Oh the toys!!! Did your kids get a lot of toys for Christmas? Are you wondering where you are going to put all their new stuff? Are the toys taking over your house?
That’s us! Two of our kids have birthdays during the holidays, add in all the Christmas gifts they get from Santa and very generous relatives and we are on overload.
Something has to give. We do not have enough room for all the new toys without getting rid of some of the old ones.
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The Problem
Some of our kids are good about getting rid of their old no longer played with toys and some, well not so much. We have a child, who has been known to remove toys from the donation box as I am adding them (even ones that are not his).
There are always toys that the kids are adamant about keeping that I know they have not touched in months. Then there are the toys that you get rid of and weeks or months down the road they ask for the toy; a Batman car for us.
I could wait until the kids are gone and haul it to the nearest donation spot. There are some toys that I have not had a problem hauling off, toys that were never a good fit.
Many of their toys were gifts. Someone put thought into whether our kids would like and appreciate the toy as a gift. They spent their hard earned money to buy the toy(s) for our kids, often making it difficult to just quickly toss the toys aside.
The Solution
There are a few toys we get rid of without much consideration. If they are broken and not repairable, they go in the trash. If the kids have outgrown the toy, it gets donated or we sell the toy.
That eliminates a few, but between three kids, that still leaves more toys than I would like.
Over the years, I have come up with three clever ways to reduce toy clutter and maintain peace. The kids stay happy. We don’t have any earth shattering tantrums. When our child asks for their long forgotten by us beloved toy car, we pull the toy back out.
The Options
Grandma’s house
Take seldom played with toys to Grandma’s house. We did this when our oldest was a preschooler and had way too many toys. Grandma stores the toys in a big container in her guest bedroom and the kids play with them when they visit. The kids are always excited to pull them out and play whenever we visit. We occasionally add to the this box of toys and donate those that they have outgrown.
Storage
Store no longer played with toys in the attic, garage, or basement. I fill up a large storage container with toys one to two times a year that the kids no longer play with, but do not want to donate. I put the storage container in the attic and often the toys are forgotten and never mentioned again. The next time I decide to purge toys, I donate or sell the previously stored toys to make room for more.
Rotate
Rotate toys. There are different ways of doing this. Typically you box up some toys and leave a some out. At some point in time, you change the toys out by putting away the toys that have been out and played with and bringing out the toys that have been stored.
These methods have worked well for us and maintained the peace in our home when it comes to toys.
I would love to hear how you keep the toy clutter under control.
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