Cut the clutter!
Published
Is toy clutter driving you mad? Messy play spaces are never fun for parents, especially during school holidays. Help is at hand! Max Wilson, storage expert and co-founder of hassle-free storage service Pocket Storage, offers a way to get ahead of the chaos: a simple five-point reset designed specifically for school holidays.
‘The biggest mistake is assuming kids need access to everything they own at once. By implementing a strategic toy reset during the break, you instantly clear physical space allowing them to engage in deeper, more imaginative play,’ he says.
Key to his strategy is toy rotation which is especially useful in high intensity periods, like school holidays. Instead of a messy free-for-all, you create a small selection of toys based on your child’s current energy levels – and store the rest out of sight. When the living room is clear of 'visual noise', children find it much easier to focus on one activity at a time.
Here are his strategies:
Adopt the toy library mindset
Don't tell kids you are 'throwing things away.' Frame it as creating a ‘toy library’. Tell them that some items are going on a short holiday to a storage box so their current favourites have more room to breathe. This removes the fear of loss and makes the eventual rotation feel like a treat.
Use the ‘high-traffic’ audit
Use the first few days of the holiday break to observe. Anything that hasn't been touched by the second or third day is a prime candidate for the 'rotation box.' If they aren't playing with it now, it’s just taking up mental and physical space. Be decisive.
Categorise by energy level
The secret to easy access is storing by use. Create a ‘quiet zone’ box (puzzles, books) and an ‘active zone’ box (building blocks, figures). During the holiday, only have one zone open at a time. It prevents the 'everything-everywhere' explosion and makes the end-of-day tidy-up take five minutes instead of 50.
