5 Ways To Organize Toys

1. Toy Rotation = Instant Magic

You don’t need all the toys out all the time (hello, chaos). Stash half in a closet bin, and swap them every couple of weeks. Suddenly those same old blocks feel brand new. Bonus: less mess to clean up. We keep some toys upstairs and some downstairs!

2. Give Toys a Home

Every toy needs a place to live—whether it’s a basket, a bin, or a drawer. Keeping toys grouped by activity makes life so much easier—blocks in one bin, art stuff in a caddy, puzzles on a shelf. In our house, we even use two chairs with storage bins that slide underneath just for Legos and blocks. The kids know exactly where to dump them, and cleanup is literally a slide-and-done move.

3. Turn Clean-Up into a Game

Forget nagging. Grab a timer (ours is a chicken named Cluckey 🐔) and say, “Let’s see how much we can clean before Cluckey goes off!” Five-ish minutes later—hopefully, maybe, yes— living room floor is back.

5. Keep Only Toys That “Play Well Together”

Random one-off toys are clutter magnets. The real winners? Toys that come as a set or connect with others—train sets, over-the-chair play kitchen, magnetic tiles, dolls with accessories. These kinds of toys open up endless play combos and cut down on all the weird random pieces that just end up scattered.

Bonus Tid Bit

As a rule in our house, grownups do not pick up toys. Toys are the kids’ responsibilty always, UNLESS mommy or daddy wants to just bless their socks off and show them what it means to be a blessing to each other! We train the kids that we are all responsible for maintaining our home and keeping it peaceful and clean! Their future spouses will thank us for teaching our people how to keep a clean space ;) I know I thank my MIL all the time!

Shoutout to fellow mama, Jen who advised me on countless toy hacks through the years!

-From Another Mother, Lex