These two things were emotionally charged - one positively, the other negatively.
How can this be translated into adulthood? For example, you were really looking forward to the release of a new phone. You bought it and are sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee, looking at the new features of the phone. There is a two-year-old child nearby. And you need to go to another room. Will you leave your new phone next to a cup of coffee and your baby? Most likely no. Because this item has some value to you.
We carefully preserve those things that are valuable to us. We enjoy them and try to contact them as often as possible.
Additional mugs
Catch a life hack. If your son or daughter goes to extra classes after school, for example, to a music school or sports section, then they need to have several backpacks.
How many sections a child attends, the number of backpacks he should have.
Why have so many backpacks? This way you will relieve tension from him. When children move some things from one backpack to another, some of the things will definitely get lost or forgotten. And this is extra stress for the baby.
Some parents themselves pack their backpack for school and activities. But you don’t need to do that. It is the responsibility of a first-grader child to assemble his/her portfolio independently.
We bought backpacks, taught the child to pack his things on his own, but the question of storing these backpacks remains. If it is one or two backpacks, then you can still find a place. What if there are five backpacks? Furniture stores sell floor clothes hangers. The hanger has many hooks where you can hang a large number of backpacks.
