In our family, we tend to keep MiniZoo animals all over the house and in different places. We have a couple in the nappy bag, some in my handbag, a few in the kids’ backpacks, more sitting on a shelf display, and then there’s the extra special favourite ones that rarely leave their little hands. The rest we have to store somewhere, to keep them from getting lost and to keep them off the floor. Because, in my opinion, stepping barefoot on a model animal figurine is way worse than stepping on a LEGO.

Because MiniZoo animals are varying in shape and size, and your collection might be diverse, they can be tricky to store, so boxes, baskets, cubes, tubs or trays can be a good option.

In our play room we have cube storage shelves, which we sourced at Bunnings (but are also available at IKEA and other department stores). Some of our cubes are open for display, and some have felt cube boxes for storage of things like blocks, train tracks, dress ups, and I also use them for our model animals. This is mostly because I like to try and keep our animals in a place where the kids can easily access them for their independent and imaginative discovery play. Baskets would work just as well in cube storage too.

Another great way to keep MiniZoo animals is using plastic tubs and tray drawers which work really well too. The IKEA Trofast storage system is a great solution for this. You can even label these to sort your figurines further e.g. Ocean, Farm, Dinosaurs, Africa etc. This kind of categorisation can be a great teaching tool to assist little ones learning animal habitats.

Others have also used labelled zip lock bags to keep their figures when not in use, and then store those in baskets or drawers in the cupboard. This system would make it super easy to set up play worlds and habitats, because all you’d have to do is grab the bag that says ‘Farm’ and all your farmyard friends are all together and ready to play in your set up paddocks, stables, or petting zoo play. This would save rifling through a big collection for specific types of animals.

Using display shelves as storage is also a great way to decorate your rooms and build upon different aspects of their play. For example, in the bedrooms we often display figurines that match the books the kids are loving at the moment. It means when we get them down to read, they hold onto the models while they follow along with the story which improves their visual literacy, comprehension, and imagination. Plus, don’t they just make the room look so inviting?!

I find keeping MiniZoo animals on display, particularly on shelves, helps to remind me to rotate the toys too. Regular toy rotation is a proven way to improve engagement and excitement surrounding existing toys. Keeping the bulk of your figurines in a box, tub or basket, especially if they’re out of sight, can mean kids forget they’re there. If you display animals in prominent places, their little eyes gravitate towards the ‘new’ toy and immediately want to play. If the same toys always sit on the shelf, this excitement will diminish, so its always best to rotate which models you have out to avoid this.

For the MiniZoo Safari Good Luck Minis that are not in use in sensory bottles, we use a clear container with several compartments. We try and keep these categorised (e.g. dinosaurs, sea animals, insects, farm animals, etc.) but if the kids are free-playing with them, obviously they get mixed up. I don’t tend to mind too much so long as they don’t get lost, and I obviously have to keep an eye on smaller children to ensure they’re not putting them in their mouths. So when they’re not in use, I keep the container up high, just to be safe, because my little Houdini can open almost anything.

If you can get a bigger container with larger compartments (available at Bunnings), it can be a great way to store your regular sized figures too.

My kids tend to invite their animal figurines into the bath or shower with them, which is great because MiniZoo animals are great for water play as they don’t have holes and could often do with a wash after a big day of play, inside or outside. So when storing model animals in the bathroom, we use a hanging mesh bag which is perfect because it allows for wet animal figures to drip dry afterwards, and avoids mould growing in crevices if they were kept in a container or tub.

Then, of course, we have the kids’ favourite MiniZoo animals that go everywhere with them, so they never really get stored. They even take them to bed!

I hope you found some good ideas for storing your animal figurines here, and if you have another storage system that also works well, let us know on our Facebook VIP group, or by tagging us on Instagram. We’d love to see!

Jenna @ MiniZoo