Whether you embrace it or fight it your children will end up with a crazy amount of toys. It would take real discipline to prevent the toy spread which occurs in every home with children. Well meaning relatives and friends, party bag toys, and even Father Christmas contribute. Before you know it you are tripping over hot wheel cars and sitting on Lego.

As a mum of three we have a lot of toys, so I developed a system before my sofa disappeared under an avalanche of stickle bricks.

The first stage of successful toy organisation is storage solutions. Basically without storage solutions you cannot organise the toys. In their bed rooms I have three Ikea Trofast systems like this;

The second stage of toy organisation is finding a system which works for your family. I organise the toys into boxes by type, so train track, lego, marble run, playmobile’s etc. Then I label each box with a sticker saying what is in it, with a picture for the children who can’t read. The boxes are easy to get out and my children can help themselves to what they fancy playing with.

Moving downstairs I have this Ikea system (with baskets in some of the spaces);

I use the spaces in a number of different ways. Each child gets a basket in which to keep their special toys. I use other spaces to put out some of my youngest daughters toys, a Montissuri inspired idea, which is great for younger children.

I use the final spaces as book shelves, dividing the books into categories like toddler books, older books, reference books. This really inspires reading as the books are easy to find and each child knows which books are for them.

Finally I have a small table and children’s chairs for doing crafts etc. Nearby I have a shelf with boxes of play dough, paints, activity books etc.

The final stage of toy organisation is to make sure I have regular toy culls. Toys which are not played with, are broken or missing pieces get removed and either taken to charity shops or thrown away depending on their condition. This way the children can easily access the toys they really want to play with.

I find this system works perfectly for my family. Although we have a lot of toys, they can all be easily put away at the end of each day. Do you have any toy organisation tips ? Please leave a comment and share them with me.