How Do You Store Toys?

[littlemommy]

I have 2 small ottomans that I got when I first started daycare. I figured they would work out great-for storing toys and for extra seating if it is ever needed. Well, they quickly overflowed with toys. The wall that they sit beside is lined with toys.

I know a lot of people use a big basket or a big plastic bin, but I want something that looks a little nicer. There is no closet on my main floor where I do daycare (so annoying!) There is one small bedroom attached to my daycare room, but it is my animal room. One of my chihuahuas stays in there during the day (behind the closed door) and that is where the cat's litter box is, so no kids/toys are allowed in that room.

I wish I would have known when we bought this house that I would be doing daycare in a year! I would have waited for a bigger house!

[AnythingsPossible]

This is what I do currently. I am contemplating getting the 9 cube cubby from wal-mart/k-mart and using that. Not sure yet. At the least I will be getting rid of the brown shelves and get white ones and also new clear buckets for the toys if I don't go the cube shelf route.

I have a large wicker basket that I store infant toys in. Baby dolls and legos/blocks are just in baskets as well.

[WImom]

I have those fabric cubes you can get at target and they are lined up on my bench seat/ledge. I also have 1 plastic three drawer cart for kitchen and dress up stuff and a small shelf unit for the cardboard blocks and puzzles.

My manipulatives/harder puzzles and games are in a closed cabinet in $store bins and I take out a few every day and put them on the table to play with.

[NiNi.R.]

I have those fabric cubes you can get at target and they are lined up on my bench seat/ledge. I also have 1 plastic three drawer cart for kitchen and dress up stuff and a small shelf unit for the cardboard blocks and puzzles.

My manipulatives/harder puzzles and games are in a closed cabinet in $store bins and I take out a few every day and put them on the table to play with.

Love it! I sure wish I had a big room like this! Or at the least a separate room for my infants but my house just isn't big enough. Hopefully when my own children are in school full time I can afford to rent out a home for just my daycare.

[SunflowerMama]

I have those fabric cubes you can get at target and they are lined up on my bench seat/ledge. I also have 1 plastic three drawer cart for kitchen and dress up stuff and a small shelf unit for the cardboard blocks and puzzles.

My manipulatives/harder puzzles and games are in a closed cabinet in $store bins and I take out a few every day and put them on the table to play with.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your space and all that room! Looks great...and those big windows - so jealous! Bet the kids love it.

[WImom]

Thanks for the comments! They do love it, I used to do daycare in the basement until we moved and bought this house because it had a formal living/dinning that I could turn into a daycare and be on the first floor.

[meganlavonnesmommy]

Love that space, jealous! I have a small home also, and its a challenge to fit daycare into it, but it works.

I have a cube organizer from Lakeshore, I bought it used from a daycare provider who was closing. It has 20 small cubbies in it that about half I just put toys in, the other half has small bins that I fill with smaller toys. One is dinosaurs, the other is blocks, etc. I also use pop up hampers a lot. I love them cause they are mesh and you can see what is inside them. I have one filled with stuffed animals, another with cardboard blocks. I also have one two drawer plastic bin with dress up clothes.

Do you have an Ikea near you? They are my fav for cheap storage systems. I tend to like shelves instead of baskets or bins. I think its easier for kids to choose toys to play with if they are on shelves and they can see the toys. If they are all in a basket or bin, they cant see what is in there to choose toys, and are more apt to dump the whole thing out.

[Lilbutterflie]

Our playroom is actually our formal dining room; not all that big at all. But I have a small group. I use shelves from Ikea and clear plastic bins on each shelf from Walmart that fit perfectly. The shelves are also really lightweight, so I rearrange them often. The kids LOVE it when they come to see their play space rearranged!! Here's my (small) setup!

[mac60]

Love it. I saw those shelves at IKEA a couple weeks ago. I want them, only in white to make a room divider between daycare/family room.

Both the spaces shown above are very nice. I wish I had a separate area.