Spacesaver Guide for Storing Sports Equipment and Toys

Is your child's room cluttered with loose crayons, puzzle pieces, cars, dolls, and other small toys and games? Do you have a problem storing sports equipment? If you answer yes to either of these questions, then below you will find some very helpful storage solutions.



Toy Storage

• Attach casters at each corner of a discarded dresser drawer or a similar container and use it to store small toys under a bed.

• Store crayons in a glass jar with a screw-on lid. When the children are coloring, they can see the particular color crayon they need without turning them all out on the table or floor.

• A clear plastic hanging shoe-bag makes an excellent container for small toys.

• A series of wicker or gaily colored wastebaskets make unusually practical and decorative storage units for children's toys. Store games in one, blocks and building toys in another, etcetera.

• Kids love old breadboxes. They use them for garages for small cars and trucks. They make an excellent garage for under-the-bed storage.

• To store trains and cars use an empty wine or liquor carton, complete with separations. Paint or paper the box with a gay color or design and leave it out as a decorative container in a child's room.

• The inexpensive cardboard jigsaw puzzles for children can be both educational and entertaining, but exasperating when they are scattered from one end of the room to the other. Staple a large manila envelope onto the back of each board that accompanies the puzzle, if there is a board to go with it. Otherwise, store each puzzle in a separate box or folder. Let the children be responsible for keeping track of the pieces.

• To keep children's modeling clay moist and pliable, wrap it in aluminum foil.

• Use colorful plastic napkin holders for excellent book racks for children's small hardcover books.

• To solve the storage problem for bathtub toys, keep them in a nylon mesh bag and hang them wet over the shower or tub faucet. The toys will drip dry and are handy for the next bath session.

Sports Equipment

Whatever you do, don't store skis, fishing tackle, golf clubs, etcetera, in the back of a hall closet or in an otherwise similar situation. If you've ever done this, you'll know that they get tangled up with all the clothes and other paraphernalia. If you can, devote one closet to sports equipment. If you can't afford that luxury, build a shallow cupboard out from the wall, wherever you can afford the space. Do you happen to have an unused door between two rooms? Then build a closet on the side that has the most space to spare.

Another good way to store large sports equipment is on hanging racks and pegs in the garage.

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