Organizing My Kids' Toys

We all know that moving requires us to organize and re-organize our things. Well, I have had to do just that since my family and I recently moved. My daughter's toys have been such a mess since we moved. My husband and I had all of the toys placed in one BIG box!

Luckily, we have made some adjustments. While we were unpacking, my sweet mother-in-law came to the door with some awesome clear plastic boxes with lids that she had found over at the dollar store. She then asked if we had needed some help reorganizing the toys. Then, I remembered my classic toy organization rule, as an early childhood educator:

Why should we label the shelves and boxes with both pictures and words? 

Well, it's simple. Little kids can't read!

Having pictures placed on their boxes will help children know where their toys belong.
Not only does this help you in cleaning up messees, but there are also some learning skills that your children benefit from with this organizational technique:

1)  Putting words and pictures together will help your children with their reading skills.
2) Your children will learn how to sort their toys.
3) Your children will be matching toys to their individual boxes. 

These are tasks that should be practiced frequently, especially with your little ones.

I truly encourage you to take the extra time to label your storage areas, 
so you and your children can "clean up" in a fun and educational way.

Now, do you want to see my daughter's toy boxes?



All I did was simply taped a picture with the label above it onto each clear plastic box, then placed the toys inside. I didn't do anything too fancy. The reason being, with my experience as a teacher and a parent, I know these labels will eventually fade and I'll have to make more. It's just apart of being around young children. But, at least, I know there is some organization to my daughter's bedroom.
And she now knows that all of her toys have a special "home",  just like she does.