What is the best way to store toys? This post outlines realistic, budget-friendly ways to organize toys. The best toy storage ideas don’t have to be complicated or expensive, and this article proves it.
Are there toy storage ideas that actually work?
In short: yes.
But let me tell you: I hear you and the frustration over toy storage and organization.
It’s one of the great dichotomies of parenting: you need to have toys in your home AND want to have some semblance of home organization. Toys, somehow, become the antithesis of home organization.
Toy storage is a parenting white whale, holy grail, and Sisyphus “pushing the bolder up the cliff” moment, all at the same time.
(PS: Someone alert my high school English teacher to my excessive use of literary metaphors in the previous sentence. He needs to know.)
The point of all these metaphors is this: organizing toys is a challenge and frankly, most of the “best” toy storage ideas on the Internet seem great for people who don’t have kids, have no budget, and must have 10,000 square feet of open living space.
RELATED: Indoor toy storage isn’t the only hill to climb. Check out my ideas for outdoor toy storage.
How do you store lots of kids toys?
You store them with thought, purpose, and deliberate intentions. That’s sort of the underlying thesis of this post (omg, again with high school English).
I want you to know that you can absolutely have toys organized and well stored at your house without:
- Having a playroom or basement
- Living in a McMansion
- Donating all your toys
- Spending tons of money on storage pieces
What it takes to have great toy storage is exactly what I said above: thought, purpose, and working deliberately. Plus also the ideas, life experience, and research from some lady on the Internet (wink wink, nudge nudge).
Please remember this:
My wins in toy storage happen when I think critically and thoughtfully for our space.
My fails in toy storage happen when I rush into an idea just because Pinterest told me to.
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Why does toy organization matter?
Remember: toys are the tools for play in childhood. We must think thoughtfully about those toys. The storage of toys becomes a critical part of the play process.
Live, store, and organize by these principles:
- Kids can’t access their play if they can’t find their tools.
- Play isn’t as functional if tools are hidden.
Toy organization is more than just keeping your home “looking nice.”
Toy storage can make or break a child’s ability to find their play, and we want children playing independently.
The best toy storage ideas and tips
There’s a few parts to toy ownership that need to be expressly stated.
My credentials: After nearly a decade of teaching young children followed by another decade of parenting, I’ve experience a lot in terms of toys. I’ve seen what systems work, what fails, what helps kids play, and what prohibits their independence.
I know what I’m talking about here.
4 Key Thoughts on Toys:
- Toys must be visible. Out of sight: out of kid mind. If they can’t see a toy, the toy doesn’t exist.
- Ditch the boxes. They take up space and hide toys.
- Too many toys can be overwhelming. When a child goes to play, if they can’t make a decision on what to play with (because there are too many choices), that child is more likely to reject independent play. We don’t want this. We want children to be able to find their toys and select them quickly.
- Toys must have a home. If a toy doesn’t have a designated home, do not expect it to ever be organized.
Revealed: the best toy storage ideas
These ideas are what work for my family and in my home. Not everything will work for yours. My reasons in posting this are to give ideas around toy storage that are realistic, doable, and tried and true.
My storage tips have helps my kids with untold hours of play, and helped me keep my head on straight despite the number of toys we own.
Busy Toddler is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Read more about these links in my disclosure policy.
How to organize toys in a closet
In my house, we don’t have a playroom or basement. All the toys my kids own have to fit in their closets.
This means I have to be intentional and smart about how I organize things.
To make things work, I have a few key toy storage ideas that I repeat constantly throughout their closets.
Shoe Box Bins
The shoe box bin is a staple. It stores one type of toy and kids can see inside of it to know what that toy is. It’s small in size so it can’t be overfilled and it’s very clear what goes back where.
Other brands that I use:
Cube Bin
For larger toys that you don’t need to see (like magnetic tiles or LEGO Duplos), these bins are great. They conceal the mess but kids can still peak in and know what goes in each bin. Again, just one type of toy per bin.
Clear Cookie Jars
These plastic containers are PERFECT for toys that don’t fit right in a rectangular container or if you need a different shape for your space. They’re fantastic. I have so many.
Puzzle Rack
I cannot sing the praises of this enough – we actually own two. These store all the chunky puzzles in our house. After 9 years of use, we haven’t lost a puzzle piece yet – largely because the puzzles have a safe home.
Shelves
The shelves in my son’s closet are “custom.” They’re pre-painted shelves from Home Depot, length cut in store to fit, and held up with brackets. I love not being restricted to cubes in this closet.
