organizing a room

[Angie L]

I am so aggravated I have been working all day trying to clean and organize my sons toys. I never had a problem but now he has a lot of small men, army men and legos and lots of cars. It took me over three hours trying to separate all his toys. Then I had to go through and organize both of his rooms. Is their any secret to getting your six year old to make sure he puts things back away where they belong. Any help is greatly appreciated

[Leigh]

At the daycare, we use clear storage bins with pictures of what is supposed to be in the bin on the bin. We also put a picture of what is in the bin on the shelf where the bin is supposed to go. Then it is like a matching game. You can use a camera for the pictures or you can cut them out of magazines. Hope this helps!

[AnnW]

Yep...I found the small plastic bins to be a life saver too when ds was little..there was a bin for legos, matchbox cars, block..ect..each category had it's own plastic bin...what a lifesaver!

[TXmom]

I agree - our house is almost totally encased in plastic LOL!

[kat]

Bins are the way to go. The lableing of both the bin and the place on the shelf are also important. I label both ends of the bins. Also I use colored ones instead of clear, just because I can't stand to see the clutter on the inside either.

[KarlaB]

I also use bins and just this week worked on getting them all labeled. I am even doing labels for all of my holiday totes and can't wait to be so organized!! :D

No help on how to get your ds to put the toys back where they belong...I have the same problem here! Maybe try to limit how many different things you let him have out at one time? Tell him he needs to put them away when he is done and if he doesn't you can put those toys in a "time out" box as a consequence? Good luck!

[strawberryfire]

I found some bright coloured nappies i had never used and made some simple drawstring bags out of them, i then let him choose a motiff, or iron on patch to put on the front, and hung them all over the room. they have worked well for us, as we don't have room for a lot of containors and he can get to them, with out asking for help with the lids.