Keeping Little Boys Organized
My children all seem to be pack rats, and I have no idea where they get it from!? Well, a few months ago, I showed you how I organized the boys’ room which my 16 year old and six year old share.
This is what it looked like then, but my little guy and I had let the organization go a bit, and he has new favorite items, and so we needed to phase in and out some things. So, after I had picked up some tools at the dollar store…
I took about an hour on a Saturday morning to quickly sort through his toys that he keeps in his bedroom. My hubby wasn’t crazy at first about me using buckets because he likes the canvas bins, and I do too, but the buckets were cheaper, don’t take up as much room, and they have a handy dandy metal handle on them.
This shows a fraction of what I was dealing with, and of course my little guy was supervising to make sure I did the job right, and didn’t get rid of any of his treasures.
Since I still haven’t opened the Cricut machine that my mom got me for Christmas last year (I am sorry mom, this week, I promise), I just cut some labels from scrapbook paper and hand wrote categories on them.
I even labeled one container “whatever” because I figured that was easier than “miscellaneous.”
I attached the labels with this putty which I really like to use for lots of things, because it never dries out, and you can reuse it again and again, thus making the labels easy to switch out also.
I also used it to hang Christmas cards on our mantle.
When my son wanted to hang his newly colored canvas on the door first, and then on his wall, we used the putty. No holes, or tape and it is easily removed.
Since my oldest son did not want me to touch his shelves (he gets the top 18 shelves), here is what my youngest’s allotted shelves looked like when I was done.
There you have it, nice and organized, and now that he is learning to sound out words, hopefully we can keep it together better.
Hope you find something helpful, and if you didn’t see their closet/gaming station that I posted last week, you can see that here. We certainly don’t expect perfection around here, just attempts to keep chaos at bay!
Have a great day!
Some of my shelves I bought at Target, and some at Lowes. They come in cube sets of nine, and then we just attached them to the wall and together to make the wall of cubbies. I think they are Closetmaid, but I’m not positive.
Great idea! I have 2 boys and their toys are always a frustration. Are those IKEA bookshelves?
oooooh I am lovin’ this idea! I have a 7yr old & 14 yr old that share a room….and we def have issues with organization.
Love the idea. It is so hard to keep littles organized but we are much happier mommy’s when those toys are organized. At least I am:>
I am having a Feature Friday linky party and would LOVE for you to link up 🙂
http://www.blissfulanddomestic.com/search/label/Friday%20Link%20Party
Wow. What great ideas. Wanna come do that in my son’s room? 🙂 Would you be willing to share here?
http://oneartmama.blogspot.com/2012/01/shine-on-fridays-9-and-some-fabulous.html
I would love something like that for my boys’ room! My 6 year old and 19 month old are sharing. Currently thier toys are in baskets and tucked under thier beds. But the cubbies give it a special touch.
Just Pinned this! Totally featuring it next week!
Doesn’t organizing things make you feel so great. I am partying right after you at funky junk.
Oh I think I have organizational envy now! LOL! That looks so incredible and I so relate to the “pack rat” syndrome. Everything is a “treasure” to my son and it is very hard to keep it all under control. I think the buckets are fantastic and I’m so glad you shared this with us at Inspiration Friday this week!
Vanessa
When my sons were small I used boxes in a similar fashion and they kept their room clean and organized. It taught them early how to tidy up after themselves.
You haven’t opened your cricut yet? What are you waiting for? The organization is awesome and makes my heart go pitter patter!
That’s great! I love that giant shelf! And the “whatever” label is awesome. : )
I dream of getting my son’s toys organized. He’s not yet 2 so he doesn’t categorize at all yet leaving a rather mixed jumble that gets tossed into storage containers. I yearn for a more organized approach and hope it comes as he gets a bit older (with my help of course). This is a great approach and we have shelves just like these!
I love the bucket idea…I like the canvas totes that go with the Closetmaid cube shelves but I end up carting them all over to wherever my little boys want to play and they don’t hold up well. I might try that instead.
This is a great idea!! I’ve been thinking about something similar with the cube organizers. Love it!
What an awesome idea! I’ve pinned it!!!
I have a six year old pack rat too! LOL He has a “Whatever” drawer.
Great idea! I especially like that you bought the buckets at the Dollar Store. I’ll have to head there soon.
My boys are both pack rats too and this is an amazing idea. Thanks for sharing. I would love it if you could link this to our linky party going on right now.
http://www.junkintheirtrunk.blogspot.com/2012/01/link-it-up-wednesday-11.html
You read my mind. I am currently trying to figure out how to organize my 1.5 yr old’s toys since Christmas came and threw up all over his room. Thanks for the tips and inspiration
Wow… I’d totally forgotten about the putty stuff… I had to use it in my dorm room back in the 80’s! ha! Thanks for the reminder!
Oh I just love your educational resources! I would love for you to share your stuff on my site via my weekly homeschooling on the cheap linky: http://3boysandadog.com/2012/01/homeschooling-on-the-cheap-january-12-2012/
Love it! My kids toys are out of control right now. I’m tackling the kitchen right now but their rooms are not far behind. I just got a Cricut for Christmas – you need to open yours! They are so much fun 🙂 I would love for you to share this with my readers if you get the chance! http://www.momontimeout.com/2012/01/taking-timeout-thursday-no-12/
Organization is great. We spent a part of our Christmas vacation organizing and cleaning the room my three girls share. Wonderful way to start the new year.
Do your kids put things back where they belong? What a great post! Would you please share this with our readers for fun stuff fridays? http://toysinthedryer.com/fun-stuff-fridays-6/
I absolutely love this project! Looks lovely. :o)
You should definitely share this with my blog readers on thrift[me]. They’ll love it: http://thriftmeblog.com/lets-organize-2012-kitchen-countertops-recap-link-party/
Great ideas! Thanks for linking up on Family Time Tuesday!
Janice
Celebrating Family
Wow! I’m impressed. I love how colorful it still is with everything on the shelves.
Congrats on being the #3 most clicked post on Mommy Solutions last week! This room rocks! If you haven’t linked up anything new, yet, stop in the linky is hoppin’! http://crystalandcomp.com/2012/01/the-mommy-club-share-your-resources-and-solutions-27/
Thanks for sharing, Crystal.
With all boys, this was an awesome post.Thanks for linking it up on my Homeschooling on the Cheap! last week. You were my #2 most clicked post. If you have something else homeschool or educational that you would like to share, the new linky is live. http://3boysandadog.com/2012/01/homeschooling-on-the-cheap-january-19th/
Thanks, Kelli
you can also take photos of the things that belong in the buckets and use those as labels … for little ones who are too young to read.
great job!
I’ve been wanting to do something like this in our playroom, you’ve inspired me!!
Shannon@SewSweetCottage
Like your buckets.
What a great way to organize for kids! And if they are too little to read, you can use pictures for labels.