How to Organize Your Playroom: Tips to Defeat Clutter

It's no secret that parenting can be chaotic and overwhelming. With a busy home comes the need to organize your playroom to make life (and play!) easier for both parents and children. But it can feel like an insurmountable task – where do you begin? If you want to know how to organize your playroom…I got you.

Play. Learn. Thrive.™ only endorses products we authentically love and use. Some of the product links in this post may be affiliate links. That means that if you click them and make a purchase, this site makes a commission. Play. Learn. Thrive.™ is also an Amazon Associate. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. It will have no impact on the price you pay or the experience of your purchase. 

Organizing your playroom doesn't have to be daunting. I've compiled some great tips, ideas, and strategies, so you don't just survive this process but enjoy it too.

We'll discuss everything related to organizing your playroom, from understanding the benefits of organizing toys to creating fun clean-up routines with kids.

How to Organize Your Playroom

Are you feeling overwhelmed by the chaos in your child's playroom? Do you worry that all their toys are preventing them from learning and thriving? It's time to get organized!

Here are 4 simple tips to help you keep your playroom organized:

1. Create a Designated Space for Toys

Creating a designated space for toys is the first step in organizing your playroom.

Designate an area of the room that will be used solely for playing and storing toys. This can help keep the clutter contained and make it easier to clean up after playtime, especially in a small space.

Utilizing solutions such as cube storage units or open shelving can maximize storage space while providing a functional play area.

2. Utilize Cube Storage Solutions

Utilizing cube storage solutions is another great way to showcase toys while making them accessible to kids.

Label containers and shelves with pictures or words so that even little kids can learn where their things belong and develop independence in putting them away.

This is a great idea for playroom organization, especially if you have a lot of toys (though I personally think decluttering helps best) or small items like craft supplies or game pieces.

3. Regularly Donate Unused Toys

Keeping the room clutter-free by regularly donating unused toys (or better yet, being more intentional about buying!) is the best approach to maintaining the organization long-term.

Consider implementing a toy rotation system to keep things fresh without overwhelming the toy room with new toys.

This can help create more space for functional areas, such as a reading space or reading nook for the children's books or a designated spot for a crafting area with craft supplies.

4. Establish a Cleaning Routine

Establishing a routine for cleaning up after playtime helps create good habits early on; set clear rules about where each item belongs after use so there’s no confusion later on down the line.

Encourage kids to put away their own items too – having a place for everything (and everything in its place) makes this process much smoother.

This is an easy way to maintain an organized playroom, especially if young children enjoy playing with small pieces like matchbox cars or building blocks.

By putting these toy organization and storage solutions into place, you can transform your kid's playroom into a functional playroom and organized space where your children have the perfect place for free play.

Whether you're working with a small corner or a large playroom, there are different ways to optimize your toy storage and make the most of the size of your space.

How to Optimize Your Playroom Storage

• Utilize zipper pouches for small items like game pieces or craft supplies to keep them easily contained.
• Install hooks or pegboards for hanging costumes or dress-up accessories.
• Use clear bins for easy visibility of toy collections, such as matchbox cars or building blocks.
• Label storage containers with pictures or words for easy identification of kids' toys or craft materials.
• Incorporate over-the-door shoe organizers for storing small toys or art supplies.
• Invest in stackable storage bins to maximize vertical space for toy storage or kids' artwork.
• Use tiered organizers for storing art supplies, craft materials, or board games in an organized way.
• Install floating shelves for displaying favorite books or larger toys.
• Opt for toy hammocks or nets to store stuffed animals or plush toys.
• Consider under-bed storage bins for seasonal toys, extra bedding, or items not frequently used in your kids' playroom.

50 Simple Screen-Free Activities to Save Your Sanity

Remember that peaceful home you've been dreaming of? It's time to make it a reality. With this guide, you're not just reducing screen time—you're opening the door to a more connected, joy-filled family life.

Grab it now

Why organize your playroom?

A playroom allows children to let their imagination run wild and explore their creativity. It's a space where they can play, learn, and grow. However, with all the toys and activities, it's easy for a playroom to become cluttered and disorganized.

An unorganized playroom not only makes it difficult for children to find the toys they want to play with, but it can also be overwhelming for parents to clean up.

Having an organized playroom is essential for both children and parents.

It makes it easier to find and play with toys and teaches children valuable skills such as responsibility, organization, and decision-making.

4 Benefits of Organizing Your Playroom

Organizing your playroom has many benefits for both parents and kids. And it's not just to make your playroom Insta-worthy! Having an organized playroom has so many benefits when it comes to child development.

Play is how children learn– so having an organized space that promotes play will lay the foundation for everything.

Play encourages cognitive development through problem-solving activities such as building blocks or completing puzzles; social and emotional development through cooperative games or roleplaying; and physical development through running outside or participating in indoor sports activities (to name a few!)

Also, organizing your playroom can help make parenting easier and provide a safe, clutter-free environment for kids to explore.

