Advice for weeding toys?
I need some tips for minimizing our toy collection. Between garage sales, my brother's hand-me-downs, and too many "sale" items, I just feel that we have too many toys. The problem is, I can't seem to let any of them go!
We don't do electronic toys, and I don't feel we have a lot of junk toys, but I do feel DD is overwhelmed sometimes and that she would play better with a lot fewer things. I have tried rotating, but we don't have adequate, accessible storage.
So, tips for weeding? How do I decide which stuffed toy goes and which one stays? Which shape sorter stays and which one goes? Simple questions I can ask myself? Help, we're drowning in toys!
^_^:
I'm there with you! i can not let anything go! And i have a huge room full of them!
YIKES! I hope you get good responses!
Emilie
^_^:
I have been setting aside some to give away that DS won't play with anymore, even after they've been out of rotation for a long time. Unless I really like the toy myself and think future DD might use it someday!
I keep the toys out of rotation in 3 large rubbermaid bins in the basement. I really don't want to add more bins, so I have to weed, esp. since Xmas and DS' birthday!
I have also brought a few toys to my mom's house for when we visit there. HTH some!
^_^:
I just got rid of some. We also don't have storage for rotation. I just went and if she had more then one of a similar object I just made myself get rid of the other's. With sruffed animals I just got rid of the ones I didn't like that much as she isn't really into stuffed animals yet. Things she hasn't played with in forever were gone. If there was something that she used to really like but is to old for it now, and I want to save it for the next DC I am getting ready to stuff them in my tiny attic. I second the leave some at other people's house's. All of Jewely's aunts have some toys over there.
Here is the key, well you are dong this you need to visualize two things
1) How nice your house will look, and the color of your child's floor
2) The faces of the children at the insert charity here. (I am taking mine to an abused woman's shelter) as they get these toys.
if you can't tell I am dong this now. The whole house. I am sick of the clutter. OT the hardest part is getting DH to go through all his "toys"
^_^:
How I pare down the toys: I bought totes and I sorted all his toys and I put some away. Then I rotate as needed. We too have waaaay too many toys for our small home. I find that rotating works best. As for the criteria I use...
...is it pleasing to look at?
Does ds actually play with it?
Does it do anything? Some toys just light up and make noise but don't require anything of my ds then I toss it.
If he doesn't play with it now, could he use it for when he's older?
Is it in good condition?
Is it age appropriate?
Do I like it?
Do I have the space for it?
I have a whole bin of older toys - like big legos - which he's just a bit too young for - but I save them and allot them closet space. Then there are things that both he and I loved at one time but are baby toys...off they go. Most importantly, I find that when I put meaning behind who I'm giving them to, well that makes giving more exciting. We found a methodist family (we're not methodist btw) that travels with their church about every other month and brings clothes and toys to this terribly impoverished area in Mexico. They came and hauled all my ds's baby clothes and toys and swings, etc. away. I gave them only good condition stuff and they were so thankful! These were going directly to two women who were starting a daycare for farmworkers in rural mexico. These farm workers leave their little children home alone :dropjaw because they can't always take them into the fields and there's no one to watch them. There are toddlers just roaming around being loosely watched by 5 year olds! So my swing and toys and booties were going to be used for little sweeties that needed someone to watch them. I was freaked out about just letting all of ds's baby stuff go, but I was also tremendously happy and gratified by really giving. I've also called places like the local Catholic church which gave my bassinet and some toys to a homeless teen mom. I mean you can't beat that for making you feel good about getting rid of stuff. :love You don't even have to use a religious org!
^_^:
If you have more than one type of toy (you said shape sorter, for example), keep the better quality one, get rid of the other. I don't care to keep stuffed animals around. If there's something your DC is definately attached to, that's different, but they harbor so many dust mites and whatnot. :(
We donate our things to our local Catholic church for their "freebie store". It's like a thrift store, but everything is free. They keep most of the toys back until right before Christmas time and then have a parent/grandparent day so people can come "shopping".
^_^:
i usually just look around and say, that toy is ugly and it has got to go. If I cant part with a toy, but i dont really want it in my living room, i take it to a grandparents house to keep there.
