Keeping it all together...

E recently received this great toy for Christmas from a dear family friend. (This is exceptionally fitting because E loves to watch PBS cooking shows with Mommy and Daddy).

A cute toy, but alas, as E gets older, her toys (and their parts!) get smaller! What to do to corral those pesky parts? I happened upon an idea that served us well with E's "preschool activities in a bag" set -- a huge cookie sheet!

I told E that whenever she plays with the preschool bag activities or the new lots-of-little-pieces set, she needs to play it on the cookie sheet. Whether on the floor or on the coffee table, it keeps the pieces contained. So far, it's working great!

Mommies, what other creative ideas do you use to manage your toys? I'd love to hear them!