Task #17: Toy Sorting and Cleaning

This entry is part 18 of 22 in the series Tackling Tasks

toy cleaning

We are kind of minimal when it comes to toys.  I mean, we don’t deprive our children the joys of playing with things, but we don’t buy a whole lot of things for them.  But even though we don’t buy a lot, it seems like we HAVE a lot!  And sometimes it can get to be a little overwhelming.

For today’s task, I wanted to accomplish a few things with the girls’ toys:

  • Sort them into give, store, and play categories
  • Clean them!
  • Create a toy rotation system.

To get started I got ALL of the toys in the house together in one area.  I turned on a good movie and went to work on sorting.  I went through each box, bin, and bag of toys and made some decisions regarding each one.  I got rid of toys that were just not useful anymore (too many missing, small parts, broken, etc.).  I set aside some to sell or donate soon.  I decided what toys needed to take some time on the shelf and which ones needed some more attention.  I kept in mind the things I would like to focus on with the girls in the coming weeks and months. The top shelf is for what is most important for the week.

toy organizationI also divided the toys into two broad categories: baby play and toddler/preschool play.  I do realize that since the girls have the same play space, they will play with the same toys, but keeping them in separate spaces really helps when it comes to clean-up.  G is amazing at organization for her age. She knows where everything goes. So I didn’t want to mess up the system too much.  I kept her high priority bins in the same places they were in before, so she would not have to remember new spots for everything.

And I cleaned all the toys!  I used the BabyGanics product for toy cleaning and it works very well.  I was able to get some serious gunk off of some of the toys and give the less gunky ones a good general cleaning.

toy cleaningI stored some toys in the garage, creating a toy rotation system that I hope will work for us.  I even took away some of the larger gross motor toys out of the play space so I can bring them in as wanted/needed.  I also refilled the What’s in the Box box for G.  I put in some items that are too small for W to play with (including some jewelery), so she can discover these things when W is not around but I need a minute to do something really quick.

I got some great tips for organizing and rotating toys from the readers of my Facebook page!  Thank you to those who made suggestions!

toy cleaning and organization


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This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. We just went through the donate, keep, toss… part of toy organizing…. I still feel we have too many! We may need to start a toy rotation again… Love that idea!

    1. ussleah

      I always feel like we have too many toys! They just seem to multiply overnight even after all the efforts to keep them under control! Our girls discovered the toys that I rotated out earlier this week and they are slowly finding their way back into the play area…ack! Time to do it again!

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