How to organize dress-up clothes
In my youngest child’s room, I found a space behind his door to support dress up clothing.
I used a mounted, accordion hat rack for the hanging clothing and three simple bins below for the hats and accessories.
This was the first time dress-up clothes organization worked in my home. After YEARS of failed attempts and I finally found a model that works for us.
Accordion Coat Rack
The exact one I bought is no longer sold at Target but this version looks nearly identical. What I like about this organization piece is that the accordion can stretch or shrink to fit your space.
How to organize board games
Board game storage is a tricky one. It’s easy to want to leave things in the cardboard boxes, but that took up so much room for my family.
So years ago, we ditched the boxes and went with The Zipper Bags.
You know, “The.Bags.”
Yes, it means I cut down the boxes.
Yes, I know that’s hard for many of us.
But it was so worth it to get so much space back and be able to more efficiently store board games.
Zipper Bags
The iconic Instagram viral bags. These are perfect for just about everything, but my love-affair started in the board game closet.
RELATED: Need more information on how I store games? I have a separate post just about the board game storage hack.
How to organize toys in a bedroom
It’s been a decade of trial and error to fine tune toy storage in bedrooms. I finally got there, and it’s been smooth sailing for the past few years enjoying all this organization.
Kids know where toys go.
Toys get played with and toys get moved back. It’s a beautiful toy life.
The mark, to me, of a well done storage situation is if other kids and parents can clean up a space.
My daughters room is often the center of play at our home. Sometimes 10 kids will cram in here playing. At the end, they do a pretty good job (from toddlers to tweens) of getting things back into their places.
Cube Shelf
Over the course of my parenting life, we’ve owned 7 versions of this shelving unit. This 4×2 has been in my daughter’s room since she was 2 years old. Target also has it in 1×3, 2×2, 2×3 and even more styles as well. We have this tipped on the side and anchored to a wall.
A few notes:
- Pro: This holds a lot, it’s durable, and the price cannot be beaten.
- Con: It can sometimes be limiting to work in the 11′ inch cube parameters
Utensil Tray
My daughter loves “loose parts play” and we store her toys in this utensils tray. What’s amazing about this set up is that not only does she keep it organized, but any child who comes to our house has been successful with cleaning this toy up because it’s such a well designed space.
Wire Bins
I have an older style of these bins that I use for my daughter’s rainbow blocks and large animals. These are fun to have out because they’re pretty to look at and functional.
Honorable Mentions for Toy Storage
There are three important honorable mentions that must be included in this post (but they didn’t fit into one of my Monica Geller categories, so here we are in this catch all group).
Books, tiny toys, and treasures.
Books were overrunning my kids’ bedrooms. All the good spots for toys were taken over by books, and while I love that (what a problem to have), it was creating issues with storage.
To ease the pressure books were putting on their rooms, I moved books to the hallway.
Since my kids (7, 9, and 10) are fairly close in reading level, this system works. It may not have been as great with tiny tots reading board books or picture books, this is a magical system for chapter books (and books of that size/shape).
Rotating Bookshelf
Warning: It’s not cheap. It holds 230+ books for my family so it’s been worth it for us. When I assembled ours, I did not add the box on the bottom. It would have been too tall for our space.
Tiny toys are often super hard to organize. It’s hard for kids to manage them, they get lost, or in mixed up bags, kids can’t find what pieces they need.
As my kids got older (keyword: older), I started using a hardware cabinet. We use it for LEGO pieces. Wouldn’t it be fabulous for Barbie accessories?
Hardware Cabinet
This system has worked great. Started it when my oldest was 8 years old. It’s needed a few refreshes but it’s been way better than the alternative of all loose small LEGO accessories strewn about.
Do you have a child who loves treasures?
I have two.
To help keep their important treasures (rocks, small toys, geodes, etc) safe, I use a 1990s style organizer. Best. Decision. Ever. This thing holds so much and keeps these precious artifacts from cluttering up the house.
Treasure Organizer
It’s been a lifesaver to have this. Everything in a place. Everything safely stored.
The importance of toy storage ideas cannot be overstated
Toys are the tools for childhood.
Children use these tools for the most important work they do: play. If a child can’t access or find a tool for their play, it’s as frustrating as when you misplace something in the kitchen or can’t find equipment in the garage for your next project.
Help kids find their tools.
Think critically about your toy storage at home, and above all else: make a functional and accessible.
