My kids love puzzles, and that's fine with me. I'd much rather see them huddled together in the floor trying to find out which piece goes where than in front of a video game.
However, they always destroy the puzzle boxes. ALWAYS. At my house, we're luck if the box lasts being opened. I can't explain it. It's just the way it is.
We tried several options to remedy the destruction. I've laminated puzzle boxes with packing tape and contact paper. We've tried ziploc bags. All to no evail.
Then it hit me. Really. Ziploc bags don't stack well.
Now, we use plastic storage containers, the sandwich size. They are much easier for the kids to open and close, and they stack up so nicely on their bookcase. And they are much more durable which in my house is a neccessity.
My oldest son once disassembled a mattress. No joke.
The cost for the investment is minimal. I recently got two ten packs of containers at Wally world for about $3. The only downside is losing the puzzle picture, but I'm thinking about snapping pictures of the puzzles and either sticking them to the box top or laminating them to put inside (with contact paper).
What about you? What toy challenges/solutions do you have?
For more Works for Me tips visit We Are That Family.
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4 comments:
I love the idea of keeping puzzle pieces together like this. I agree that putting a snapshot of the picture inside the box would work.
My favorite toy solution is to put all of my daughter's dress-up clothes in a collapsable hamper, the kind that you get when you first have a baby. It has soft sides, so it gives when she digs. It's very lightweight, so it tips over when she wants to dump everything all over the floor. It has Pooh Bear on it, so she loves it!
My boys have one of those too. I agree that they are much easier and much less messy since they give like that. They can get to the bottom without unpacking a large toybox full of junk! =)
That is so incredibly smart. Seriously. I might have to borrow this idea for some of Aly's toys. They get everywhere.
The small plastic totes with the snap/lock lids are great for that. The boys' have several for different categories of toys.
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