Outdoor Toy Storage?
 

I see lots of pictures of people's backyards with an entire "wall" or side of their house that has outdoor toys lined up against like shopping carts, ride on toys, big bouncy balls, bikes, basketball hoops, etc. Is there anything creative besides a storage shed or moving everything to the garage to make it look less cluttered on a normal basis than sticking everything against the wall? What do you do?

My only thought is to build a "built-in" seat look along a stretch of the back and put all the shorter toys underneath...they could just wheel in the small tricycles, etc. and then have a padded sheet hang down to cover them up and keep the blankets from flying up (if they're weighted down a little or padded). Let me know your ideas. I want the toys easily accessible to the kids, but I would like to have an easy hide-away place so it's not overwhelming either. Thanks!

I don't care so much about the large play equipment, basketball hoop, slides, or coupe cars, just all the small items that accumulate in the yard!

with me too, its not so much the big items that get to me, but all the little stuff that gets thrown all over the yard. it always looke like a tornado came through...lol so i would love some creative ideas as well!!!! right now i just line everything up against the fence, and there are 3 big rubbermaid tubs, one for balls, one for sand and water toys, and one for all the other little things, like frisbees and mits and things. its getting them to actually pick it all up thats the issue!!

I have a cement slab for the riding and pushing toys. I have a plastic toy box for misc. toys. I have a lid less box for the dolls and animals next to the barn and house. For the kitchen set I have a basket attached to the fence for the food and the dishes go on the set's shelves. The kitchen stuff is our water play stuff and the sandbox toys stay in the sandbox. (I have a 6' x6' sandbox so there is no space issue there.)

I never have issues with pick up because it's been routine since day 1. We sing our pick up song as we start and then the older kids (3yrs) make it a game to pick up a toy area before I do. The littler ones pick up too but not as much.

Originally Posted by melskids:
with me too, its not so much the big items that get to me, but all the little stuff that gets thrown all over the yard. it always looke like a tornado came through...lol so i would love some creative ideas as well!!!! right now i just line everything up against the fence, and there are 3 big rubbermaid tubs, one for balls, one for sand and water toys, and one for all the other little things, like frisbees and mits and things. its getting them to actually pick it all up thats the issue!!

For the small items, I had seem once how someone organized their garage with those back-to-school crates and hung them on the wall at a child's height for balls, mitts, etc.

I have 2 concrete blocks on the grass just inside the gate. There I have a big Tupperware bin filled with cars and tractors, balls and other small toys, and then my big ride-on toys line the rest of the side of the house. Other than that my sandbox is hidden kind of behind a tree, my basketball hoop is by the shed, and my water table looks just like an kids picnic table.

Loll Design has some great outdoor products. They are made from recycled plastic and really hold up well. We bought their BBO2 table and chairs for Levi 3 years ago and they still look great. I found this outdoor storage container by them that would work great as an outdoor toy bin. I'm going to think about getting it next year.

We have three of these deck boxes from Sams Club. They are waterproof and keep everything tidier.

Originally Posted by Meeko:
We have three of these deck boxes from Sams Club. They are waterproof and keep everything tidier.

I have a box like this too. We've had it for several years and it holds up well. Heck my own kids stand on it. The only thing I don't like about it, is that it doesn't stay open, it doesn't have a hinge on it, so the kids do have a hard time opening it. But my back yard looks like a tornado goes thru it too.

Walmart/lowes has a bench deck box. They are waterproof and they lock!