The Great Playroom Clean-up

So... inspired by this blog, I've decided to purge and organize the kids' playroom. When Munchkin was a baby, hubby and I were very good about not purchasing a crazy amount of toys for him. The extra room in our house that we called the playroom was basically empty except for a few small toys.  Munchkin mostly played with household items... pots, pans, spoons, ect...

Baby Munchkin (13months) in an almost empty playroom.

After hosting a huge Christmas the playroom has definitely earned its name.  Then a few months later at his second birthday party a whole new shipment of toys came through.  Munchkin made out like a bandit on both occasions.  Little Bear has some things as well, but most of the clutter came from Munchkins things. This was the playroom on Sunday when I started this project.

That would be Little Bear sitting there amongst the madness.

I started simple by going through all of the toys, lots of the cheapy happy meal toys went in the trash. I washed some of the other toys and put them in a box to give away. On Christmas I want to go through again and donate some to the local hospital or school. My goal is to make this a tradition for the boys.  I really want to teach them that giving is just as important as receiving.

I've been trying to introduce Munchkin to some responsibilities.  His first new job is to put his toys away at least twice a day, after lunch and before bedtime.  Trying to get him to clean-up is some what of a challenge these days.  I feel like if I just did it myself it would get done faster.  However, I know the benefits will outway the challenges in the long run.  So we sung a clean-up song and got to work together.  He did a pretty good job.  LOL, he started getting frustrated with Little Bear who continued to take out the cars after Munchkin "parked" them.  Sheesh now he knows how I feel. : )

I'm definitely not a perfect organized mommy... But I know the basics.  Everything needs a place to go, if it doesn't have a place then it's got to go! I also made sure not to pack every bin.  One is empty waiting to be filled with new toys. (Little Bears birthday is coming up so I'm sure it won't be empty for long.  Since Munchkin (or Little Bear for that matter) can't read yet, I put some of my teacher skills into play and took pictures of all of the toys to tape on the outside of the bins and walls. I grouped the toys that were similar together: musical, small cars, action figures, teethers, ect... We got the colorful toy bins and rack from my mother's classroom when she retired. Thanks Mommy! (Yes I still call my mother mommy.)  By the way the colorful toy bin rack is attatched to the wall for safety.  The larger toys have a specific place to go along the walls.  My goal is to get another large toy box for the big toys, but I haven't found one I like yet.  Please let me know if you've got any good ideas.

We didn't have anymore photo paper and since I wasn't taking a trip out with both boys just for paper and I was too excited about organizing to wait for the hubby to get home (wait did I just say excited about organizing?!?!?!) I just printed the photos on regular paper with bold word labels. They are a bit flimsy (munchkin already crumpled one up while trying to help) so we shall see how long they stay intact. Anyway this is the after, I'm very proud of myself and my playroom.

Thanks for Reading,

Leiah

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iheartorganizing