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AmandaV
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| Posted: July 13 2012 at 10:52am | IP Logged
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Hi ladies,we are doing quite a bit of organizing and re-arranging around here which is exciting but also overwhelming for a somewhat scatter-brained lady like me who is not born organized! I am reclaiming all of our games and puzzles from a mixed up existence. My husband picked up a large wooden armoire/cabinet yesterday that we bought of Craigslist for $85, and we'll be moving that upstairs tonight to house the games, puzzles,math manipulatives, art supplies, and anything else I don't want baby and preschoolers to easily dump. I am thrilled we finally have something like this! I have most of my games and game pieces corralled in two big plastic bins and am hoping to sort them out today with the children. The problem is, many of the cardboard boxes are broken. Years ago, I read Confessions of an Organized Housewife and she suggests storing the boards in a stack I think and the pieces in a separate drawered container, and an index of sorts. Not sure that would be visual enough or work for us... any thoughts? I have some plastic shoeboxes and can get more - do you think that would work well? I also thought of the super giant hefty zipper bags... Or do you just repair the cardboard boxes with packing tape and keep using them? For some that is possible, for others not so much. I'd love to hear what works for you! Thanks!
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Amanda
wife since 6/03, Mom to son 7/04, daughter 2/06, twin sons 6/08 and son 7/11, son 1/2014
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: July 13 2012 at 11:11am | IP Logged
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Watching this thread as I desperately need a game solution before I resolve never to buy another one! 
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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AmandaV
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| Posted: July 13 2012 at 11:18am | IP Logged
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CrunchyMom wrote:
| Watching this thread as I desperately need a game solution before I resolve never to buy another one! |
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Exactly, Lindsay. I always say, " This one we are going to keep up high/put away in a closet/etc..." and then someone dumps and I don't followup quick enough... I'm working on my bad habits and the kids' but I'm hoping the storage cabinet helps as it will have a *place* which I have not been good about making and that *place* is out of sight. :)
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Amanda
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Servant2theKing
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| Posted: July 13 2012 at 11:27am | IP Logged
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Ziploc and Hefty both sell large zip style bags (our favorite are Hefty 2.5 gallon). You might try keeping the face of the game box (for identification purposes), along with game pieces and gameboard in large bags and if stacking is an issue, you might try corraling them in a large see-through box. We've used this concept for several games & puzzles and it has worked pretty well for us.
If you go with Organized Housewife's idea of stacking the game boards separately, you might try using durable plastic index tabs on the edges(Post-It makes some great ones) to identify the gameboards. You could also corral the gameboards vertically in an open front sturdy magazine file.
We've had great success keeping books from falling apart using clear Contact paper ~ you might try using it for the covers of game boxes. Trimming and measuring is a skill that requires practice, and a wallpaper smoother or straight edge for adhering to surfaces without air bubbles is extremely helpful. Just a thought if you have game boxes you prefer to keep.
Enjoy your armoire cabinet!
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AmandaV
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| Posted: July 13 2012 at 11:29am | IP Logged
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Just found this post from a year or so ago, with advice from you, Lindsay, and myself of yesteryear. I guess I didn't get the message to find and stick with a system. I think I'm on my tenth cycle of destruction.. 
Puzzles,games ruined
Did your ziploc bag storage not work out over time, Lindsay?
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Amanda
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Mackfam
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| Posted: July 13 2012 at 11:35am | IP Logged
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Great thread! I feel like I'm constantly brainstorming games!!!! 
(1) On the cardboard boxes they come in: I repair them with heavy duty packing tape, reinforcing corners and edges, and keep games in their original boxes as much as possible. We use the zipper type ziploc bags for holding parts inside the boxes. Label the name of the game on the bags with sharpie. I wrap the small playing card boxes with packing tape, too. Actually, as soon as we get a set of playing cards, I reinforce the box with packing tape and I tape one end of the card container permanently shut! Sometimes we use rubber bands to hold a set together if it's needed.
(2) On storage: There are games in almost every room of our home! We rotate games in and out of rooms pretty regularly.
Living Room/Family Room - I have a shelf that I claimed for games and we keep them stacked there. These are games we play mostly as a family. We keep one complete set of cards in here, and two incomplete sets (cards that the children have lost a couple of cards from). My dh has come up with games to play with the kids that use the incomplete sets. We are VERY STRICT about little hands touching the full sets because nothing frustrates the big kids more than playing a card game and then discovering that they're missing a card! 
Learning Room - I have a whole set of shelves dedicated to educational games. These come out on rainy days, or days that have unraveled and we just want to play a game, or some days there are certain games that have a special place on our schedule.