^_^:
How appropriate that this was posted because today is the day i HAVE to minimize!!! We too have very limited space..but I already have a huge bin in the basement and now the current bin upstairs is overflowing!!! Its driving me crazy...so I am going to go through all the old stuff and new stuff and decide what she really plays with and what I want her to play with...whats missing parts and what she has more than one of and then based on the condition...those toys are going tto Goodwill....we too get alot of gifts and it seems like everyone is always turning something into a toy around here (ya know, shoe boxes, old purses etc...) that crap has got to go.
Maybe we should have a MDC cleaning day!
^_^:
There is a big "children's sale" here twice a year. You pay something like $7 to be registered as a "seller" then you label your stuff and drop it off at a school. You get 70% of what you make and the other 30% goes to stuff like upkeep for local parks, money for schools in the area, "shop with a cop," etc. I have done this twice now and made about $150 each time. Planning to do it again this spring.
If we have more than one of something - is it something we NEED more than one of? (For example we have 3 Magna Doodles.....I won't get rid of those because they will all 3 fight over it if we only have one.) If it's something that can be shared by all three kids or whatever, then I weed down to the best/nicest one that we have and sell or donate others.
Is it something huge and obnoxious that just takes up space? Then it's outta here.
Do I want to save it for younger siblings?
How can I re-arrange and maximize the storage we DO have in order to make room for stuff? I try to do this and purge right before Xmas and Bdays.
If at all possible...do all the purging of toys while the kids are NOT home or you'll have them dragging stuff back out of the boxes.
^_^:
If we have more than one of something - is it something we NEED more than one of? (For example we have 3 Magna Doodles.....I won't get rid of those because they will all 3 fight over it if we only have one.) :bag: We have 3 magna doodles and 1 child. OK, ya got me. I'll pare it down to 2. The cheap one from Walmart goes - it doesn't work very well. The other 2 stay - one for the house, one for the car.
Thanks to everyone for the great responses. I am going to use some of the questions when I finally get this toy decluttering done. I've been sick, so no energy this week, but next week! The stuffed animal collection is a toughy though, most of them have names and are regulars at our daily tea parties.
Thanks again!
And, Jacksmama, there are toddlers running around unsupervised in Mexico? OMG! How on earth do they survive? Seriously!
More Topical:
We don't do electronic toys, and I don't feel we have a lot of junk toys, but I do feel DD is overwhelmed sometimes and that she would play better with a lot fewer things. I have tried rotating, but we don't have adequate, accessible storage.
So, tips for weeding? How do I decide which stuffed toy goes and which one stays? Which shape sorter stays and which one goes? Simple questions I can ask myself? Help, we're drowning in toys!
^_^:
I'm there with you! i can not let anything go! And i have a huge room full of them!
YIKES! I hope you get good responses!
Emilie
^_^:
I have been setting aside some to give away that DS won't play with anymore, even after they've been out of rotation for a long time. Unless I really like the toy myself and think future DD might use it someday!
I keep the toys out of rotation in 3 large rubbermaid bins in the basement. I really don't want to add more bins, so I have to weed, esp. since Xmas and DS' birthday!
I have also brought a few toys to my mom's house for when we visit there. HTH some!
^_^:
I just got rid of some. We also don't have storage for rotation. I just went and if she had more then one of a similar object I just made myself get rid of the other's. With sruffed animals I just got rid of the ones I didn't like that much as she isn't really into stuffed animals yet. Things she hasn't played with in forever were gone. If there was something that she used to really like but is to old for it now, and I want to save it for the next DC I am getting ready to stuff them in my tiny attic. I second the leave some at other people's house's. All of Jewely's aunts have some toys over there.
Here is the key, well you are dong this you need to visualize two things
1) How nice your house will look, and the color of your child's floor
2) The faces of the children at the insert charity here. (I am taking mine to an abused woman's shelter) as they get these toys.
if you can't tell I am dong this now. The whole house. I am sick of the clutter. OT the hardest part is getting DH to go through all his "toys"
^_^:
How I pare down the toys: I bought totes and I sorted all his toys and I put some away. Then I rotate as needed. We too have waaaay too many toys for our small home. I find that rotating works best. As for the criteria I use...
...is it pleasing to look at?
Does ds actually play with it?
