Getting Organized

Heidi has been putting her toys away for several months now, but sometimes she has trouble with it. It recently occurred to me that one of the reasons she might be having trouble putting her toys away is because it is so difficult to actually get to/in the toy box. So, I decided to do a little organizing.

This photo shows my process in taking everything out of the toy box to be organized. I used several large stuffed animals stacked on top of one another and a ride on toy to elevate the lid. (Sorry it's so dark. My phone is not the most amazing camera in the world :) ).

Next, I used the flash so that you could better see the pile of toys that makes me sick.

I knew there was no way I could organize while they were awake, so after they went to bed I sorted all of the stuffed, soft creatures into one pile, put random blocks into the block bag, put their chunky puzzles together, put all the books on the shelf, and put all the random little odds and ends into baskets and bags. I also took a bunch of the stuff that I know they don't play with or don't need anymore and put that into the red box you see.

Again, I'm sorry that it's dark but I hope you can see a difference :). Essentially, I don't care where things go. I do want to keep the little toys out of the toy box except in their bags because they sink to the bottom and get forgotten about. I'd also like to keep the books on the shelves because they too get lost in the toy box and take up much needed space. But as far as what tiny stuffed zebra goes in what basket or bag, that doesn't matter. I'm hoping that Heidi will eventually see this new system positively as a way for her to creatively decide which bag, box or basket to put her things in.

I would like to go through this organized stuff again and put a lot of it away to start a toy rotation because part of me also feels that they are both so overwhelmed with all of the toys they have it's hard to focus on enjoying anything.