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NMMountainMom
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| Posted: April 08 2011 at 6:55pm | IP Logged
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Wondering if anyone else has had this problem and if they've been able to solve it: my children destroy everything that is a "set", games, puzzles etc. In the past I have spent significant money on board games and high quality wooden puzzles, erector sets, electronic sets, art sets and the like. Nothing ever stays together and the pieces end up all over the house or in different toy bins with no realistic hope of getting all the pieces together again. Suggestions?
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Danielle, making it work (some days better than others) with five boys, a family business and homeschooling.
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MNMommy
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| Posted: April 08 2011 at 7:37pm | IP Logged
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I have a child-prood thingy on the handle of our game closet. Only my oldest two dc can get in without permission. That helps reduce (but not solve) our issues in this area.
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Jennifer
Tired mom to - 10yo dd, 7yo ds, 6yo ds, 4yo dd, 2yo ds
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: April 08 2011 at 7:39pm | IP Logged
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For puzzles and games, I use big ziplocks and cut the picture off the box to slide in there. Only a few puzzles are in circulation at a given time. If they want a different puzzle, they have to have all the pieces of one collected and in the bag in order to exchange it.
The same goes for Lego, playmobil, knex, tinker toys, etc... The Diplo and playmobil stay out all the time. All other sets rotate. If they want to play with knex, all the Lego have to be in their bins, and they are allowed to exchange the Lego for knex (or tinker toys, the wooden city set, etc...).
Besides the requirement that things be collected to exchange, this set- up makes it far easier for them to keep their room clean general. When I say, clean your room, I can reasonably expect that the individual puzzles will be put away each time. I don't make them "crash" everything each time. For instance, they have a John Deere floor puzzle that has been out and built for a couple of days just because they like it. They can leave out something built out of Duplo, but will still have to put away the individual pieces scattered. Even the two year old can do that.
So, I guess our system is two fold: a proper storage container that makes pick up easy (e.g., zip locks for puzzles) and severely limit the number of "sets" allowed in active circulation.
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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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atara
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| Posted: April 09 2011 at 5:02am | IP Logged
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CrunchyMom wrote:
For puzzles and games, I use big ziplocks and cut the picture off the box to slide in there. Only a few puzzles are in circulation at a given time. If they want a different puzzle, they have to have all the pieces of one collected and in the bag in order to exchange it.
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Same here. Only one is allowed out a time.
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AmandaV
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| Posted: April 09 2011 at 8:26am | IP Logged
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Just a plug for hope - I had about 20 diaper boxes full of random assorted toys in my twins room (that they weren't using) and went through them last weekend for a few hours and then one box each day this week and we're down to only 4! Better yet, there's half a tub of tinker toys, most legos and mega blocks, etc. are together again. I need to be better about the only get out one or two at a time as well... but often in the past I have just given in when there is something I need to get done. Puzzles are the worst for us. I haven't gone through those yet...
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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: April 09 2011 at 8:43am | IP Logged
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There is definitely hope! We certainly came to this system out of necessity! I imagine most people have to witness the chaos and destruction cycle a couple of times before reaching the point where they find and implement a system that is effective for them!
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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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mavmama
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| Posted: April 09 2011 at 9:58am | IP Logged
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For puzzles, this worked for us: On the back of each puzzle "frame" or box, assign a number, marked with permanent marker. Then on each piece, write the same number. We never did this with the tiny cardboard puzzle pieces, but with teh bigger wooden ones when the kids were small. It helped when they got spread out.
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Liz
Blessed by 4 wonders
dd11, dd911, ds9, ds8
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herdingkittens
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| Posted: April 09 2011 at 9:19pm | IP Logged
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At my husband's wise request  :
Games are in a storage room, puzzles on a high shelf. Littles have to ask if they can get one out, and have to put it all away before moving on to anything else.
Worked like a charm and has cut down on crazy messes and lost pieces.
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my peeps: girl('02), boy('03), girl('05), twin boys ('07), boy ('11) and sweet baby boy ('13)
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4Real Forums : Planning and Ordering our Days
Topic: Puzzles, games ruined