Does it do anything? Some toys just light up and make noise but don't require anything of my ds then I toss it.
If he doesn't play with it now, could he use it for when he's older?
Is it in good condition?
Is it age appropriate?
Do I like it?
Do I have the space for it?
I have a whole bin of older toys - like big legos - which he's just a bit too young for - but I save them and allot them closet space. Then there are things that both he and I loved at one time but are baby toys...off they go. Most importantly, I find that when I put meaning behind who I'm giving them to, well that makes giving more exciting. We found a methodist family (we're not methodist btw) that travels with their church about every other month and brings clothes and toys to this terribly impoverished area in Mexico. They came and hauled all my ds's baby clothes and toys and swings, etc. away. I gave them only good condition stuff and they were so thankful! These were going directly to two women who were starting a daycare for farmworkers in rural mexico. These farm workers leave their little children home alone :dropjaw because they can't always take them into the fields and there's no one to watch them. There are toddlers just roaming around being loosely watched by 5 year olds! So my swing and toys and booties were going to be used for little sweeties that needed someone to watch them. I was freaked out about just letting all of ds's baby stuff go, but I was also tremendously happy and gratified by really giving. I've also called places like the local Catholic church which gave my bassinet and some toys to a homeless teen mom. I mean you can't beat that for making you feel good about getting rid of stuff. :love You don't even have to use a religious org!
^_^:
If you have more than one type of toy (you said shape sorter, for example), keep the better quality one, get rid of the other. I don't care to keep stuffed animals around. If there's something your DC is definately attached to, that's different, but they harbor so many dust mites and whatnot. :(
We donate our things to our local Catholic church for their "freebie store". It's like a thrift store, but everything is free. They keep most of the toys back until right before Christmas time and then have a parent/grandparent day so people can come "shopping".
^_^:
i usually just look around and say, that toy is ugly and it has got to go. If I cant part with a toy, but i dont really want it in my living room, i take it to a grandparents house to keep there.
^_^:
How appropriate that this was posted because today is the day i HAVE to minimize!!! We too have very limited space..but I already have a huge bin in the basement and now the current bin upstairs is overflowing!!! Its driving me crazy...so I am going to go through all the old stuff and new stuff and decide what she really plays with and what I want her to play with...whats missing parts and what she has more than one of and then based on the condition...those toys are going tto Goodwill....we too get alot of gifts and it seems like everyone is always turning something into a toy around here (ya know, shoe boxes, old purses etc...) that crap has got to go.
Maybe we should have a MDC cleaning day!
^_^:
There is a big "children's sale" here twice a year. You pay something like $7 to be registered as a "seller" then you label your stuff and drop it off at a school. You get 70% of what you make and the other 30% goes to stuff like upkeep for local parks, money for schools in the area, "shop with a cop," etc. I have done this twice now and made about $150 each time. Planning to do it again this spring.
If we have more than one of something - is it something we NEED more than one of? (For example we have 3 Magna Doodles.....I won't get rid of those because they will all 3 fight over it if we only have one.) If it's something that can be shared by all three kids or whatever, then I weed down to the best/nicest one that we have and sell or donate others.
Is it something huge and obnoxious that just takes up space? Then it's outta here.
Do I want to save it for younger siblings?
How can I re-arrange and maximize the storage we DO have in order to make room for stuff? I try to do this and purge right before Xmas and Bdays.
If at all possible...do all the purging of toys while the kids are NOT home or you'll have them dragging stuff back out of the boxes.
^_^:
If we have more than one of something - is it something we NEED more than one of? (For example we have 3 Magna Doodles.....I won't get rid of those because they will all 3 fight over it if we only have one.) :bag: We have 3 magna doodles and 1 child. OK, ya got me. I'll pare it down to 2. The cheap one from Walmart goes - it doesn't work very well. The other 2 stay - one for the house, one for the car.
Thanks to everyone for the great responses. I am going to use some of the questions when I finally get this toy decluttering done. I've been sick, so no energy this week, but next week! The stuffed animal collection is a toughy though, most of them have names and are regulars at our daily tea parties.
Thanks again!
And, Jacksmama, there are toddlers running around unsupervised in Mexico? OMG! How on earth do they survive? Seriously!
More Topical: