Particularly for younger kids, the holidays can be a great time for food, fun...and tons of presents. Your kids probably had a great haul this year, and amidst all the toys and video games you might be coming to one unfortunate conclusion: where are you supposed to put all this stuff? Didn’t your kids have enough toys beforehand? And yet here we are, and now you’ve got to find room for all their shiny new toys. Don’t worry - The Shelving Store is here to help! Decide On What To Get Rid Of In the giving spirit of the season, now might be a good time to talk to your kids and see if there’s any older toys they’re willing to part with to make room for their new loot. Any clothes they’ve outgrown or toys they don’t play with anymore can be donated to thrift stores or taken to consignment shops to free up space, and most kids will love knowing that their toys are going to other kids who will enjoy them more. (And you’ll love knowing there’s that much less mess in your house!) Clean Up Everything Else First Before deciding where all the new toys are going to go, it’s a good call to have your kids start cleaning up their room first. You don’t have to ask them to do it on Christmas Day, of course, but a good post-holiday tidying is always a good place to start. Have them put away anything they decide to keep after the previous step, and make sure everything else has a home and is put away properly. And if you need a little help with that… Bring In Some Extra Storage Now might be a good time to consider a few extra shelves or toyboxes for wherever your kid’s toys find themselves most often. If you have a dedicated playroom where the kids go and the toys live, some new wire shelving can increase the amount of room you have to stash toys away (or at least keep them off the floor). If your kids tend to play most in their room and you want to give them a little choice and personalization in the matter, you might want to consider letting them pick out their very own kid’s lockers or colored toy box to let them decorate to their liking. Finally, Organize It All Once you’ve gotten your new storage brought in and the old toys either donated or put away, the next step is pretty clear but the biggest one: organizing the new toys! Keep bigger toys like board games or sports equipment on higher shelves (particularly if they have a lot of pieces to keep together), and keep the smaller or more frequently-used toys on the lower shelves to make sure they’re at arm’s reach, especially for littler ones. And if anything isn’t going to be used right away - your kids probably don’t have much need for a soccer ball when it’s snowing out, right? - finding somewhere else in the house to stash it in the meantime is a good way to free up more space in their room. We hope you enjoyed your holidays, and if you have any more shelving or storage questions you’re more than welcome to contact The Shelving Store today!