How to Organize Games and Puzzles
Check out our easy method for how to organize games and puzzles. This is such a space saver!
My family and I love playing board games together, and it’s an activity we’ve been doing a lot of since we had to start social distancing.
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But our game and puzzle collections are slowly starting to take over our house.
Not to mention, some of the boxes have seen better days, and various game pieces are scattered about. The last thing you want to do is look for missing pieces when you’re ready to play a game.
There has to be a better way!
And there is! Today, I’m showing you today how to organize games and puzzles. I ended up saving a HUGE amount of space after organizing this way and my kids find it much easier to go through our game collection and pick what they want.
Let’s start from the beginning.
How to Organize Games and Puzzles
The first thing you want to do is take stock of what you own. Pull everything out and bring it into one area.
Make a few piles:
- Games/puzzles you want to keep
- Games/puzzles you want to donate
- Games/puzzles with missing/broken pieces that you need to trash
Some good places to donate your old games and puzzles are Goodwill, your kids school, nursing homes, shelters, churches, and even children’s hospitals.
I found that we had games hanging around that we haven’t touched in years! That’s a huge space saver right there. For the games that we had left to organize, I purchased these large zipper pouches. They are clear so you can see through them and they’re also waterproof. They’ll be perfect to take on trips too. Just grab and go!
I found most games and puzzles will fit in these pouches, including some boards that fold into quarters. However, some game boards are just too big to fit. (Checkers – I’m looking at you). In that case, you can keep the original box if it’s in good condition or try to find another pouch that fits.
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For each game, I organized them into their own pouch and included all pieces, cards, and the game instructions.
Each puzzle also got their own zipper pouch and I cut out a picture of the puzzle to keep with the pieces for reference. It also makes it easier to choose a puzzle since you can see the picture through the clear pouch.
You can store a multitude of card games in one zipper pouch! The trick is to divide each card game up into little Ziploc bags and secure them with rubber bands.
After I organized all the games/puzzles into these pouches, I labeled little gift tags with the puzzle description or board game name and tied it to the zipper on the pouch.
These pouches lay flat or can be propped up inside your closets and cabinets. If game night is a regular occurrence at your house, you might want to store these pouches in your living room with easy access. A storage ottoman is a great place, a toy bench, or even the TV console. You don’t need a ton of space to store these zipper pouches.
I can’t tell you enough how much better this system is! And I can’t believe how much space we got back after removing those bulky tattered boxes. I also find that it’s much easier for my kids to clean up after they’re done playing. I don’t know why this is but I’m not complaining about it.
And did I mention these pouches are also great for travel!? I’ll say it again! We always bring a game or two with us on a trip – now you can just grab a pouch and go without sacrificing a bunch of trunk space.
I will definitely buy more of these awesome zipper pouches. Every year, I’ll make it a point to go through our game stash and analyze what we have. I highly recommend you give this method a try if your board games are taking over your life.
Here’s to the next game night!
XO Karen
