Tired of stepping on tiny plastic pieces or seeing your kids ignore the playroom entirely? You’re not alone.

Cluttered playrooms don’t just look messy, they can actually reduce your child’s creativity and interest in play. Using these tips you can reset your play space with a simple, stress-free organizing plan that will help your kids love their toys again and give you your sanity back!

Step 1: Rethink the Toy Overload

🤯 More Toys = Less Play 

Studies show that fewer, well-organized toys actually boost creativity and reduce overwhelm. If your child’s playroom looks more like a toy store explosion than an open space for fun, it might be time to purge.

💡 Did You Know: Children play more imaginatively when they have fewer toys available at once.

Step 2: The Great Purge

A quick tip before you get started…

👉🏼 Don’t do this with kids.

Trust me… the moment you pull out that old forgotten toy, it will suddenly become their most beloved treasure 😅

During this step, you are going to focus on decluttering these three things:

• Broken or missing pieces of toys
• Toys your kids have outgrown
• Toys that drive you crazy… yep, pretty much anything that makes a sound 😵‍💫

Donate Gently Used Toys to:

• Operation Breakthrough
• Children’s Hospitals
• Local daycares or churches
• Toys for Toys

💡 Pro Tip:  Do a toy purge before birthdays and holidays… or better yet, focus on experiential gifts!

Step 3: Organize Like a Pro

Now that you’ve decluttered, it’s time to organize what is left!

🎯 Rotate Toys – Keep things fresh by storing some toys in labeled bins & swap them out intermittently… It’s like Christmas every time!

🎯 Keep Like Items together –  Sort toys into categories and give each group its own bin… remember to keep categories simple & broad!

🎯 Prioritize Accessibility – Make sure your kids can reach the toys they love. Use wall hooks for dress-up clothes, low shelving for bins, and book rails to display their favorite reads!

🎯 Mix Clear & Hidden Storage –  Clear bins can help with visibility & give kids a little extra independence. Opaque bins are great to hide the visual clutter – just make sure you have labels!

🎯 Label Everything –  Depending on the age of your kids, adding a picture along with your written label can help make sure everyone can find (and put away 👏🏼) what they need. If you are using fabric baskets, you can search “bin label clips” to help labels stay put!

Step 4: Make Clean-Up Fun

Here are some playroom reset tricks…that actually work! Even young kids can help tidy up, especially if it feels fun!

Try these clean-up games:

• 🎶 Turn on Music: Put on your favorite playlist & race to clean before the song(s) end!
• 🔢 Pick a Number: Each person chooses a number between 10-20 (picking out of a hat can help keep it fair), then picks up that specific number of toys.
• 🎨 Color Game: Assign a color to each kid, and then they pick up any toy with that color.
• ⏲️ Set a Timer: Set a timer for 10 minutes & you will be amazed at what can be done!

Example Toy Categories

Here are a few examples of general categories I use when organizing playrooms:

• Puzzles & Games
• People & Animals
• Cars & Trucks
• Dinosaurs
• Dolls
• Barbies
• Legos
• Dress Up
• Kitchen Supplies
• Kitchen Food
• Super Heroes
• Arts & Crafts
• Animals
• Sports/Balls

Playroom Favorites

Looking for product recommendations to help you get started? Check out my Playroom Favorites post for links to bins, baskets, & all my favorite organizing products!

End of Summer is the perfect time to refresh your child’s playroom. By decluttering, rotating toys, and making cleanup easier, you’ll help your kids love their space again—without adding to your mental load 🫶🏼

Need help creating a playroom that works for your family? Let’s Chat!