Congratulations on having the twins. I have twins also and they are so special. its fun!

I’m trying to organise toys.. what’s the best method to use??

Chandelle, Qld Australia..

Here are my 7 top tips for organising (and keeping) children’s toys organised

1. Keep toys to a minimum by decluttering regularly. Schedule decluttering sessions before birthdays and Christmas.
2. After birthdays and Christmas, hide some toys and reveal a new one every couple of weeks.
3. Rotate favourite toys so that the children actually play with the ones that are out.
4. Keep a toy basket in each room of the house so that it’s easy to put things away instead of having to constantly return to another room.
5. Use appropriate kid-friendly containers. Don’t buy storage containers with difficult lids to open but do buy square, clear-lidded containers. Labels are your friend!
6. Store things you don’t mind being “messed with” at the children’s height. And things you want to control at adult height.
7. Train your children to put toys away after playtime… and allow for clean-up time….or they get taken away, permanently if you’re very strict or otherwise for a certain period. Yes, there will be crying but think of the long-term gain and the life lessons you’ teaching your children.

What are your favourite tips for keeping toys organised?

I could use strategies for how to get an overwhelmingly disorganized house under control with two small kids.

I often comment that when I got into one room and get some things organized, I come out to find they’ve trashed a different room. I have fantasies of ordering a dumpster, parking it in the driveway, and just tossing everything but the furniture out the window to be carted away by my friendly garbage man.

Shannon from Ohio, USA.

Shannon, believe it or not, before I got organised, I used to feel the same way. Especially about my wardrobe. I’d hope that we’d get burgled so it would all go and I could just start afresh.

I still feel like that in small areas of my life – like before I did a major wardrobe declutter last year and when I see all the babies’ clothes!

But here are my suggestions for you and the kids:

Have a toy basket in each room
Even if there are things that technically don’t belong, they’ll be contained.

Enlist the children
They made the mess, they can tidy up. Start getting tough with them and make sure they understand that when we’re done playing, we tidy up.

Even though my babies are so small, I already make them tidy up. Joking! But I do drape one baby over my one arm and tidy up with the other hand. While I’m doing this I tell them, “now we’re putting your toys away and we’re taking the glasses back to the kitchen” because the minute they can start doing it themselves, they’re going to do so (children as young as 1 can throw toys into a basket).

Have consequences for not tidying up
They “lose” the toys for a certain period of time if you find them where they don’t belong.

As for the whole house being disorganised, start with a master plan by using a master to-do list or a mind map.

With the Organise your Home ecourse, we do just that – tackle one room at a time until your whole home is organised and we set up routines so that you won’t have to ever completely organise everything.

Usually people see big results even after week 1.

Just one of your ideas has been worth the price of the e-course alone! Everyone in the family is so excited by it.

Thank you so much – this has really been money well spent, and I really look forward to the rest of your emails every week!

Fran Kerrigan Hartford, WI

How do you keep your house organised if you have small children?

You can teach your children to be organised. The earlier you start, the earlier you can delegate

While they’re organising, they’re learning valuable life skills. They can learn to sort, to return toys to their homes, to make decisions while decluttering.

What to use
ice-cream tubs
clear shoe bags
wastepaper baskets – for tall, thin items like swords, cricket and baseball bats, etc.
ziploc bags -for puzzle pieces, legos, etc

How
Make things easy. If you use a basket without a lid, it is easier to put things away.
Label clearly with pictures.
For smaller children, use the bottom bookshelves and free-standing storage bins on the floor.

Declutter regularly. Now is the perfect time right after Christmas to go through those rooms and get rid of the old stuff

How do you stay organised with your children’s toys?