11:25am 09/25/2009
Whether you have a toy-obsessed toddler or an over-scheduled teen, we can help! Follow these tips to show your kids how and where to best store their possessions.
Off-season clothes
Have you looked recently? Some of those clothes piled up in the middle of your child’s bedroom floor may be leftovers from summer play and not suitable for school or fall. Be ready with Ziploc® brand Big Bags to store unnecessary and out-of-season apparel. Launder items before storing. Once filled, Ziploc® brand Big Bags fit neatly under a bed or on a closet floor or shelf.
Small furry things
Too many stuffed toys making a mess? Give the smaller toys a sweet place to rest their weary bodies by placing them in shoe organizers that hang on the inside of a closet door. Your children will enjoy seeing their heads popping over the top of the sleeves whenever they open their closets. Or, hang a toy hammock in your child’s room and place the overflow of stuffed animals there. Sling it low enough so your child can reach it.
Sports equipment
The Ziploc® brand Big Bags are great for storing the equipment of the season—balls, mitts, bats, etc. Keep the supplies for individual sports in their own bags for fast pickup when the carpool honks. And store a few extras in your own trunk—they’ll always come in handy!
Artwork
With September comes the onslaught of lots of wonderful school art projects, which can quickly invade the house faster than an army of ladybugs. Get them under control by storing them in a Ziploc® brand Big Bag (XL or XXL) after you’ve had a chance to lovingly admire them.
Action figures
Macho action figures need their own impenetrable fortress. Keep them all together in their own “tank”—a fishing tackle box or tool chest (depending on the size of the collection).
Doll clothes
Ziploc® brand Containers are the perfect size for those triple-zero-sized clothes! After just a little nudging, my daughter now loves to lay her doll clothes neatly on top of each other in her personal Ziploc® brand Container to store in her bureau drawer. My daughter also likes to decorate the exterior of her “doll closet” (a Ziploc® brand Container) according to the season.
Jewelry
Small chains and pairs of earrings fit easily inside the individual cups of a foam egg carton. Gently stab the back of pierced earrings into the foam to secure them. Consider cutting off the top and laying the carton inside a drawer out of sight.
Cosmetics
When it comes to cosmetics, introducing your daughter to Ziploc® brand Containers should be a rite of passage! My daughter keeps all her various nail polishes in a large Ziploc® brand Container; the transparent plastic allows her to see quickly what colour she wants to use. She also likes Ziploc® brand Snap ‘n Seal Containers for keeping her eye shadows in one place—a tip she taught me!
Comic books
Comics, fashion magazines and such can live under your child’s bed in low-lying cardboard boxes. Entice the pizza store to part with some clean pizza cartons.
Baby clothes
So tiny—and so easy to lose! Keep those freshly laundered baby T-shirts and booties in Ziploc® brand Easy Zipper® Storage Bags. The bags are also good to keep your socks in pairs.
Video games
Purchase a rolling cart with drawers to house the video game set and all the games that go with it.
Dirty laundry
Every kid needs a hamper—some place to throw his or her dirty laundry. Put a designated box or basket in each child’s room. And make a rule: Dirty clothes that are not in the hamper don’t get washed! If your children enjoy having their own towels, etc., consider assigning a colour to each child.
Socks
Socks need a bag of their own! Keep a Ziploc® brand Easy Zipper® Storage Bag in your child’s sock drawer for socks without mates. When the mate appears, you can quickly find its match. Or, consider mesh bags in different colors for each child’s dirty socks. The socks can be washed and dried in the bag and returned to your child’s room for sorting and storing.
Remote control
Adhere a piece of stick-on Velcro®* tape to the back of the remote and another piece on the side of the TV. It’s no guarantee that those little hands will actually put it back there, but it stands a better chance.
Extra junk
Top a plastic wastebasket with a round vinyl tabletop to make a bedside or chairside table. It can double as hidden storage. Once the kids start entertaining their classmates, they’ll be set for tea parties and after-school visits.
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