How to Create a Play Room Your Kids Will Love

Are there toys in every room of your house? Is your house hidden somewhere under a pile of toys? And you don't have thousands of dollars to renovate? Here are some easy, no-hassle solutions to a clutter free play area your kids will love.

Things You'll Need

• old catalogs or magazines
• some organizational tools, such as- bins, buckets, crates, etc.
• Ziploc bags (gallon, quart and sandwich size)
• 3x5 index cards
• Magic markers
• a little creativity

Instructions

1. 

   Send the kids to Grandma's for an afternoon. Sort through all your kid's toys and place them in three piles. One pile for the trash-(leave it). One pile for toys they play with but not very often-(like it). The last pile is for toys that never leave their site-(love it).

2. 

   Start working with the like it pile. Using the crates, bins, etc. separate toys that are similar. For example: balls all go in one bin. Cars all go in another bin. Dolls and accessories belong in another bin. Use the 3x5 cards to label these bins. Place these somewhere out of sight but easily accessible. A closet would be great for this.

3. 

   Next, take the love it pile. The key to keeping the children interested in these toys is organization. So sort them the same way you did the other toys, except you need to store them in open top containers. These toys should be visible, but neat. Label the bins in terms that children understand. "dolls" "cars" "mr.potato head parts". You could even draw pictures or attach a photo.

4. 

   Create a play scene. If you have leggos or blocks or dolls with furniture, build some small display that looks inviting. Something simple, like a child began building but didn't finish. This stimulates creativity without telling the child how to play.

5. 

   Have children's music playing softly in the background. Avoid using a DVD for this. Some children who are drawn to the tv more than toys, will abandon play and began to grow sedentary.

6. Finally, accompany the kids in there a couple of times until they get used to it. Once they have found their way around, give them some space play.

Tips & Warnings

• You can often find these storage items at garage sales, craig's list, Target, Walmart, or IKEA for very reasonable prices.

• Items with small parts (littlest pet shop, potato heads, Barbies) place the parts in Ziplock bags and label them with a Sharpie. The item and it's parts should go in the same bin.

Resources

• Junior's playtime songs
• Ikea-Children's Ikea