When your child is a baby it’s pretty easy to keep their stuff neat and organized. Sure, they’ll have a couple of stuffed animals and some colored blocks, but at the end of the day you’ll throw them in a drawer and that will be that. But as they grow older, their stuff seems to magically multiply. With every birthday, holiday and special occasion their toy and game collection grows, until it might well get to the point where you can’t see the floor in their room anymore. You’re going to have to get on top of the issue. You can pester your kids about cleaning their rooms all you want, but if you don’t have the proper organizational tools in place you simply won’t have what you need to get the job done. Here are five of the top storage and organization tips for kid’s toys and games to help you through.

Any time you can get things stowed away and out of site you’ll be ahead of the game. Most kid’s beds are at least slightly raised off the floor. So consider picking up a plastic bin that can slide effortlessly back and forth. They’re inexpensive, and easy for a child’s little hands to work through. If you feel like being a little crafty, consider putting together a rolling storage bin of the same materials as the bedframe. Your child might not care about the matching wood finish, but it will look good even if it’s left out during the day.

Some kid’s toys are made up of literally hundreds of tiny pieces. If your little one is into Legos you know this all too well. And you’ll inevitably lose the plastic bin those toys came in. Bring a little retro vibe to the storage in your child’s room by refurbishing an old soda crate. They’re split into nine or twelve separate compartments, which makes them perfect for the tiny bits and pieces that make up your child’s favorite toys. Spend a couple of dollars on casters and you can turn that soda crate into a rolling toy bin that you and your child will enjoy for years.

Storage is only half the game. If you don’t have an easy, visual way to organize things you’ll still end up with a cluttered mess on your hands. So grab yourself a set of wicker baskets and then tie small chalkboards onto the front. You can buy label-sized chalkboards you can use to designate each type of toy you want to store, and then with a couple of holes punched you can string them right through the wicker. The best part of this approach is that you can reuse the chalkboards in different ways as the years pass.

Board games are fun and colorful, with kid-friendly designs that are simply wasted when they’re stuck inside a box. Even worse, every time those games are pulled out and folded back up they will inevitably wear, crease and tear, slowly destroying the game over time. Want to creatively store your child’s board games and save some space at the same time? Consider framing the boards themselves. Use a thick but simple frame, and then store all of the pieces and the instruction booklet in the back. When your child wants to play the game you simply pull it down from the wall and it’s ready to go.

Although it might not make it on any of those best toys for Christmas 2013 lists, some designer plastic bags are fantastic for storing your child’s odds and ends. Think about the little things they love so much that never seem to have an easy home. The crayons without a box, the tiny toy soldiers, the thumb puppets that somehow entertain the kids for hours at a time. Pick up a set of reinforced plastic bags with colored folds at the top and those toys will never be left out to trip over again. You’ll think they’re adorable, and your child will love that he can see what’s in each bag. It’s a win win.