Anyone who is a parent, especially of younger children will certainly know how much it hurts when you step onto that small solitary piece of Lego, that seems to have been left behind, unseen, but *deadly*. Don’t despair, there is a solution our ten easy to maintain and simple to use tips, will have you with a cleaner, tidier and more organised home when it comes to children’s toys – you may never actually step on a piece of Lego ever again!

1. Define a set *play area* – when you have toys all over the house it is an organisational nightmare, so the solution is only to have toys in set areas inside the house. If you are fortunate enough to have a large house, and a spare room, you can always set aside an unused room as a play area. If you live in a smaller home you could restrict playing areas to just their bedroom and a small corner of the lounge room. When you can contain the number of toys left lying around in different rooms, it makes it a lot easier to clean up for you or your cleaner, stay organised and keep a less cluttered looking home.
2. Try and set a limit of the number of toys you allow in the home – while your children may not agree, kids do really only need a set number of toys. When children have too many toys it is just overwhelming, and even if you have a big play-room, it can still be too much. To reduce the number of toys your children have, throw out any broken toys, if there are duplicate toys donate them to charity, along with any toys your children have out grown, or just don’t play with anymore.
3. When it comes to the size of your children’s toys, be realistic – children love to have big toys, play house, tents, tunnels etc, but, these can be hard to deal with if you home lacks space. When you are considering buying a large toy, choose one that is easy to disassemble, so they can be pulled apart for storage.
4. Sort toys and then store them – take some time and put the toys into different categories – dolls, cars, puzzles etc. When you have boxes or containers of specific toys they can be all stored together rather than dumped into one huge box. If you do this not only are you reducing the clutter in the room, you are also giving your children more options when it comes to deciding what to play with.
5. Cycle and schedule the toys – if you have a lot of toys, or a number of toys that just overwhelm the area, consider boxing some up and designating them to your storage shed or garage, for a month or so. Not only does this free up space inside the home, it is also more fun and exciting for your children when they see a new bunch of toys re-entering the home, they haven’t seen for a while.
6. Use some *toy shelves* – shelves will help your children to see some of the toys they have available to play with. If you are also using storage boxes try labelling them with large pictures or words so your child can identify their contents, a big car or big train for a train set etc. Shelving will also get those toys or small boxes OFF the floor, to reduce clutter.
7. Make everything fast and easy to clean up – we all have busy schedules and sometimes children – especially younger children – don’t have the time to put all their toys back straight away. On the occasions that this happens use a laundry basket or a blanket as a fast way to collect toys so they can be put away properly later. That way when your cleaner comes in or you need to clean the room – the toys aren’t blocking the way.
8. Keep some toys out of reach – Lego, jigsaw puzzles, models etc that have a lot of pieces can be a parent’s worst nightmare when children take them out to play at the *wrong time*. It’s up to you to decide if your child has enough time to play with complicated objects, and have the time to avoid pieces being lost or mixed up.
9. Establish rules – teach your children how many toys they can have out at any one time. This helps limit the time it takes to clean up toys and encourages your children to finish one activity before they start another.
10. Put safety first – remember that toys and storage boxes when stacked on top of each other can fall, so find ways to use shelves and cupboards where necessary to keep your children safe.