Toy minimalism and keeping it fresh?

[RoundAbout]

I really love the idea of the 10 toys tribe and although I don't think we can quite approach that level of austerity, I would like to get as close as possible. After keeping things very basic during the baby years and tossing most of the plastic crap given to us as gifts last year, I am now trying to build my 2 year-old son's toy collection mostly from scratch. I have a 12 cubby storage shelf in his room and I would like to keep things pretty much limited to what will fit there aside from his homemade play kitchen and train table which are elsewhere in the house.

In addition to the philosophical there are a couple of practical reasons I want to keep it minimal. One is that we are a military family and move frequently. We are hoping for another overseas posting and I don't want my son to get used to having tons and tons of toys that we have to drag around, and in many places getting new ones will be expensive/inconvenient.

Second - I am trying to invest mostly in quality wooden toys that are open ended, appeal to a wide age range, and will last a long time. These are expensive. When you're buying expensive handmade toys you just don't have the money to have extra toys waiting in the garage for the monthly toy rotation. I guess this is a bit of a chicken-or-egg issue: I want fewer toys, which means the toys have to "work harder" which means I have to buy good ones, etc.

So I guess my main question is: I know things like blocks or a dollhouse or a train set can appeal to kids from age 2-12, but do your kids get bored playing with the same toy for a decade? Do they grow more attached to it? I have this notion that with fewer, but higher quality toys my son will develop a great imagination and really get creative. My nightmare, however, is that as he grows he'll get sick of the same stuff and start begging for more or just being bored.

Other suggestions on how to keep the same old toys fresh and interesting?

[mama_daba]

i am interested in what others have to say. my son is only 16 months so i don't have much experience but currently the only toys he has any interest in are blocks and markers. oh and he likes to use my spade to dig in the garden. if i play with other toys in the house he will to but he only ever initiates play with markers blogs and digging and when i was a kid i had tons of toys i never played with instead i made my own toys from pieces of fabric or i played outside or made art.

[tammylsmith]

I don't have years of experience, but my 21 month old plays with the same rotation of about 5 toys. They are her favorite go-to items.

[PatienceAndLove]

Originally Posted by RoundAbout

I really love the idea of the 10 toys tribe and although I don't think we can quite approach that level of austerity, I would like to get as close as possible. After keeping things very basic during the baby years and tossing most of the plastic crap given to us as gifts last year, I am now trying to build my 2 year-old son's toy collection mostly from scratch. I have a 12 cubby storage shelf in his room and I would like to keep things pretty much limited to what will fit there aside from his homemade play kitchen and train table which are elsewhere in the house.

In addition to the philosophical there are a couple of practical reasons I want to keep it minimal. One is that we are a military family and move frequently. We are hoping for another overseas posting and I don't want my son to get used to having tons and tons of toys that we have to drag around, and in many places getting new ones will be expensive/inconvenient.

Second - I am trying to invest mostly in quality wooden toys that are open ended, appeal to a wide age range, and will last a long time. These are expensive. When you're buying expensive handmade toys you just don't have the money to have extra toys waiting in the garage for the monthly toy rotation. I guess this is a bit of a chicken-or-egg issue: I want fewer toys, which means the toys have to "work harder" which means I have to buy good ones, etc.

So I guess my main question is: I know things like blocks or a dollhouse or a train set can appeal to kids from age 2-12, but do your kids get bored playing with the same toy for a decade? Do they grow more attached to it? I have this notion that with fewer, but higher quality toys my son will develop a great imagination and really get creative. My nightmare, however, is that as he grows he'll get sick of the same stuff and start begging for more or just being bored.

Other suggestions on how to keep the same old toys fresh and interesting?

My DD is 4, and really doesn't play with all of her toys. There are ones she always goes for- Duplos/Legos, her Little People house/farm, her tea set, and her kitchen toys (food, plates, etc... which seems like a lot, but all fits in one plastic bin). Other than those toys, and about 5 dolls, that's all she plays with. And she's had the same selection for almost 2 years. No signs of burn out yet.
But then again, we do add a little new something every 6 months or so. A new food set, new set of bricks, a wee little people people/animal set. It seems to keep it fresh enough *shrug*

Oh! I forgot her train, which we plan to add more tracks to. So- the train, legos, little people and kitchen-y things.

[rebeccalynn]

I have a 2 & a 4 yr old dd. They play with the same things over and over. We too have found that adding little items to the toys that they already have keeps the old toys fresh and new. DDs love legos also (the med. size ones) and there are little play sets that can be added and they love those. They have non-character ones but the last one they got was dora & boots that included a boat, palm tree and a few flowers. I also picked up a pooh bear at a second hand shop that had a fishing pole w/ detachable fish that they love playing with. These expand their play and they still use their imagination to build things.

You could do the same thing with a train set or the building blocks.

