How do you manage the vast numbers of batteries that are needed for all the toys?
I filled a drawer in my kitchen with little boxed compartments to use as an organizer for all the batteries, but it seems to be in constant disarray. What kind of solutions have you found?
4 Answers
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We have this recharger which holds all sizes. With three kids, we have a LOT of things with batteries in them. The rechargeables are more expensive but I like how they are better for the environment. So we keep just a couple extra of each size and they are usually in the recharger. Honestly we don't have a problem with where to keep the extras now, because there are rarely many to spare!
Just make sure that as you retire or give away the toys, you remove the rechargeable batteries. They are too valuable to get rid of.
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We don't (yet) really have this problem, but maybe our kids don't have the kids of toys that really eat through batteries.
One suggestion would be to buy rechargeable batteries. The up-front cost is higher, but you can make sure to only get exactly enough to fit in the toys you already have, and a pretty big charger. That way, you won't have a "storage problem" like you do now.
Another idea is to tell your kids that the toys are "broken" (i.e. the totally annoying siren on that police car, etc.) and pretend to replace the batteries but don't actually do it. Then, maybe they'll just get used to not having the flashing lights & sounds all the time. You can always "fix it" in the future if you want.
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Well for the house I use this organizer but honestly it hasn't been a real issue for the kid toys as of yet. They all use different sizes and quantities so I am not sure rechargeable is practical.
The 'broken' think (or as we do just trying to leave the batteries out initially if we think it is secondary and load) doesn't last very long. They learn to recognize that it takes batteries and our 3 yr old takes an active interest in replacing them herself.
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I'll second the idea of using rechargeable batteries. We have a lot of toys which use AA and AAA so those are all rechargeable. Occasionally we'll get a toy that needs C or D or 9V so we'll get disposable ones of those. If any of them started to be used with regularity, we would get rechargeable ones.
BTW, I wouldn't use rechargeable for smoke detectors. I heard this wasn't a good idea, though I don't know why.
