With a demanding 5-month old to take care of during the day, I normally am not left with much time to make sure that everything is in order at home, every single day. If and when I do get the time to do everything else AND clean up all the mess, my 3-year old tornado's play room is the least of my problems.

I do sort all of his toys but assigning bins for every kind of toy does make it a lot easier to put everything in its proper place, even if the hodgepodge of scattered toys seem impossible to put away neatly.

How?

I made sure that toys which aren not age appropriate anymore, are kept in the basement for my younger son's future use.

All broken toys are thrown away.

I have big plastic bins from IKEA and wooden toy chest where toys are kept. The logic of what to put where is so easy that even my three-year old knows what belongs where.

And most important of all, I have given my three year old a little responsibility. He happily helps put toys away, from time to time.