My house doesn’t have a playroom. Each of my two kids has their own bedroom and plenty of their stuff stays in there where they play a lot of the time. But they also like to be part of everything with us so they will drag toys from room to room to play where everyone is. Which means that more often than not, my living room looks like Toys R Us threw up in it. This room is the room that the front door opens into, so anyone who comes over sees it first. Toys strewn all over depending on the moment.

My kids are 3 and 6, so I need to keep things practical and simple for them when it comes to helping me keep things tidy. In that picture above, do you see the big brown basket under the table with the bird cage?

我的兩個(gè)孩子一個(gè)是三歲，一個(gè)是六歲，因此我必須保持所有的東西盡量簡(jiǎn)單實(shí)用，這樣就有利于幫助我保持所有的東西比較整齊。你看看上面的圖片，你是否發(fā)現(xiàn)到了在我放鳥(niǎo)籠的那個(gè)桌子的下面有一個(gè)大籃子。

There is nothing simpler than handing my 3 year old son a big basket and telling him to throw his toys into it. They get tucked away and he can pull them out the next time he wants to play. And I don’t have to look at primary colored plastic in a room that I want to feel grown up. I like the main living areas of our home to feel like grown ups live here and not just little people. I want balance in my home – for it be a place adults can relax and enjoy and kids can feel free to play in too.

In the top picture, there is a dresser on one side of the room. The top two drawers are full of art supplies. The middle drawer has a basket for each kid. Hand them their basket and tell them to put their things in it and it’s tidy. They know where their toys are, or at least where to look first before coming to me saying, “I looked and looked and looked all over and can’t find ANY toys!”

In my daughter’s room – toy bins easy to label, store stuff and keep track of it.

在我女兒的房間里面，她在盒子上面寫(xiě)標(biāo)簽，這樣的話，她就知道哪里是放玩具，哪里是放其他東西的地方，這樣就很容易知道所有東西在哪里了。

I would be remiss not to point out the obvious when it comes to feeling overwhelmed with toy messes.

當(dāng)很多玩具都弄得很亂的時(shí)候，這里我必須提一下我一個(gè)很明顯的感覺(jué)，這種感覺(jué)就是：我會(huì)被壓迫的透不過(guò)氣來(lái)。

Have fewer toys

有少量的玩具的時(shí)候：

My son has trains and accessories, the random truck or tractor, and books.

我的兒子有火車及配件，卡車或拖拉機(jī)和書(shū)籍。

My daughter has a few small play sets, ponies, art supplies and books.

我的女兒有幾個(gè)小游戲集，小馬，美術(shù)用品和書(shū)籍

They both do better with less. They can see what they have, enjoy the things they have, and keep track of them too. Usually. Unless a train gets lost in the couch. Then there is more drama.

這樣安排好后，我感覺(jué)很不錯(cuò)。孩子們能夠看到他們所擁有什么，并且能夠知道這些東西的走向。通常，如果丟失一列火車在沙發(fā)上。則可能有更多的戲劇。

How do you keep the toys under control?