Taming Your Toy Collection

It's a topic we have to come back to again and again because a home with kids will always have toy "build-up." The most important thing is to have some strategy for dealing with it. We found a few fresh ideas...

Over at Passionate Homemaking, she shares a few good ideas for how to keep that toy collection in check:

• Rotate the Toys! This has been working well for us so far. Our daughter seems delighted with her "rediscovery" of an old toy in another bin. Even we feel excited to see something new after a few weeks of watching her play with the same things. Another thing to do is rotate the toys you use in the diaper bag or car.

• Storage. Of course we devote whole contests to that category here at Ohdeedoh, but think simple and limited. A few baskets- one with books, one with soft toys, and another with misc. will work well.

• The Relative Challenge- as Passionate Homemaking puts it- is a tough one. You'll most likely have to graciously accept the toys. Let the child play with it until they're tired of it, and then pass it on or donate it.

Photo via Land of Nod.

Comments (6)

i recently got the boon animal bag (at a sample sale, its $$) and it is an awesome solution for all the stuffed toys that rarely get played with but aren't ready to be given away yet...i think it could be an easy DIY if you are a sewer.
also rotating toys is genius. it's like they're brand new every time you bring one out of the closet

j
http://prudentadviceformybabydaughter.blogspot.com

i just have a 3 year old and a 3 month old and already we are swimming in toys. :o( my storage solution has been the armoire in my living room. my husband made shelves for it and i bought inexpensive fabric bins (no sharp corners and very lightweight was my thinking) to go inside. when we are out of room in the bins, toys need to go.
my weeding out solution has been before Christmas or birthdays, we all go through the toys together and take the ones not played with often to a great homeless shelter. she has given tons of practically brand new toys to them. so i hope we are teaching my daughter social responsibility AND taming the toy mess all at once!

I am all for purging and donating... We have very specific toys that we collect and the rest get moved on! Otherwise as our kids get older I need them to learn how to declutter and sort things out for themselves. At the end of every school quarter we go through their drawers and collections: sort and tidy and move a few things on... Being consistent and doing it often helps it not to get out of hand and beyond their control. I recently wrote a post on teaching them to declutter:

http://www.se7en.org.za/2009/07/17/teaching-kids-to-declutter-in-se7en-steps

I haven't instituted this yet (we just have one three year old and so far we've been able to keep things manageable, mostly by lending out stuff as we hope to have another child), but I thought this Parent Hack for a toy library was a great idea: http://www.parenthacks.com/2007/04/toy_library_pro.html

I think it could be adapted for small apartments and homes.

After every birthday and holiday, my daughter and I go through her old toys to give some away. If she receives, say, 5 new toys, she chooses 5 old ones to give away.