OK, it’s day two of our organizing week and today we’re sharing how we manage Clara’s growing collection of toys and books. This isn’t a step-by-step makeover post (that comes later) — it’s a practical system that’s worked for us to keep kid clutter under control and make playtime more enjoyable for Clara. We get asked all the time how we organize her things, so here’s the full rundown.
When Clara was a baby organizing was easy: a small ottoman, a basket with rattles and a few blankets for tummy time. But toddlerhood brought a huge influx of items — books, crayons, bowls, drums, stuffed animals, pretend food, blocks, cars and dolls. We started out stuffing everything into multiple baskets and ottomans with no real system, and the result was scattered toys everywhere and more work for us at cleanup time.
The turning point came when we converted our big white ottoman into a “toy store” — a place to stash toys that aren’t currently Clara’s favorites. Instead of leaving every toy out all the time, we keep a small selection accessible and rotate the rest. The change made a surprising difference.
We pared down what’s always out to a single basket of favorites. The rest go into the ottoman or a storage bin in the closet. Limiting visible options seems to help Clara focus and play independently for longer stretches. The idea is simple: keep one manageable basket accessible and rotate toys occasionally to keep things fresh.
That one basket contains a mix of go-to items: a few stuffed animals, a wooden pull toy, balls, a small purse from Grammy, a couple of baby dolls, a favorite dress-up skirt, and a pot she uses to move small objects in and out. Her most-loved items are kept together in a small fabric pouch she enjoys zipping and unzipping — the pouch itself is a toy as much as what’s inside.
The pouch contains a handful of small favorites: a few cars, a toy phone (and John’s old disconnected phone), a wooden train, a small ball, some plastic animals, a tiny plane from a trip, a shaker, two rhythm sticks and a scarf from music class. That pouch gets pulled out multiple times a day and can be tossed into the main basket at bedtime, which makes nightly cleanups quick.
Books live in two dedicated baskets — one in the office and one in the living room — so we know where they belong and they don’t get mixed into random toy piles. Baskets are easy to grab and work better for now than a full bookcase, since Clara frequently empties any shelf she can reach.
We also gave puzzles and blocks their own homes. Shallow baskets under her dresser keep puzzle boards and pieces together, which cut down on the nightly hunt for missing pieces. One basket holds puzzles, another holds blocks. Now when pieces wander, we at least know where to return them at bedtime.
Clara has dedicated “zones” around the house: a little coloring desk for supervised marker and sticker activities, a hallway rocker, and her play kitchen where kitchen toys live in the cabinet beneath the sink and in a small thrift-store shopping basket. Having specific spots for certain types of play helps reduce scattered items and makes nightly pickup a simple walk down the hall to return things to their homes.
We keep special supervised activities in a kitchen drawer so they feel extra special and aren’t available all the time. When we want to change up her play, we can bring those out and they hold her interest because they’re not everyday items.
For outdoor play, the rock box continues to be a winner — it gives Clara a separate zone to dig and explore. We’re planning an outdoor storage bin for larger trucks and buckets that won’t fit under the covered rock box, which should keep the yard neater when the box is closed.
This system isn’t perfect and it will surely evolve as Clara grows. The keys so far: limit visible toys to a single manageable basket, rotate items to keep play interesting, give puzzles and books a consistent home, and create distinct play zones so toys don’t migrate everywhere. We also involve Clara in cleanup — she’s starting to understand that things have a home, and sometimes she even helps put them away.
What tricks do you use to organize your kids’ stuff? There are so many approaches — from giant playrooms to minimalist baskets — and we’d love to hear what works for you.
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