Why you should get rid of the big toy box in your playroom

A big toy box is like a staple in any house with kids in it. It is a great catch-all for all the toys. You may even have one in the playroom, one in the living room and one in each kid’s rooms. But did you know the best place for a toy box is NOT in your house?

Toy boxes are actually really just a big mess in disguise. Kids have a hard time finding anything in toy boxes, and end up tossing things out of it to try and find something buried in the bottom of the box. And to that fact that the bottom of the toy box ends up with all sorts of random game parts, bits and pieces of other toys (think lego pieces, matchbox cars, Barbie shoes) that will never see the light of day again, yet clutter up the toy box. And when you ask your kids to clean up the playroom, the toy box also becomes a catch-all for other things that actually have a home in the house, but get pitched in the toy box for a quick cleanup.

Instead of a large catch-all toy box, instead use a plastic box organizer system with boxes clearly labeled. Use smaller boxes for Barbie accessories, lego pieces, while using larger ones for dolls, transformers, or whatever your children’s toy collection happens to have a lot of. Make sure boxes are clearly labeled – words are fine for older children, but putting pictures on the boxes to help kids know what belongs in each box – simply go to a site like Amazon.com and print out photos of the items that belong.

Have special space on the shelf reserved for boxed games and puzzles, complete with pictures so your kids can easily identify what belongs where.