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source: gwen

Jess from Making Home shared her thoughts a while back about why her family prefers toy sets, and I couldn’t agree more.

Toy sets – such as trains and train tracks, baby doll accessories, legos, building blocks or kitchen sets – enhance play, make clean up easier and promote sharing. They’re also much easier to clean up and organize than individual toys.

I highly recommend cleaning up toy sets at the end of each day (or when they’re done being played with for more involved sets such as a large Lego construction) as an important part of keeping sets nice and together. Cleaning up regularly means you’re more likely to notice missing pieces while you still have an idea of where they might have disappeared to.

The question, then, is how to organize these toy sets. I’ve been known to use a plastic grocery bag in a pinch, but there are lots of other options out there as well:

::Baskets. You can pick up inexpensive baskets at the dollar store or yard sales or choose a more expensive variety for aesthetic appeal. Either way, using baskets is a great idea for keeping toy sets together and organized and including them as part of your home decorating.

::Colorful bins or boxes. Whether you choose cloth bins or plastic buckets/boxes, these are another great option for organizing children’s toys while still incorporating the storage unit into your decorating in kids’ rooms or playrooms.

::Clear plastic bins with lids. On the other hand, you may prefer to use clear bins, which allow you to see what each one contains and keep them from getting accidently dumped out or mixed up. This is an especially good option if you keep the sets in a closed cabinet or storage area where aesthetics don’t matter to you as much.

::Cloth or plastic bags. Using simply drawstring cloth bags for your sets can save space because they’re not rigid like a plastic bin. For those worried about the environmental or health impact of plastics, this is a good solution as well. The downside is that you can’t see what’s in them without opening the bag, whereas you can with a clear plastic bag. (Note: it’s important to use those made for toys if you’re keeping them in an accessible location because they are made with a rigid plastic and also have air vents to prevent suffocation. I’ve not had much luck finding these for sale anywhere; we just use the ones that some of our sets come in.)

Do you prefer toy sets over individual toys? How do you keep them organized?