Organizing outside toys has always been a struggle of mine.  The containers always end up disgusting from the dirt and grime of being outside all the time. I need ways to control the clutter without having to constantly clean all the toys. Luckily Pinterest exists, so I took some time to browse around. I am so impressed with some of the amazing outdoor toy organizing ideas I found!

You may remember that I got our sports balls organized using bungee cords and cabinets in the garage. This sports ball storage has been so helpful in containing all the basketballs, footballs, baseballs, and soccer balls.

But we have so many outdoor toys that aren’t balls–and we need some clever ways to organize those things, too! From play cars, bubbles, sidewalk chalk to water toys, the list goes on.  I have cheap bins to store these things, but they are either falling apart or super sticky from the bubbles.  Somehow the bubbles leak into every area of the bins that I have stored outside, even though half of them aren’t near the bubbles!

Pinterest-Inspired Outdoor Toy Storage Ideas

So as I was browsing around on Pinterest, I found some great inspirations to get our outdoor space as organized as our indoor space! Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Pegboards Galore

I love how Jenn from Clean and Sensible turned an entire wall of her garage into a pegboard organizational system.  We have a few pegboards in our garage, but after seeing this, I plan to extend them to make a full wall to store some of our outdoor sporting equipment and other outside toys.  I also really like how Jenn has open baskets to store things.  That really helps prevent dirt and grime to build up at the bottom of the basket!

2. Hanging Milk Crates

Mandi at Life Your Way shared how she attached milk crates to her fence as easy outside storage solutions.  I love this idea!  This would make the perfect place for all of our outside water toys.  Since our water table is in the backyard, having milk crates to store the water toys will make clean up so much easier!

I currently use a deck box from Costco for our outdoor water toys, but if the toys are wet, I can’t put them in the deck box because it’s also where I store our outside pillows and cushions to protect them from rain. So, the wet toys just end up sitting next to the water table and then, eventually, get lost.  By hanging crates near the water table, clean up will be so much easier for the family!  I think I might add another crate to store our dog’s toys.  This will come in handy when Ben is mowing the lawn, so he doesn’t have to keep stopping to throw the toys to another area of the lawn.

3. Creative Toy Car Storage

Sara from Mom Endeavors shared an incredible tutorial on creating a covered kiddie car parking garage.  This is perfect for when the kids want to play with their cars in the backyard, but I am too lazy to bring them back to the garage at the end of the night. By having a covered kiddie car parking garage, they won’t get wet at night from rain or dew, and I won’t have to dry them the following day!

4. Create Labels and Accessibility

Jen from I Heart Organizing, shares how she got her kids toys organized by using fun, colorful labels, and easy to use bins.  I love the idea of using bins with handles to store water toys.  I also love how bright and colorful the space looks!

5. Utilize the Outdoor Storage Space You Have

The Family Handyman has some amazing tips for making the most of your garage.  I know this isn’t totally about outside toy organization, but if you are able to organize your lawn and garden stuff in the garage, then you have more room for toy storage.  I plan on keeping the kid’s toys low and the grown-up stuff up high.  This makes me feel better about letting the kids be more independent when we are playing outside, rather than me having to run and get everything.

Now that I have some inspiration, I am off to get some stuff organized for the kiddos!  I am shopping for milk crates to hang on the fence, more pegboards for the garage, and materials for my attempt at the kiddie parking garage!  And like inside, my aim is to keep the spaces not only organized but also pretty and fun! Let’s hope I am able to carry out this over the next week!

Do you have any fun organizational tips for your kids’ outside toys? Comment below and let us know!