playroom organisation - board games and small toys

My theory on board games is that is they're accessible then my children are more likely to play with them independently as they don't have to ask my to get them down! 

Of course, we do play games together regularly, but there's only so my times I can play dotty dinosaurs before the name becomes all to applicable to me!

So I keep the board games one shelf from the floor so my children can easily grab the one they want. I purposefully arranged them into "quick games", which are ones they can do independently and in a short time. These on the left normally need an adult. 

These bottom containers hold my two youngest children's smaller toys. There's a unit the same side opposite this one that has toys sorted by category, but these tend to not fall into a specific category. Or with Esmae they'res too many small ones to put separately. 

Side note, I get questions about these tubs whenever I post about them. They're Curver brand and I tend to get mine here from Amazon, but I've also found them in Homebase and Wilkos. They're a lot more cream in real life than the Amazon photo suggests, which is my preference!

A while ago I made some of these small drawstring bags to hold some of Ethan's collections. He has his super hero mashers in one and Minecraft mini models in another. 

There's more toy categories in this unit along with jigsaws and awkward sized games like "poppin' pig", plus the drawer unit for all the craft supplies. This side is really for creative play and social games, where as the other side is more specific toys like cars, Happyland and Lego. 

I've just honestly tried to see how my children use this space and work it around them. In the year that we've had it it's changed several times and I'm sure it still will. But I've stuck with systems that are flexible and easy to change around for that reason. 

Oh, and those craft supplies that I don't necessaraly want them to have easy access to? Those are in the top cupboard. Of course I did sort the beads and hama beads by colour as it's how my children use them, and because most things are better sorted by colour! But with the loom bands I lost the will! Even I have my limits.

I use each of these large units for larger items like the Sylvanian house and castles, but I also try and keep it decorative so I found these mini suitcases at The Works and Accessorise and use them for small collections. 

So, there you have it. A really hard working storage unit meaning more space for my children to play in. 

And a few hacks to make my life easier, both with children having access to toys - but also so tidying up is simple and quick.

What methods do you have to keep toys organised but accessible?