*This post has been sponsored by DYMO. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
If your home is anything like ours is after the holidays then I can place a pretty safe bet that you’re dealing with toy clutter! I’ve got some GREAT playroom organizing strategies for you to crush the post-holiday clutter! I’ll also give you my tips for paring down toys and prove to you that having FEWER toys actually leads to MORE playtime. Say what? Bear with me and let me show you what I’ve learned through much trial and error!
Once upon a time, I was a mom that thought my kids needed ALL the toys and should never have to get rid of anything. Fast forward four kids and ten years later and I’ll tell you that kids need far less than we think they do. The more toys they have, the less they actually play with their toys. I know this because I’ve seen it time and time again. Not only does an abundance of toys overwhelm your home with clutter, but it also overwhelms your child with too many options. I’ll show you exactly how to tame the clutter and lead to a tidier, more productive playroom. Let’s get started!
Playroom Organizing Strategy
You’ll need a couple basic supplies to get started with these playroom organizing ideas. I purchased organizing bins from Walmart, however, you can get whatever type of bin organizing system that will suit your needs. And while you’re at Walmart (find your local store here!) you’ll also need to pick up a DYMO ® LetraTag™ Label Maker. You can find it in the office supply aisle and I recommend also getting a refill cartridge while you’re there. Trust me, once you start organizing with the label maker you won’t want to stop – and it definitely doesn’t hurt that both the LetraTag and the refills are so affordable! The white plastic labels are my favorite for household use. You’ll also need some garbage bags and 4 AA batteries for the DYMO LetraTag.
Now you’re ready to get started. I find the easiest way to properly sort through everything is to dump it all out. We used to have a few toy boxes that were utterly useless. Please pass on toyboxes. Everything gets tossed in and nothing gets played with! When toys are sorted into groups they are easier to identify and play with and they are also easier to clean up afterward. Start with a pile of toys and get sorting.
Start one pile for “keep”, one garbage bag for trash, and one garbage bag for “sell or donate”. I highly recommend doing your playroom organizing when the kids are NOT present. They get attached to everything, but you’d be surprised what they won’t miss when it disappears. If you aren’t sure about getting rid of some things I recommend storing them out of sight in a storage bin and if your child doesn’t realize it is gone after a month or two then it’s safe to get rid of it. My kids know that mom gets rid of stuff and gives it to kids that don’t have toys. They’ve come to expect it. I keep their favorite things but everything else is fair game.
If you can’t manage to pare the toys down to a manageable amount that will fit in your storage bins then I recommend rotating toys. Set up a few storage bins that have toys in them that are put away. Rotate toys on a regular basis and this will reduce the clutter and increase the appeal of the toys as they seem “new” again when you bring them back into rotation.
Once you’ve sorted through ALL the toys and pared them down considerably, it’s time to move on to organizing the toys that are left.
I love organizing so the next part is my favorite! Grab your new DYMO LetraTag label maker. I’ve owned this brand for 10 years and love the latest handheld model! Remove it from the package and add four AA batteries.
Insert the included cartridge inside the DYMO LetraTag and you’re ready to go! Super easy.
Now it’s time to start labeling your bins in easy categories of toys. Just type in the word(s) you want to use and then hit “print”. Once it’s done press the cutter to release the label. It’s extremely easy to use and I love that I can even use it one-handed! You can also change fonts and sizes along with a ton of other features you can play with. For this project, I stuck with the basic default settings and I love the small size of the labels for my bins.
Then, peel the backing off the label and stick it to your bin.
Keep your organizing categories simplistic. We have a few basic toys including cars, Legos, Playmobil and Duplo blocks. I labeled each bin accordingly.
I put a label on every single bin. We also have bins up high with arts and crafts supplies in them and I labeled those as well. I was so sick of pulling down each bin in search of what I needed. Now I can see at a glance what’s inside!
