How to Contain & Donate Toy Clutter Before the Holidays

Toy clutter can be such a daunting thing with kiddos in tow. It often seems like the toys never stop coming in. Especially when you have friends and family members who are constantly gifting toys to your kiddos. We see with our professional organizing clients all the time how hard it can be to organize toys on a regular basis. 

• Let them know why you are decluttering. Most people declutter toys because there are more toys than there is space. Many kids often respond well to decluttering by letting them know that the toys will be donated for kids who do not have as many toys as them or will go to a new home for some else to play with. 
• Let kids be involved in the decision making process of decluttering. From deciding what to keep / giveaway to where things should live. Some parents like to do this, while other parents would rather not have kids involved in this process.
  
• Make it fun. Put on music or make decluttering into a game. 
• Keep questions simple and have piles ready. Keep or giveaway? Do you use it &/or play with it? Do you love it? Be sure to have a box, bag or bin ready to put these items in and make sure they are properly labeled. 
  
• Have the kids sort all like items together. This way they can really get a feel for and be able to see exactly what they have. 
• Use labeled bins. Once they have decluttered let them put into bin, baskets or whatever you choose to use so they know where things need to go back to when they are one playing with them.
• Compromise. Inevitably kids will want to keep something that you don't want them too, so compromise on maybe them giving up more items in order for them to keep that one item. 
• Host a garage sale or put items up for sale online. Let the kids keep the proceeds from the sale. Maybe even encourage them to put some money in a save, spend and donate buckets. 
  
• Let them decide where to donate items to. Go through a list of local charities, churches, organizations, etc. with your kids to find the place they would like most donate to. 
• Celebrate. After the process is over reward yourselves for your hard work on accomplishing a big project. 

How do you contain toy clutter?

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Client Busy Woodlands Mama: Toy Closet Organization Before & After

Anyone still working from home and running out of things to organize? I thought I would share this toy closet that I helped this client in The Woodlands, TX organize last year and there was no extra money spent here. This family has actually since moved from this house. Here is what I did:

• We pulled the things that were right in the doorway out. 
• The client went there are get rid of everything she no longer needed, which wasn't a ton, but definitely helps. 
• Then we sorted like items together like games, lego, household items, decorations, etc. 
• Then we grouped those sorted items onto the shelves to give it a more cohesive look.
• We put items like the vacuum back in after. 

What you don't see in the after pictures below is that the left side there is a shelf where things like batteries, bulbs, and household items like that went. The organization process is so different for so many people. Do what you can, when you can. 

Client West U Mama: Toy Closet Organization Before and After

About a year ago we helped this client turn their toy closet into a functional space. We added some new product that they had bought and then also used product that they already had in order to keep most toys in here. 

1. I sorted all the items.
2. Contained them.
3. Organized. 
4. Labeled. I hand did the labels and the client chose to keep them like that at the time. 

You can find some similar products used on this project here:

Iris containers

Shoeboxes

Mesh drawer units

Metal bin

Mesh baskets