Getting Rid of Toys

"DECLUTTERING TOYS AND MORE (12/16/97)The day before you open presents is a great time to pull out toys that need to be thrown away or taken to Goodwill. W/ the new toys coming in, the kids usually don't even notice when you pull things that are broken or they don't play with anymore. If you have young children, do it the nightbefore you go to bed. W/ older children give them a grocery bag & ask them to fill it with things they don't want any more. Offer the kids $2 for the first bag they fill, and $1 for every bag after that, you'd be surprised what they might get rid of. In most homes this wouldn't be difficult at all. For some kids having them do it after they open presents might be a little easier, it just depends on the kids. And before you ship things off to Goodwill, look a little closer to home, does your church nursery need some of those toys, could the church kitchen use the appliance that you never use?? POST IT...on your calendar."

Leave Batteries out of the toys!!

Found this cool and interesting tip...

Leave the batteries out of toys to double the fun
By Ash@ Dornfe$t on fun/toys

Tracy, I don't know how long it will be till the kids are onto this, but it's brilliant.
At our house we get double duty out of our toys. When introducing a new toy we try to use it without batteries first... Then after using it that way for several weeks or months we add batteries for an almost new toy with all new experiences! This is especially good when your children are really young - it helps to develop their imagination in a world that is so "electronic crazy."

This brings back memories of my kids' loud toddler toys. The worst was an older version of the vTech Sort n' Go car (I don't know how it sounds now). We were so happy when the batteries ran out. Why we didn't take them out I'll never know.

Cleaning Children's Rooms

Here are some creative and fun ideas for motivating children to clean their rooms.

Make a cleaning map for a child's room, showing where everything is to be stored. Include items such as compact discs, shoes, books, stuffed animals and dirty laundry. Not only is this fun and educational, but the child also has no excuse about not knowing where to put away items.

Another way to help a child keep a room clean is to organize the room with bookcases, low shelves, CD stacks, colored plastic bins and dressers with a lot of drawers.

Avoid using a toy box. They just beg to be emptied. If toys are kept on shelves or in color-coded plastic bins, they can be located easily without a child having to dump everything out.

Keep a chore list in a child's room so they know what is expected of them on a daily or weekly basis. Daily items could include jobs such as making the bed and putting away toys.

Use an old pillowcase to store building blocks. Sew a drawstring around the pillowcase opening.

Turn a plastic milk jug into a storage container. Cut a hole in the milk jug on the side opposite the handle and a child can store small cars or action figures in the jug. Leave the handle on so it's easy to carry.

Store stuffed animals in a large plastic bin, which makes it easy to keep all the animals together.

Pack doll clothes and accessories in plastic zipper bags. This helps keep all the small pieces together.

Store toys on a shelf that the child can reach. Fill covered storage containers with toys and keep them on shelves.

found this article at HGTV here.

TOYS

"Turn unused wall or door space into storage with peg, Velcro, and hanging-bag systems. They can clear the floor of everything from stuffed animals to backpacks to scooters. A plastic chain is workable for children who are old enough to use the attached clips. A shoe bag can hide inside a closet door or serve as wall decoration. Affixing a Velcro strip to a wall and Velcro pieces to stuffed animals makes cleanup fun for toddlers. " (photo by Bob Hiemstra, from here)

"A Basket in Every Room Place a bin or a sturdy basket in each of the main rooms where your children play. Teach your kids to deposit their toys there when they move from one room to the next. Your nighttime cleanup ritual will be quicker and simpler as the kids will need to go to only one place in each room to retrieve the toys they've played with during the day. "

(from RDLiving)

Label, Label, Label.
"When it comes to keeping kids' rooms organized for the long haul, labels save the day! Use a computer printer to make simple graphic labels for young children. Pictures of socks, shirts, dolls or blocks help remind the child where these items belong. Enhance reading skills for older children by using large-type word labels.

Slap labels everywhere: inside and outside of drawers, on shelf edges and on the plastic shoebox storage containers that belong there, on boxes and bookcases and filing cubes. Playing "match the label" can be fun--and turns toy pickup into a game" (from here)

TOYS

Found this here.

Stroller Organization

Hook shopping bags to the stroller with toy plastic links
By Ash@ Dornfe$t on travel/going out

The Mama figured out a way to ease the schlep factor while shopping with a stroller:
We have a ton of thoselinks that hook on to toys and car seatsfloating around our house. I was out running errands with a friend and we made multiple stops. The basket of my stroller was already filled with our giant diaper bag, so I took one of the links and hung my reuseable bags from it, then hung the whole thing from the stroller's handlebar. It kept things neat and they were high enough that I didn't them as we walked.
One caution: heavy shopping bags can cause the stroller to tip backwards (we've all done it, haven't we?) so be sure to keep a hand on the stroller at all times.

CLOSETS

Here is where I'll put my tips on Closets. I stumbled on a really cool article called Dollar Store Closets.

Some of the things I really liked were the Labeled storage baskets and the Memo boards for artwork.

"To organize a child's room, solutions must fit the child. For younger children, remove closet doors entirely. Lower clothing rods and invest in child-sized hangers. Use floor-level open containers to hold toys, open plastic baskets to store socks and underwear. Devise a simple daily checklist for maintenance. To organize a child's room, tailor the effort to the child." (found here)