You can picture it already: the gifts have been opened, the kids are excited, and now you’re trying to figure out how to make room for all the new toys when your space was already feeling jam-packed well before the holiday season.

To keep your kids’ holiday loot from taking over the house, you don’t have to buy more or bigger storage bins. And you don’t have to devote your weekends to decluttering for the rest of the year. (With everything else going on, who has time for that?)

Instead, you can save yourself a lot of time and energy by taking a few simple steps before gifts even arrive: Decide which toys you’ll keep. Give them a place that makes sense. Leave room for what’s coming.

That’s the process my team and I take when we work with families on organizing toys. Our approach is simple: No judgment about how many toys are in the house. Just a calmer way forward.

Have Toys Taken Over Your Home?

When stuff for your kids keeps coming in but nothing goes out, even a house with lots of space for play can start to feel like a toy store. Suddenly, NeeDohs have taken over your kitchen table, and there’s a full-fledged Lego Star Wars battle in your home office.

I’ve seen parents feel they should be able to solve this on their own. They’re managing full calendars and demanding workdays; surely they can handle a playroom. But knowing something needs attention and having the time to take care of it are two different things. You’re allowed to hand this one off.

This season, we’ve already helped several moms clear toy clutter ahead of the holidays. Some were ready to edit decisively. Others preferred a rotation so their children could keep more toys without having everything out at once. There isn’t a “right” amount of toys for your kids to own. The important thing is having a space your family can use and maintain.

Sort Toys to Make Choices Easier

A pre-holiday toy reset works best when you can first see what your children actually have. For our decluttering projects, we start by sorting toys into categories: Barbies, plushes, Pokémons, etc. Once similar things are together, it becomes easier to spot what your kids have outgrown, what they never really enjoyed in the first place and what they still reach for again and again.

Some decisions are easy. Broken toys, incomplete games and puzzles with missing pieces can take up valuable space. So can the toys your children loved two years ago but haven’t picked up in months.

But other decisions are more complicated, especially when a toy was a gift or carries a special memory. The key question to ask is whether that toy has a place in your children’s lives now, not whether it once did. This can be emotional work, so remember that you don’t need to make every decision in one sitting. 

Set aside toys in good condition that your family is ready to pass along. If your child wants to be involved, they can help choose some to donate. But if that would make the process harder, it is absolutely fine to make these decisions yourself. 

Set Up Toy Storage Solutions

After editing, group the remaining toys in ways that reflect how your kids play: building sets together, dress-up items together, cars together and so on. Categories let you see whether each type of toy has a manageable home.

Then choose storage that fits the toys you are keeping. Clear bins can work well because both you and your kids can see what belongs inside. Labels help everyone put things back in the same place. For younger children, a simple picture on the label alongside the words makes the storage system easier to use.

Keep the bins somewhere your child can reach safely so they can store their toys without a complicated cleanup routine. A system that looks beautiful but requires an adult to maintain every day won’t give you much relief. That’s why we aim for solution-based systems tailored to each family’s unique needs.

Is a Toy Rotation Right for Your Kids?

Clearing space before the holidays doesn’t always mean giving toys away. A toy rotation can be a good option when your kids still play with many of their toys, but having them all available at once feels like too much.

Keep a selection accessible and store the rest together by category. Later, swap a few things in and out. Familiar toys can feel interesting again after some time away. It’s like giving your children new toys without purchasing anything. Instead, you’re “shopping” your storage.

Toy rotation is only helpful if it’s easy for your family to keep up with. It shouldn’t feel like just one more thing you have to do. If you’d rather have all the toys accessible, a well-edited space with clear places to put them may serve you better.

Give Incoming Gifts a Place to Land

The reset isn’t finished when the current toys are put away. Before the holidays, look at where the likely new arrivals will go. Is there room for another building set? A larger toy? Art supplies from a well-meaning relative?

You don’t need to predict every gift. A little breathing room on a shelf or in a bin gives your family options. New toys can join the categories you already have.

Invite your kids into the process. Show them where their favorite toys live and how to put them away. Let them help choose spots for new gifts. A system is easier to maintain when the people using it understand it.

Finally, remember that your children may need time to adjust to a changed space. One mom we worked with told us her child wasn’t thrilled to see her messy room cleaned up. But afterward, she could actually find the things she wanted to play with. 

You Don’t Have to Tackle Toy Clutter Alone

So now you know how to make room for new toys before the holidays. But the trickier question might be when you’re supposed to do this. With shopping, travel and end-of-year work deadlines, your holiday season is already busy enough.  

That’s where my team and I come in. Our home-organizing services help families declutter and create solution-based systems that are easy to maintain. You deserve to enjoy the excitement of new gifts without dreading where they’ll go afterward. Schedule your Connection Call and let’s get ahead of the gift influx.

PS: If toy storage is just one of the challenges in preparing your home for the holidays, we also help with both setting up and taking down your festive interior decor.