Many children’s toys include small pieces as part of a set and it is important to make sure that there are no missing pieces. Here are some ideas to organise these sets.
Jigsaw puzzles
The pieces need to be kept together in a set. Otherwise the kids won’t be able to complete the picture. You can keep the sets in their original boxes. Alternatively you can keep the pieces in small plastic food containers, one box for each set. Make sure you keep the sample pictures, if any, as your children will need them to help complete the puzzle.
If your children tend to do several sets simultaneously, it is a good idea to have color codes on the back of each piece to identify which sets they belong to. For example, draw a red circle for all pieces in the ‘Teletubbies in the Garden’ set and blue triangle codes for all the pieces in the ‘Postman Pat’ set. After each play session, you and your children can easily sort the pieces back into the correct set and store them in separate boxes.
Construction toys: Lego, Meccano, Knex etc.
The pieces may come in various different shapes, and it is not quite a good idea to just lump all pieces in one box. You might keep each set in their original box but at some point your children may need all the pieces together to create their own models. The best way to store the pieces of construction toys is in boxes which have many partitions inside. Toolboxes or hobby organizer boxes are very useful for this purpose. You can sort the pieces into different parts of the boxes and make it easier for the kids to build their models.
Don’t forget to teach your children to always sort the pieces into the correct places. Make it a good habit every time they finish playing, otherwise there will always be missing pieces that can be very annoying the next time they play.