After writing last week's post on storing toys, puzzles and educational resources, I decided to try to try to tweak my system. I had seen several parents and therapists Pinterest pictures of ways to cut down on space. The ideas below illustrates ways to streamline storage of materials. I found some pictures of a zip lock bag system where most all of the boxes that hold the toys and materials are discarded. Here is one of the pictures I saw online. It can be found at the following link http://yellowfence.blogspot.com/
I read a few blog posts about this method and then I was off to trying my hand at it. I will admit it was time consuming and it generated a lot of trash but I'm already thrilled with it!
I used sandwich size, quart, gallon and two gallon bags. I put the puzzle or game pieces in an appropriate sized bag along with directions and a picture of the activity. Usually I cut the directions and picture off the back of th box and and inserted in the bag. Only the essentials made it into the bag. I put items in bins according to categories.
Math
Math manipulatives
Literacy printables and flash cards
Reading
Comprehension/Story Telling/writing
Bingo/Lotto Games
Early Learning
Sensory/Fine Motor
Puzzles
I will probably end up with a few more categories before the project is finished.
I stacked the items upright just like files in a filing cabinets. There were a few items that fit into the bins but 90% of the supples went into plactic bags.
I will post pictures when I get the bins organized in the closet in our spare bedrooms. Why do I love this so much? I was able to eliminate the storage units I had been using in my bedroom and closet. Here is what I am able to use elsewhere because they aren't needed for toy storage.
I had one of this unit.
I had 5 storage drawers stacked on top of each other like the one above.
I was able to get rid of 9 large drawers of storage by using bags instead of all the boxes the items came in. It is so wonderful to feel that I can put my finger on the resources and don't have toys overtaking the house.
I will post the final product soon.
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