6S Event in the Playroom – Sorting , straightening, shining, and storing toys
In addition to Nova’s new bedroom, we have had a playroom since moving into our new house. The lower level of the house is taken up by the master bedroom, Nova’s bedroom, the playroom, a full bathroom, and a laundry room.
Our goal with the playroom is to store all of Nova’s toys in one centralized location. In the past, lots of toys accumulated upstairs in the living room or in the master bedroom. And we are talking LOTS of toys.
Toys on the floor eventually become a safety hazard if you are walking over them or tripping over them. In our play room there are no closets, but there is a fireplace – this was initially designed as a downtairs family room.
We also have bookshelves which we use to store most of our family owned books.
The primary purpose of the playroom is…..to PLAY! More importantly it is a central depository and storage location for all the necessary items required to play. Families are all different, but we like all different types of toys – games, stuffed animals, dolls, hot wheels, make believe toys, books, musical instruments, and pretty much anything else we find and like from local thrift store. Nova also has some pretty amazing grandparents who dote on and spoil her.
We do use the local thrift store to donate at least a bag of household items and toys every time we go to the local thrift store and we also get a 20% discount coupon for our next purchase! The point is, try to manage the amount of necessary items in a particular area. Figure out a time frame, say a month, and determine the types and quantity of items you think you will use during that time. Organize those things and temporarily store all the other stuff until next month. Reduce clutter by identifying activities you want to complete over a month or season and remove and store all the things that aren’d needed during that time.
We encourage and facilitate all types of fun activities in the playroom. Our daughter Nova is two and a half years old and has a near unlimited supply of energy. We play boardgames like Candyland and Chutes and Ladders. Nova has a cool circuit building kit that she uses to build FM radios and LED messages. She has a great riding horse she named Bella. She has a keyboard to play music and a little chair where she flips through her hundreds of books. Too many activities to comfortably manage all the items!
Our biggest issue upon auditing the area was that we had a lot of unnecessary and unrelated storage containers in every corner and hidden along an entire wall. We also had two closet doors that were removed from an adjacent bedroom. We had to get all that unrelated stuff out ASAP!
For the playroom we know that toys, books, musical instruments, and games are necessary items, but how many should be out and about in the area? How much is too much and considered clutter?
We wanted to start fresh and reinvent this area to Nova’s needs, so we decided to remove EVERYTHING from the room. If you decide to take this extreme measure, make sure you have enough boxes to temporarily store everything in the area. Also, if it’s trash throw it away immediately. If it’s something you are willing to donate on your next visit to the thrift store put it in the donate box. It it’s necessary, put it in the temporary storage box with the intent to get it back into the target area.
We have some before pictures of our messy playroom as well as some pictures of the room emptied out. I will include them soon.
PLAYROOM BEFORE PICTURES COMING SOON
EMPTY PLAYROOM PICTURES COMING SOON
We used our iPhone 6S application prototype to quickly assess the playroom and it worked out very well. The results weren’t great, but the application worked great. There is no way for me to output the data yet, so I will recreate the results below.
6S Success Playroom Audit
| Scoring Key |
| Very good (0 problems or not applicable) = 4 Points |
| Good (1-2 problems) = 3 Points |
| Okay (3-4 problems) = 2 Points |
| Poor (5-6 problems) = 1 Point |
| Very Poor (7 or more problems) = 0 Points |
| 6S Activity |
Common Issues |
03/29/10 |
Date 2 |
Date 3 |
| Sort |
Non-essential items |
0 |
|
|
| Broken or obsolete items |
1 |
|
|
| Unneeded furniture and appliances |
3 |
|
|
| Missing items |
0 |
|
|
| Floors are free of items |
0 |
|
|
| Straighten |
Items are in effective positions |
0 |
|
|
| Items are clearly marked/labeled |
0 |
|
|
| Storage areas are organized and labeled |
0 |
|
|
| Paperwork is arranged for easy management |
4 |
|
|
| Wires and cables are tie-wrapped/secure |
0 |
|
|
| Shine |
Surfaces, cabinets shelves free of dust |
0 |
|
|
| TV and electronic devices free of dust |
0 |
|
|
| Floors are free of dust and debris |
0 |
|
|
| Walkways and equipment in good condition |
2 |
|
|
| Area is organized to maintain cleanliness |
0 |
|
|
| Standardize |
Cleaning standards are known and visible |
0 |
|
|
| Roles and responsibilities are assigned |
0 |
|
|
| 6S has been completed in area in the past |
0 |
|
|
| Cleaning and organization info is posted |
0 |
|
|
| Ventilation and lighting is adequate |
4 |
|
|
| Sustain |
Cleaning is habitual and voluntary |
0 |
|
|
| 6S audits and events are scheduled for area |
3 |
|
|
| Household is reminded of standards |
0 |
|
|
| Cleaning and organization standards followed |
0 |
|
|
| Red tag procedures are followed |
0 |
|
|
| Safety |
Tripping dangers are removed |
0 |
|
|
| Walkways are unobstructed |
0 |
|
|
| Emergency plans and exits are established |
0 |
|
|
| Fire extinguishers are present |
0 |
|
|
| Household understands potential dangers |
1 |
|
|
The biggest issues encountered during the audit were the massive quantities of toys strewn across the floor and the boxes storing all types of unneeded stuff – from computer cables to Christmas decorations and everything in between. We also had some broken glass in the back of the playroom – a safety issue that needed to be addressed immediately.
We vacuumed the empty room thoroughly. We ended up with six large plastic boxes full of toys. We also have some pretty large kids toys and furniture. We decided to first move in the furniture and large toys and then figure out a storage strategy for all the toys.
We decided to only bring half the toys back into the playroom. We brought in a colorful shelf of bins. We will store another two boxes and donate another box to the local thrift store.
We are still working on the “Ideal State” of the playroom and trying to master our storage opportunities. We’ll provide more information on standardize and sustain activities when we get a better layout of the playroom and finish storage and labeling.
Stay tuned!