Here are four reasons why organizing your playroom benefits both you and your children:

1. Increased Independence

For starters, it can increase independence in children by making toys easier to find and access. When everything has a “home” that is either clearly labeled or stored in categories, kids can quickly identify what they’re looking for without asking their parents.

This encourages them to take the initiative and be more independent when playing with their toys.

2. Improved Mental Health

Another benefit of organizing your playroom is improved mental health.

Clutter-free spaces reduce stress levels, meaning a well-organized playroom can help create a calm environment conducive to learning and creativity (for you and your child!). It also eliminates excessive cleaning up before or after playtime, freeing up time for other more fun activities (unless you love cleaning, and in that case, come on by my house!).

3. Easier Clean-Up

Organizing your playroom also makes cleaning up much easier since you know exactly where each toy belongs.

I recommend using cube storage solutions (or shelves) so that kids can easily see all of their toys at once and put them away quickly when done playing with them.

Label containers and shelves so that even young children will understand where things go. You can use written or visual labels depending on your child's age.

4. More Time

Finally, an organized space allows you more time for fun activities you BOTH enjoy.

For us, that's reading, being outside, and doing puzzles. These are the things we should prioritize in order to foster healthy development in our child.

To keep your playroom organized long-term, establish a routine for cleaning up after use (such as putting away all toys before bedtime) and set clear rules about where things belong after use (for example, books always go back on the shelf).

Encourage kids to put away their toys too; involve them in deciding where things go, so it becomes second nature over time.

Organizing your playroom is important in helping kids learn independence and keep the room clutter-free. With the right tips and storage solutions, you can create a fun space that encourages learning and exploration.

4 Ideas for Keeping Your Playroom Organized Long-Term

We all know what happens after we do a big declutter or clean out. It feels like as soon as we do it, it gets undone by the kids. But it doesn't have to be that way! Here are 4 ideas to help you keep the playroom organized for good!

1. Establish a Cleaning Routine

Establishing a routine for cleaning up toys after playtime is key to keeping your playroom organized long-term. Having a set time each day when the kids are expected to put away their toys will help them develop good habits and make it easier for you as well.

Make sure they know exactly where each toy belongs so that they can quickly return them to their proper spot. You may also want to consider setting aside some time at the end of the week or month for a deeper clean, like sorting through all of the toys and donating any that aren’t being used anymore.

2. Set Clear Rules

Setting clear rules about where toys belong after use in order to keep your playroom organized long-term. This will help teach children responsibility and encourage them to take ownership over their own belongings by putting things back in their designated spots once they’re done playing with them.

If possible, label shelves or containers with pictures or words so that even young children can understand where items should go when not in use.

3. Encourage Kids to Help

Encouraging kids to put away their own toys is another great way of keeping your playroom organized long-term. Start teaching this skill early on by having toddlers practice picking up one item at a time and placing it into its designated container or shelf before moving onto the next item until everything has been returned properly stored away again.

As children get older, you can assign specific tasks such as organizing bookshelves or sorting out Legos according to color/size/shape etc., which will further promote independence while helping maintain an orderly environment within the home too.

4. Have a Place for Everything

Having a place for everything and everything in its place is essential if you want your playroom to stay organized long-term. Take some time initially (or periodically) to go through your child's toys and decide what should be kept versus donated or discarded; this will help significantly reduce clutter over time.

Additionally, investing in storage solutions such as cube organizers makes it easy for kids (and adults) alike to access whatever items they need without having to rummage around looking for something lost among piles of other stuff.

Organizing your playroom is important for getting your kids to play independently, but it doesn't have to be a chore. If you need more help make sure you check out our online course!

How to Make Clean-Up Fun For Kids

Clean-up time can be a dreaded part of the day for parents and kids. But it doesn’t have to be that way. With some creativity, you can make clean-up fun for your children and help them develop important skills at the same time.

Create a Clean-Up Song or Chant

Music is a great way to motivate kids to clean up. You can create an original song with lyrics about putting away toys or use one of their favorite songs as inspiration. Have them sing along while they put things back in their place – it will make clean-up more enjoyable for everyone involved.

Involve Kids in the Process of Deciding Where Things Go

Give your child ownership over where certain items should go by allowing them to decide which shelf toys belong and giving them specific tasks like “you pick up all the dinosaurs and I'll pick up all the trucks.” This will help teach organizational skills and promote independence as they learn how things work around the house on their own terms.

Making clean up fun doesn't have to take a lot of effort – use your imagination and don't feel pressure to make the room insta-perfect. Your kids will appreciate being included in this process and may even start looking forward to tidy-up time each day instead of dreading it like before (especially in the younger ages when they are primed to want to help you!)

But DON'T offer rewards or incentives for helping with clean up.

The best thing we can do is model and show our children that helping is part of being in a family. We don't want them to come to expect rewards for every little thing (that's called needing extrinsic motivation, and it becomes a problem when kids get older.)