As you're reorganizing/decluttering this spring, here's one simple rule you can institute if you haven't already to dramatically keep the "toy clutter" down.
Just have an established number of bins or containers, or whatever your preferred method of storage is, and here's the key: DON'T buy any more containers. Your child's toys must continue to fit in those containers.
That means:
1) You'll think really long and hard before you buy a toy because you have assigned yourself a limited space.
2) You'll be more likely to purge toys that aren't played with or don't inspire creativity to make room for new toys.
3) You can box up the toys that are no longer age appropriate for a future child, or you can save a chosen few for keepsakes, and donate the rest.
When it comes to getting organized, what you need really isn't more containers. It's less, more carefully edited, stuff.
(Image: Kalon Studios via Branch Home)
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ditto on the grandparents...*sigh*...btw, where is that bench from?!
where is the bench in the image from?
It is the IoLine Changing Trunk from Branch. If you follow the link at the end of the post, it will take you to it.
My wife heard an interview with Chris Rocks' wife and they have a great "get a toy, donate a toy" rule. We recently instituted that rule so my daughter can partake in her toy editing. Of course, we make suggestions on what should go but we give her the final go ahead.
We're not at "toy overload", yet, but we're trying to curb it now...these are great tips to help with that.
And I like Chris Rock's method. Filing that one away! (My stepfather does that with his shoes, BTW)
My son has one attractive storage box (a little bigger than a shoebox) for all of those awful plastic happy meal, birthday-party-gift-bag kinds of toys. If the box is full, something has got to go before another comes in. This seems to control the flow of those inevitable junky toys that I really wish didn't exist! Plus, I don't have to look at them. :)
We do this in my small house. It's the only way. My young kids are very involved in the process. Before any birthday or toy receiving holiday, we collectively decide which toys need to go to make room for more. They don't get more than they made room for.
I used to think not having adequate storage in my childrens room was a bad thing, but now that i think about it, my husband and i now think twice about buying toys for our children which has saved us a lot of money & our sanity. When we work together to clean up their room i find the kids saying "we have so many toys!". I find that rotating toys is a great way to make something old seem new again. I also find that the kids enjoy doing things as a family a lot more than any new toy. I guess we are trying to teach our children that material posessions aren't the most important things, but its still important to take care of our belongings.
the storage issue is constant not just the toys but the keepsakes . The drawings you want to keep.... the shoes that will fit next spring....
We do this for sure. Since my daughter is still young, she doesn't realize when toys "disappear" into the basement or donate pile. What a difference it makes!
My kid has as many toys as he wants. When he's tired of them he tells me and we donate them or sell them at a garage sale . I don't make any rules about how many he can have though- or arbitrary limits. The only rule I have is that if something is broken it has to go....I also don't tell my parents or parents in law what they can get him or how much they can get him. He is the only grandchild. They can do whatever they want-and buy him as much or as little as they wish.
In the end, he doesn't have a lot of toys and he's willing to share what he has because I just don't make a big deal out of the toys or stuff at all.
We beat the toy blues by reducing the number of types of toy down to se7en... everybody knows if it isn't lego, duplo, zoobs and so on, on the list, that it isn't going to stay in our house long.
http://www.se7en.org.za/2008/07/31/se7en-of-the-best-toys
We then reduced the number of those toys by reducing the size of the container. Everybody is always looking for bigger containers... well we reduced ours in half!!! Suddenly a million bazillion plastic animals was a quite manageable zoo and so on. As soon as our containers are full we choose and donate, donate, donate. With a bundle of kids (many birthdays a year) and very generous grannies we really had to set some ground rules really early on. When people ask what to gift our kids I always suggest consumables: paints, markers, whatever.
Sing it, lorijo. I see so many comments about "Darn my family! They keep buying things for my kids!" Talk about ungrateful. We manage to keep toy clutter in check despite having the only grandchildren on one side. Being flexible is the name of the game--and often, I find that the toy I cringed over is the one that the kids will be totally willing to donate on the next bedroom clean-out day.