Susie Allison, M. Ed
Owner, Creator
Susie Allison is the creator of Busy Toddler and has more than 2 million followers on Instagram. A former teacher and early childhood education advocate, Susie’s parenting book “Busy Toddler’s Guide to Actual Parenting” is available on Amazon.
Syllable counter says
This is a great post! I have been looking for ideas on how to store my son’s toys and this is perfect!
Jackie says
Hi! Long time reader, first time commenter 🙂 This article is great. I know its outside of your normal play/toy focus but I’d love to see a similar article on how you organize kids clothes with limited closet and storage space. From the day to day so they can access what they need and help clean up/put away laundry, to systems for for organizing/storing next season stuff or items from siblings that are a few sizes away. Just an idea – we really struggle with this and reading this article made me wonder if you have tips/tricks in this area, too!
Shayna Fung says
Love these!What do you use to organize the toys outside?
Danielle says
I love these ideas! How would you recommend storing larger items like American girl dolls and all their accessories?
Arica says
This is very helpful. I have such small closets so I’m looking for a ton of tips. What are your thoughts on storing pretend food?
Erika says
Thank you for the tips! What about kids who share a room and toys, but are at different levels? I have a 5 y.o. and a 2 y.o. and my 5 y.o. is into building kits, LEGO, etc., while my 2 y.o. is a destroyer. HELP! I feel like we just end up limiting my older child.
Rachel says
Susie,
Did you take the doors off your kids closets? We just moved and in her new room, my daughter has a decent amount of toys organized on a cube shelf but we had to put it in her closet for space. The cube shelf has roughly the same toys on it it did in her old room (and they’re great toys – magna tiles, baby dolls, etc.) but sure enough, she never plays with them. I mean, I’m about ready to take it off anyway but happy for some support convincing my husband from the “crazy lady on the internet.” 😉
Susie says
We did not take the doors off BUT what I did when she was littler: I would open the closet EVERY MORNING. “Good morning, Kate….” and I’d open her closet. Almost like opening the window to see the world. I’d open her closet to see the toys. Same with my youngest. I would try that first. I’d also let things simmer a little – with the transition to the new home/room, she hasn’t formed her play routines yet. She needs time to find her flow, same as it takes us time to refind our flow in a new kitchen layout. Hope this all helps!! ~The Lady on the Internet
Joanne says
Thank you! This is so so so helpful! Question… what do you do with miscellaneous stuff? Not enough of a kind for a whole bin, not enough surface space to set everything out. Ex… small rocket ship, wooden people and school bus, small cars, shape sorter, etc. any thoughts greatly appreciated!!
busytoddler says
Anything that can be left out – like a shape sorter – I leave without a bin and just set it there. I do have a miscellaneous bin in each kid room that is SMALL and we go through it often. But generally, if it doesn’t need a bin to sit in (like a rocket ship), i just set it on a shelf to be out and seen.
Crystal says
My husband (34) has been a Lego collector his whole life. One wall of our basement is Ikea cubes on the bottom and Akro-Mils cabinets on top. The opposite wall is built sets. Dragons , aliens, and spaceships hang from the ceiling. There’s a bookshelf with just Harry Potter sets. Kids are in awe when they come over lol
Stephanie says
How on earth do you store the lego kits that are a set all together on their own…? We are just getting into this lego thing and I feel like we should keep the pieces of each kit together somehow but we have about 10 different kits and there is already a bin going of pieces that I have no idea which kit they go to.
busytoddler says
The sets the he keeps out and plays with are on the floor of his room in what we call “LEGO world.” I’ll add a picture to this post. You can see Minecraft LEGO world on top of his LEGO dresser. The extra pieces from a set or the additional pieces, we generally just mix them in to the appropriate colored spot. Only a few sets that are REALLY complex (like a robotic LEGO tree cutter), we keep zipper bags in a dresser drawer far away from normal LEGO play.
Megan Ramos says
Love the idea of toys in the closet, but where are the kids’ clothes kept?
busytoddler says
In my daughters closet, you can see it is mixed in to her closet and some is not pictured (stored in the drawers under her bed). In my sons, he has a dresser where his clothing is stored. I prefer the clothing in dressers or low to the ground so kids can make their own clothing choices. It also helps me make sure not to over-buy clothing that then they won’t use or use often. We have an IKEA dresser with unders/socks up top, and then a drawer for pajamas, one for tops, one for pants, and one for future clothing/handmedowns. It works great for us!