Please head over to Tree Hugging Family today, to learn about the new Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) laws on toy making. These new laws will make it nearly impossible for parents and children to have access to green and handmade toys.
If you want green or handmade toy options available for your children you need to get involved.

When I was four years old, I wandered off at the mall. My mom was shopping. I was gone for hours. The cops and store security were searching and searching for me. It took a long time to find me though because when two security guards stopped me, and asked if I was the lost kid, I said, “Lost? I’m not lost” and wandered off. Luckily someone wised up, and I was found and safe.
Funny now, but if my own kid did this I’d be in panic mode. If you’re planning a holiday shopping trip, especially at a busy mall …read more

In the previous post we looked at, how to get your kids to clean and organize. I left one tip out. My reasoning for leaving this tip off the original list was because I think it’s one of the most important kid tips around – especially when it comes to chores, so I figured we’d give this tip its own post.
The tip:
Don’t ask your kids to help out if you’re not prepared to hear the answer.
Here’s what happens – you say, “Hey Chris, will you please help me fold laundry?” Chris says, “No, I’m in the middle of something” or …read more

Getting your kids in line with cleaning and organizing is not as hard as you might think. Here are some ideas…
Don’t be bossy: My son is naturally tidy (must be genetics) but it’s not all cake for me because he’s organized in a different way than I am. He’s a visual organizer, which I’ve discussed here before, meaning he’s tidy, but he likes to place stuff on top of shelving, on tables, in nice organized floor piles, and so on. I prefer items put in bins, or away in a file cabinet or closet. To me, part of decluttering means …read more

Anyone can organize a child’s room once. Your goal is to make sure your child’s room is easy to organize on a day-to-day basis.
Toddlers tend to have a lot of mess, and no inclination to pick-up. Toddlers are in fact too young to pick-up on their own, so don’t even try – a big messy room looks insanely complicated to a little one. Your toddler should help, but not be in charge of cleaning. To make it easier on yourself, follow these tips:
Ban large toy boxes: Large toy boxes suck so far as organizing is concerned. All you do is …read more

You can go green yet still find great kid storage solutions. Such as…
Baby Bronti Small Shelf Unit – made with earth-easy birch panels and child safe powder coated panels. From Glosto.

There’s storage and fun with the ducduc – parker Playtable – Paper Roll – this cool art table with a removable rolling drawer for storage is 100% hardwood, and created with non-toxic lacquered paint. From 2modern.

Jax Organic Storage Tower: Orange from Nest comes in other colors, but my son likes orange so there you go. This is storage made with organic cotton and a sturdy frame so it’ll last for …read more

If you’ve got more than one child then cleaning up at the end of the day can be somewhat of a nightmare. Each kid has their own sets of blocks, Legos, tiny cars, discarded socks, books, hair ties, and more. It’s not easy to tell who owns what; if you’re the parent. But luckily kids always know which item is theirs; all you have to do is facilitate clean-up.
 
To make it easy give each kid a bucket with their name on it. These aren’t storage buckets, but clean-up buckets only. At the end of the day, kids can scoot around …read more

Let’s have a little organized kid round-up. Following are some of the best organizing ideas for children’s spaces…
The Clean Up Game
Totally Cool Kid Pillow Storage
Toy Storage Your Kids Will Love & Actually Use
The Closet Monkey – Organizing a Baby’s Closet
Make Your Mornings (and Chores) Go Quicker
The Hardest Organizing You’ll Ever Do – Sibling Shared Room Organizing
Youth Room Dividers for Shared Bedrooms
Shared Sibling Rooms: Sleeping Arrangements
Shelving for Shared Sibling Rooms
The Wardrobe Goblin – One Very Handy Coat Rack
Visual Motivation – Tidy Baby Nursery
Great Summer Project for Little Organizers
Organize Potty Training
Best Space Saving Summer Bucket for Kids
Haba Kid Storage Box
Kid Storage Solution …read more

Here’s a great kid room organization box – the Haba Bi Ba Box Stackable Box Tall. I love Haba, but hadn’t seen this box yet.

There are tons of kid storage perks with this box (or set of boxes).

Boxes stack together
Boxes can be rolled as a tower
Large interior and colorful exterior
Extra storage compartments
Zippered side pockets
Tags can be inserted into holders so your kids (and you) can identify the contents

Learn more about this Haba box.
[Image via Maukilo]

Potty training overall is messy business. At least you can have a stylish, clutter free potty to get you through the had times. The Potty Bench from Boon features two nicely enclosed side storage spaces where you can hide away wipes, toilet paper, books, or whatever you like. There’s an easy pull out drawer for that cleaning up business, and the lid supports plenty of weight making it work double duty as a stool.Plus this potty is easy on the eyes; now when have you heard that?

Very slick potty, right?
[image via Boon]