Tips for Securing Children’s Books and Toys for Earthquake Safety

Solution for falling toys: velcro a fabric box to the shelf

Cardboard books, wooden dolls, superballs, legos.

All the tiny things children collect are hard to put away neatly. They pile up and spill over on shelves and it’s easier to just keep stacking them in the same place.

But when an earthquake hits, all those little toys are going to come tumbling down.

Even if you secure the bookcase or cabinet to the wall.

Here are three tips to help keep your children from being buried beneath their toys.

1. Museum putty down objects they look at but don’t play with, like Miel’s picture frames and globe.

2. Heavy items should be moved from high shelves, like Miel’s collection of college chemistry books and bust of Einstein (isn’t she precocious?)

3. Store loose items in fabric bins. Loose items like board books, wooden dolls and legos should be stored in fabric bins. Put some self-sticking velcro on the shelves and on the bottom of the fabric bins to hold them in place during shaking. They can still be taken off the shelves for playing.