Guess what happened once I was finished sorting and organizing the playroom? The kids all rushed in to play with toys they hadn’t picked up in months! Trust me, you are not doing them any favors by having tons of toys to play with. The less toys they have, the less overwhelming it is for them and you. It also makes clean up time manageable for them. Our playroom used to get so messy that it was impossible for the kids to actually organize and clean it all. Now it’s manageable and when I tell them to clean the playroom, they are actually able to do it. It’s a win for both parents and kids!
So tackle that playroom clutter and then move on to the rest of the house! My kids’ closets were next on my list (finished!) and now I’m working on my spice cupboard. There are literally SO many things I use my DYMO LetraTag for. It’s super handy and helps me keep my house organized. Remember, if everything has a place then everyone in your house can pitch in to easily clean it and keep it organized! Too much stuff to give everything its own space? Time to pare down! Use these same tips in every room of your house. It’s freeing to let the clutter go!!
Grab the DYMO LetraTag and refills in the office supply aisle at Walmart!
Pin Playroom Organizing Ideas
Where did you get the white shelves with the slider places for the different sized bins? And the bins?
These came from Ikea
I really should get a label maker. I really think I would end up using it all the time if I had one!
Yes, I use mine on everything!
You have my dream organization for playroom! Can you come and do mine LOL?! I definitely need to do something with our playroom it is a disaster.
Haha sure! Be prepared to make the kids leave and say goodbye to at least half the toys lol.
We don’t have a designated playroom anymore as my boys are in their early teens; however, their bedroom could use some of these organization ideas! My youngest has a major LEGO collection that has out-grown his original organizing totes. I love the bins and he would LOVE to have everything labeled!
Once you start labeling things, look out, it’s addictive! My husband swears he is going to wake up with a label on his forehead someday. 😉 These are great tips for organizing the playroom though. I will totally second the fact that kids play with toys more when there are less. It seems crazy but it’s true!
Loved all your ideas and the bins are so perfect for organizing random toys. I need to get that label maker it makes things so professional.
The way you have your tubs setup is how I had mine setup. It works like a charm and I would never go back!
I love the way you have everything set up. It looks so organized and nice. I wish I had the room for having a playroom for my girls, but they have their own rooms instead for playing.
I need to do this for my craft supplies. They need organizing so badly! I like how easy everything is to find.
Yes, labeling my craft supplies was a game-changer! So much easier to find things now.
A label maker is just what I need. With being home alone with all the kids more often than not, it would make it so much easier to have things labeled.
You totally made me want to organize my kid’s toys! They have way too much stuff and I am always breaking my feet on the stuff.
I’m loving that you labeled everything. These are such great tips, I so need to do this for our playroom!
Super cool and creative. I love using Label makers
Loved all your ideas and the bins are great for organizing toys. I need to get that label maker asap!
Thank you! You can find it at Walmart 🙂
These are such wonderful tips! Living in a tiny NYC apartment, we need all hands on deck when it comes to organizing because things get messy very quickly!
With kids around it’s easy for messes to get out of hand in any size home!
We live in a small condo, so it is often hard to organize the kids things. I LOVE that storage system!
Thanks Reesa!
Love this! Where can the bins and the unit they slide into be found? Anyone know? Thanks!
Never mind 🙂 I believe I’ve found it. For those wondering, go here:
https://m.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/functional/18681/18706/
Happy organizing!
Yes, Laura the bins are at Ikea 🙂 Thanks for posting the link.
Little kids can’t read labels, use pictures, or color codes.
You could definitely use pictures as well! My older kids can read and help my younger kids and I find that when they are at an age they can’t read they typically need supervision and encouragement anyway so this system works well for us. Thanks for your ideas!
I am searching Ikea to find that storage system do you happen to know the name? I NEED to do this to my boys’ play room like this weekend 🙂 already have the label maker but that storage system would be wonderful! I’d like to purchase the one on the floor and the mounted one. any help is appreciated, have a great day!
found IT haha of course right about I post, its TROFAST
It is from Ikea 🙂 Good luck with your organizing project. It feels so good to get organized!
Amazing! Such a creative though to organize kids messy toys. Mom has to busy most time to arrange kids messy zone. It’s must helpful to organize kids playroom. Thanks for such a helpful kids playroom organization ideas.