Bedrooms - Older children keep some games in their rooms - mostly card games or games that may be ongoing like Axis and Allies.
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Most important rule when it comes to games:
One game out per child/group at a time. Playing the game involves 3 steps:
(1) Find a clear horizontal surface (or clear one) and get the game out.
(2) Play
(3) Replace all the pieces into the box and put the game away where you found it.
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How exciting to have an entire cabinet for organizing your games, Amanda!
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Jen Mackintosh
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AmandaV
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Servant2theKing wrote:
We've had great success keeping books from falling apart using clear Contact paper ~ you might try using it for the covers of game boxes. Trimming and measuring is a skill that requires practice, and a wallpaper smoother or straight edge for adhering to surfaces without air bubbles is extremely helpful. Just a thought if you have game boxes you prefer to keep.
Enjoy your armoire cabinet! |
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Contact paper is something I've never quite gotten the hang of, but I definitely will try that for some of the nicer boxes - Zimbos, Animal upon Animal, etc...
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Amanda
wife since 6/03, Mom to son 7/04, daughter 2/06, twin sons 6/08 and son 7/11, son 1/2014
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AmandaV
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| Posted: July 13 2012 at 11:49am | IP Logged
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Mackfam wrote:
Great thread! I feel like I'm constantly brainstorming games!!!!
(1) On the cardboard boxes they come in: I repair them with heavy duty packing tape, reinforcing corners and edges, and keep games in their original boxes as much as possible. We use the zipper type ziploc bags for holding parts inside the boxes. Label the name of the game on the bags with sharpie. I wrap the small playing card boxes with packing tape, too. Actually, as soon as we get a set of playing cards, I reinforce the box with packing tape and I tape one end of the card container permanently shut! Sometimes we use rubber bands to hold a set together if it's needed. |
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This I can do! I can handle packing tape. I think I'll do this for anything that is salvageable..
Mackfam wrote:
Most important rule when it comes to games:
One game out per child/group at a time. Playing the game involves 3 steps:
(1) Find a clear horizontal surface (or clear one) and get the game out.
(2) Play
(3) Replace all the pieces into the box and put the game away where you found it.
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Yes, this is the system I need. And I'm trying to do it. They just all have to be put away to begin with. So hopefully I can complete this today.
Mackfam wrote:
How exciting to have an entire cabinet for organizing your games, Amanda! |
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Yes, I am very excited to use it for the games but also school items that need a closed door storage home! I doubt the link will work for long, but here's a pic. ( I don't have a public blog or site to post a pic to.)
storage cabinet
My husband talked him down from $125 to $85. I think that's cheaper than we could buy a less sturdy locking cabinet new. I think I'm going to add a child safety lock.
Its so fun to discover things on craigslist, especially with dh on board!
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Amanda
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Lauri B
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Years ago I bought those huge plastic hanging bags with "snap" closures, like libraries use. I probably bought them from a teacher supply catalog, and I bought a variety of sizes. (This was in the 90's.) DH installed a wire shelf with hanging bar in our "school room" and we put everything in those bags! Games, educational supplies, art supplies, puzzles, books & toy sets - you name it. Everything was labelled and sorted according to what it was. We had that set up for many years (until we moved from that house). It was great while it lasted. I've always thought a big closet could be set up in a similar way. It was great for wee littles - mine were all 8 & under - because they can see exactly what's in there.
Amanda -- we got a similar wardrobe from our neighbors. (Much much older -- they were throwing it away.) My son and DH put shelves in the top and installed power strips, so we all have a station for our laptops to charge. (We are a many laptop family!) In the base, DH installed the wireless printer and paper/ink storage bins, writable cds, extra mice, extra cords. So everything is hidden in one place. We had visitors the other day and the husband turned to DH and said, "Don't you have a computer?" It was nice having this wardrobe tucked away in a corner of the enclosed porch - out of sight. :-) I'm not trying to talk you out of using it for games! :-) I just saw the pic and thought I'd share what we did with an old wardrobe, just in case anyone was looking for ideas for out-of-control laptop/printer storage. :-)
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AmandaV
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| Posted: July 13 2012 at 11:59am | IP Logged
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Lauri B wrote:
| Years ago I bought those huge plastic hanging bags with "snap" closures, like libraries use. I probably bought them from a teacher supply catalog, and I bought a variety of sizes. (This was in the 90's.) DH installed a wire shelf with hanging bar in our "school room" and we put everything in those bags! Games, educational supplies, art supplies, puzzles, books & toy sets - you name it. Everything was labelled and sorted according to what it was. We had that set up for many years (until we moved from that house). It was great while it lasted. I've always thought a big closet could be set up in a similar way. It was great for wee littles - mine were all 8 & under - because they can see exactly what's in there. |
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Thanks, Lauri! Something like this?
