I'm not really sure what to do here. I have the toys organized. I even have them stored in a way that doesn't really look like we have many toys...when they're picked up and put away. But the problem I have is keeping up. There are SO many toys and the kids just have no regard for keeping things organized that I am just losing my marbles. Like, for example one will be playing with a toy phone. Spots something else. Literally TOSSES the phone behind them on the floor and runs for the new toy. Now multiply this times 5 and you have yourself one messy living room.

No, I don't have a separate day care space, and I never will.

I am just so exhausted at the end of the day that the toys are not even touched and picked up until I get up the next morning to start the new day.

I want so badly to downsize. There are so many toys my own kids don't even touch anymore. How many toys is too many? How many is not enough?

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I'm in the same situation. My home does not have a separate area for daycare so my living room is my daycare.
Daycare is my priority as far as how the space is used. The only thing I have in the living room, (other than daycare stuff) is my recliner, side table and the tv). I'm si ngle and don't entertain so that's not a problem for me. My grandkids do live with me though, but they have bean bags they use for watching tv and put them away when not in use.
As far )
I teach my kids to put away one toy before they can get another out and they are pretty good about it. My youngest just turned 2 though so I'm sure it's harder with ones who are young enough to not understand, but I had the same problem of so many toys on the floor you couldn't put a foot down until I started doing this.
Now, some of my kids has almost become ocd with keeping toys picked up and things go much smoother.
It has also lessened the fighting over toys...someone having played with something 10 minutes ago and left it, someone else comes pick it up and the first kid saying he was playing with it when he was clearly playing with something else by this time.

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What age are your dck? I would work on teaching them to put their toys away. If I see a child throw their toy on the floor to go play with something else I redirect them back to the toy and remind them they need to put one toy back before they can take out more. Also, spend some time watching what they are playing with. If they don't play with it for a week, then put it away. When you take it out again it will be "new" and they will actually play with it.

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I agree with the pp. I have the kids pick up the toys all morning long. If I see them throwing toys on the floor, the toy goes in to the "uh-oh" bin and doesn't return that day (or for many days ) The rule in the play room is one toy at a time. If I see a child has moved on to another toy without picking up the first toy, I have them stop what they are doing to pick up the toy. And no saying "well Susie wants to play with it" because here, Susie must take the toy off the shelf to play with it. Most of the time Susie didn't even want the toy, as evidenced by the fact that once it's put away, she doesn't take it back down
And even though I have a place for all the toys, I frequently "cull" the heard and move toys out of the dc area. Especially when I'm finding that they are having a hard time making good choices with so many options

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I have rules for playing with toys. They can only play with one type of toy at once and have to clean it up and put it back before they can get another toy. Even my 2yo's clean up after themselves. If the child doesn't want to clean up the toys that he/she was playing with then they lose privileges to that toy or set of toys. I supervise their play and pretty much just let them play in their own but I do watch them and keep visual contact with them. I also have the toys sorted by type in clear bins so that they can see what goes inside. I had pictures of what toys went inside the bins but recently took them down to redo them but even then the DCK's know which toys go in which bins now (they are different sizes).

If you keep on them and stay consistent they'll learn. Turn it into a game. Cleaning up is also a great way to help them with sorting. Make it fun "Where does this toy go?" "You did it!" and they'll be more open to cleaning up.

I also have several clean-up times and we sing the clean -up song. We clean up before snacks and meals and before we go outside which comes out to be about every 2 hours or less so and about 5 clean-up times a day. If it gets really messy then I'll add an extra clean-up time in there.

I also have certain areas that the kids can't play at. For example in my living room we have a big rug over our tile so the kids know that they can play with toys on the rug but not on the tile. The tile area stays clear so that we always have a clear walkway path to the exits and restroom. Certain things can only be played with in certain areas such as crayons, puzzles etc. can only played with at the kid's size table and they can only take out one puzzle/piece of paper at a time and must put it away before they can take another.

A lot of it is supervision and consistency. Just keep reminding and encouraging them.

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One family I used to babysit for all of there toys were mostly in their living room and the kids (ages 2 and 4) would always take out all of the toys at once but during transition times (right before lunch/school time/nap time) I tought them to clean up when it is "clean up time" and they would put things away really fast and mostly in the right spots (only a few things were in specific boxes like legos) and I would clean up with them (modeling behavior) but didn't put too much energy into it so they would do most of the cleaning- I mostly did more detailed organizing (like books) and they would finish in less than 2 minutes. And I didn't let them move on to the next activity until clean up was done.

Maybe having lables on the storage bins. or maybe having a curtain/sheet over the shelves and letting them pick 1 or 2 things at a time- sometimes all of those toys out in their view make it more likely that they will want a chance to play with everything on the shelves or get bored and lose intrest in their current toy and forget to put it away

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My main daycare room is also my livingroom so I know what you mean. I have had all of my DCKs since they were infants so as they got old enough, I taught them to put away the toys when they were finished playing with them. Each and every toy has a bin they belong in and the kids do really well. One DCG has gotten OCD about it even reminding the others what colored bin a toy belongs in. Her mother thanked me this past week because she will not go to bed at night until everything is clean in her room. She even makes her bed every morning without being asked and she is only 3! If you stay on top of them...it will not take long before they will be putting them away on their own.

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At 9:30 the Bell is rung and I play Kathy poelker's clean up song. Right now I have younger kids, so I have almost all self- contained toys with no pieces.

After toys are picked up, kids who help get a sticker for the sticker chart.

I had to down size dishes and pieces of play food that were out.

I put all but two stuffed animals away, have about 10 blocks out and no Duplos, etc.

I am a toy person, so this was a bit hard but the right choice! They have plenty to do!

We are working hard on learning to pick up before getting another toy.

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depends what they are doing but we always clean up before lunch. After nap they are only to take out a couple of toys because its time to go home.

also, I totally understood what you were saying. I bought cabinets with doors on it and I put toys in there, and I put shelves on the walls, but high enough that the littles can't reach. I needed to be able to control what was being taken out. I take out toys all day long but the mess isn't there like it was before. I also found that there were a couple of dck's that all they do is pull out toys, when I found out who they were I started clamping down on them.

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