Toddlers: 12 - 24 Months

why I DON'T want a toybox - agree or not?

I was telling my DCP that with all of ds's toys I really need a toybox to organize his toys and she said that she wouldn't really advise to get a toybox because many times they just get thrown in there and the kids forget about them or don't ever really play with the ones on the bottom. The majority of his toys are pretty big like the playskool popping ball thing or slightly smaller and all his other toys mainly come with balls or musical instruments etc. She said that I should get shelves instead to display all the toys that way he can see where everything is.My fear is that he is fearless and I can picture him trying to climb the shelves.

 WDYT? If you have shelves which do you have or would you get?

Re: why I DON'T want a toybox - agree or not?

  • I agree. I got the colored bins shelf from Target.

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  • imageSunshineClarity:

    I agree. I got the colored bins shelf from Target.

    image 

    I agree. I also bought this from Target, it's perfect.

    imageimage

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  • We have both a shelf and a little basket, and I will say that D hardly goes into the basket for toys.  He'll pull out one or two things from the top, but the toys on the bottom don't see the light of day unless I pull them out for him.  Meanwhile, the toys that he sees on his shelf do get more action - he'll pull them down to play with them.  I think it's a good point, although I wouldn't necessarily not get a toy box just because of it.  Just rotate the toys every once and awhile.  I need a place to hide D's toys, I could never get rid of my basket too.

    Oh, and the shelves we have are just old bookcases.  They are kept in D's closet.  He has never tried climbing on them (yet).

  • I am fighting with the same dilemma. I think I will get the shelves for the smaller toys and then a toy box for stuffed animals, larger toys etc.... I agree, a large toy box will just create a "dump" zone, which is convenient but really annoying to sort through
  • imageLilMissLadybug:
    imageSunshineClarity:

    I agree. I got the colored bins shelf from Target.

    image 

    I agree. I also bought this from Target, it's perfect.

    Wow, I really like that! Thanks.

  • DS routinely dumps over his toy box (it is a plastic/see through rubbermaid bin).
  • Only stuffed animals go in the toy box (a family member made him a toy box) I'll probably be buying that shelf thing from target soon though! :) 
  • We got a toy box that is covered with faux suede like material and the top is cushioned so that it could turn into a nice seat. It was a gift. Dd goes in there at times but you are right it's more of a "just throw the toys in there to keep clean" type of thing
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  • imageLilMissLadybug:
    imageSunshineClarity:

    I agree. I got the colored bins shelf from Target.

    image 

    I agree. I also bought this from Target, it's perfect.

    Same here!

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  • We only have a living room, not a family room or a play room, so I like that I can get his toys mostly out of sight with the box. But most bigger things stay in a corner or on the lid, so he can still get to them. I just alternate what is available.

  • We have a toybox and I love it. For our family room, its nice to be able to throw all of his toys in a huge box so it looks neat. I like the shelves idea for bigger items. If we had room, I would probably do both.
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  • we have a whole row of cube shelves and some have canvas bins in then and some don't. I liked that better. My SIL has a shelf systme much like was posted above and it got really wobbly over time.
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  • DS has a toy box and it works well for us. DS loves digging through his toy box to pull things out. I also love the fact that we can quickly clean up by tossing everything into it when we're done and it's in a contained space. I do think that there is the potential for toys to get thrown in there and not get used.  That's why every week or two I'll go through it and try to pull out different toys that I notice he hasn't been playing with lately. It's like a new toy for him when I go through and pull those toys up, so in a way it keeps things fresh.

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  • I like this from Ikea:

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  • imagemurphyec:
    DS routinely dumps over his toy box (it is a plastic/see through rubbermaid bin).

    DD does this too.  It's a small collapsable cloth bin.  I think it's by Koala or whatever that company is, I got it at BRU for 9 bucks :)  I actually bought 2 of them and split her small toys in half.  I keep half in her nursery closet and "cycle" the boxes every week or so to keep her interested. 

  • imageBartsGirl:

    I like this from Ikea:

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    We just bought this and I put it together last night. I LOVE it! 

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  • I agree with the thought process. We have a toybox that was given to us and ds does enjoy digging through it. He actually goes to it and pulls stuff out all the time. When I look in it though, I see toys I didn't even realize we had.
  • imageSunshineClarity:

    I agree. I got the colored bins shelf from Target.

    image 

    We have this in our playroom, its great. In our living room we have 3 canvas bins under our coffee table which also works great but now many DS's toys are too big for them.

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  • We have a small house where the living room is the play room, den, etc...We have a toy box which really contains the mess.  It's actually a good thing, IMO, that he "forgets" about some toys and when he finds them or I dig them out they're like new to him again. 
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  • imageSunshineClarity:

    I agree. I got the colored bins shelf from Target.

    image 

    We have this and a few toy boxes, I think this is a better way to go bc I do throw toys into the box and my lo and I both forget about them.

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  • imageSunshineClarity:

    I agree. I got the colored bins shelf from Target.

    image 

    We have this and a few toy boxes, I think this is a better way to go bc I do throw toys into the box and my lo and I both forget about them.

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  • We have a wide, 3-shelf tall bookcase in his room that houses toys and books.  It can be bolted to the wall to keep it from falling over on him if he climbs it.  When I was little we had a similar bookshelf, plus toys in the bottom drawers of the dresser - Barbies, Matchbox/Hot Wheels, Legos/Linkin Logs, little things.

    I always heard toyboxes were bad b/c kids could pinch their fingers between the lid and the bottom part.

    ETA: we also have a wicker basket about the size of a laundry basket in our living room for toys, which gets dumped on the floor every day.  I switch the toys periodically to keep it interesting.

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  • We have the bins on shelves.  We also have lots of wicker baskets of toys into which I plop all the toys that are free roaming in the house.  We have pull out drawers.  We have a toy closet.

    You will need lots and lots of ways to store toys.  Don't limit yourself to one option.

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  • I agree about the toy box.  I don't want to deal with missing pieces floating around the bottom of the box and "losing" toys in there.  We use one of those Ikea cube shelves (not specifically kids' furniture) for most of her toys and small canvas bins for the rest. 
  • Maybe my kid just doesn't have that many toys, but I don't get the issue.  I put the toys in, he takes them out to play. Nothing gets 'forgotten about' in the bottom of the box.
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