Heavy Duty Hanging Bags
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Amanda
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Lauri B
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Yes - just like those. It was really convenient, although the room looked a bit like the Children's Department at the library with all the bags and bookshelves and such - LOL.
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: July 13 2012 at 12:33pm | IP Logged
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AmandaV wrote:
Just found this post from a year or so ago, with advice from you, Lindsay, and myself of yesteryear. I guess I didn't get the message to find and stick with a system. I think I'm on my tenth cycle of destruction..
Puzzles,games ruined
Did your ziploc bag storage not work out over time, Lindsay? |
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Well, I had a one month old at that time, and we'd just moved, and I was still sort of working off the system from our previous home. With a super high needs little guy, the system devolved until last Fall when I put a WHOLE bunch of stuff willy nilly in the attic just by scooping everything off the floor.
The boys were THRILLED , but I've yet to reconcile it. I really need to since a lot of the stuff was things that the baby would love to have out.
We also didn't own as many games then, but the boys got a new game for the past two Easters and several for their birthdays from friends.
Just this week, I've picked up all the pieces from Trouble ALL OVER THE HOUSE about a million times. I'm pretty sure that the 3 year old loves shoving them in his pockets, and then the baby finds them and loves shoving them in his mouth and walking around like a squirrel until he spits them out at random.
And I was so happy to have a game where the pieces seemed "contained"
I know it is a habit/behavioral thing I need to address, but figuring out the storage would be part of building that. I have had the oldest reconcile all the games several times in the past few weeks, and I can't even seem to get a handle on everything long enough to even begin to enforce a system other than the "mom-loses-it-when-she-sees-the-nice-gifts-lying-all-over-th e-house" one, that obviously isn't helping
AmandaV wrote:
Lauri B wrote:
| Years ago I bought those huge plastic hanging bags with "snap" closures, like libraries use. I probably bought them from a teacher supply catalog, and I bought a variety of sizes. (This was in the 90's.) DH installed a wire shelf with hanging bar in our "school room" and we put everything in those bags! Games, educational supplies, art supplies, puzzles, books & toy sets - you name it. Everything was labelled and sorted according to what it was. We had that set up for many years (until we moved from that house). It was great while it lasted. I've always thought a big closet could be set up in a similar way. It was great for wee littles - mine were all 8 & under - because they can see exactly what's in there. |
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Thanks, Lauri! Something like this?
Heavy Duty Hanging Bags |
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You could use these with a tension rod in the new cabinet!
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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AmandaV
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CrunchyMom wrote:
You could use these with a tension rod in the new cabinet! |
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great idea! If my dh would go for it. Now I'm thinking we need another one in here.. one for school specific supplies and one for games/toys. We were already looking for another for our guest room ( currently sorting room :) ) as the closet is really storage and we'd like our guests to have a place to hang clothing. Maybe we should search for two more!
If anyone else is inspired and looking for one, check craigslist. So many great finds! I just got a desk for our school room a week ago, as well. I don't have time for garage sales..
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Amanda
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JodieLyn
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I haven't done it with games but I have with puzzles. I number them.. so #1 goes on the regular gallon or quart ziploc with the small pieces and then another #1 (silver sharpie shows against black!) on the board. Then you can easily match the two up.
For puzzles I cut the top of the box out so it would be flat and put the number on the back.. then we could go through the pictures, pick one and then go through the box and find the matching bag with the pieces.
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LLMom
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I did the idea from Confessions of an organized Housewife, and I regret it. I hate having everything separate. The kids had trouble closing the plastic boxes, game boards got bent, etc. I have gone back to keeping them in regular boxes and taping the boxes for newer games we have received. Nothing I can do now about the ones I did with the other idea.
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JennGM
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LLMom wrote:
| I did the idea from Confessions of an organized Housewife, and I regret it. I hate having everything separate. The kids had trouble closing the plastic boxes, game boards got bent, etc. I have gone back to keeping them in regular boxes and taping the boxes for newer games we have received. Nothing I can do now about the ones I did with the other idea. |
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I remember Kimberly Hahn doing that, and it was short-lived. The boxes give some parameter and safety. I tend to put plastic bags into the box for the pieces, marking how many SHOULD be there, etc.
One of my pet peeves is missing pieces and instructions.
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JaysFamily
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I'm hoping that someday I can get a trofast from Ikea and stack our board games in it instead of putting shelves in it. It would also give me space to put puzzles on top.
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: game storage