[Purple Sage]

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[RoundAbout]

I love the idea of adding a few small things to an already existing set to keep it interesting! That sounds like something that could be applied to the adult world too - a new belt to freshen up an outfit or a new throw pillow to change to the look of the living room.

It seems like part of the cluttering problem in this country is that we are addicted to novelty. The idea of a few new legos extending the play value of an existing set is something that appeals to both my frugal side and my decluttering side.

[PatienceAndLove]

Originally Posted by RoundAbout

I love the idea of adding a few small things to an already existing set to keep it interesting! That sounds like something that could be applied to the adult world too - a new belt to freshen up an outfit or a new throw pillow to change to the look of the living room.

It seems like part of the cluttering problem in this country is that we are addicted to novelty. The idea of a few new legos extending the play value of an existing set is something that appeals to both my frugal side and my decluttering side.

I initially bought DD one of the $14 sets that come in a collectable tub. Which was soon followed by another set in another collectable/useful tub.
And then I ordered 650 more bricks. Which come in a cardboard box. She picked out the tub she liked and the other one has been repurposed for DH's computer stuff.
Personally, I found that the Lego shopping center had more options for purchasing sets in boxes rather than tubs.
Just a heads up!

[LaughingHyena]

2yo and 4 yo here too. We also find that adding to existing sets make the whole thing better to play with.

I also find that my children are not quite ready to invent their own games. If I inject a new idea here and there (for example setting up a shop/cafe) then they will take that and play with things in new ways.

Another example would be mixing up toys which they don't often have out together, like using the dress up clothes in a shop when they usually just have the play food.

Also rearranging the storage seems to inspire them, when we bought DDs bookshelf she spent ages with her till setting up her own library and scanning the cards (old gift cards)

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

Woohoo!!!!

Inspired by the Ten Toys Tribe, I had a family meeting this weekend and explained to my daughters that while we have a ton of toys, Mommy spends much of her day picking up little stray bits and pieces of things...and that if we had fewer toys I would have more time to play with them.

And they agreed to get rid of all but ten of their favorites

Granted, their "favorites" have a gazillion pieces (Legos, wooden food, dollhouse) but we hauled an entire car trunkload of toys to Goodwill yesterday.

[Carolyn R]

We are also trying to reduce the number of toys we have, and I've found the more I simplify the toys, the more "in depth" the kids play with the ones we have. It's actually quite beautiful to see the attention, care and imagination that develops.

I've also found that the kids most certainly do not get bored. As some of the other posters have alluded to, sometimes "non-toys" can be the best.

For example, giving my daughter a few envelopes can inspire a whole afternoon of pretend letter writing and mail delivery.

An empty tea-bag box becomes a cradle for a small doll.

When my son was younger, he carried around a plastic coffee mug for days with a little collection of "treasures" (a miniature metal wrench from his grandpa, a piece of chalk, a block, etc)

So I guess the point I am making is that I don't think you'll at all regret simplifying your children's toys. I actually see it as a sort of a gift you're giving your child...teaching them the value of simple, beautiful things, being content with less, and so on.

Best of luck!

[rere]

Originally Posted by RoundAbout

So I guess my main question is: I know things like blocks or a dollhouse or a train set can appeal to kids from age 2-12, but do your kids get bored playing with the same toy for a decade? Do they grow more attached to it? I have this notion that with fewer, but higher quality toys my son will develop a great imagination and really get creative. My nightmare, however, is that as he grows he'll get sick of the same stuff and start begging for more or just being bored.

My daughter is 5 so she hasn't been playing with anything for a decade but she has played with her kitchen almost daily since she was 2.What I have discovered is that yes,some toys get played with often and don't ever seem to get boring but it can be hard to figure out which ones they'll be.

When my daughter was 2 there was no way I would have imagined that at 5 what would be in her room was polly pockets,a house for them,dress up clothes and books(there are some toys elsewhere.The blocks do get played with).Ok well I imagined the dress up clothes and books but all the stuff I liked(wooden trains,bean bags,tops,etc..)were just sitting there as clutter.

So,I guess my point is that 2 is a little young to try and buy toys for, that will last a decade.I would slowly bring in quality toys.And try to stop your family from continuing to give toys that you don't want to keep because as the kid gets older it's harder to have the gifts not stay in your house.And the next thing you know you end up with a Polly Pocket collection.

[berry987]

That's a really interesting question - and something I've struggled with, too. My kids are 5, 3 and 1 (all boys). My five year old has definitely gotten bored with his toys. We don't have many toys and I refuse to buy new toys unless it's his birthday or Christmas. So their toy collection is fairly small - cars, action figures, legos, and puzzles/board games mostly. The biggest issue, I believe, is that his friends have a TON of toys. His best bud who lives next door, gets new toys for every occasion - a dentist appt, a milestone, just because. I know this because I am friends with his mom and she is a great person...just doesn't get the "less is more" concept. And that is true for most of his other friends, too. So my son plays at their house and comes home sad that he doesn't have the latest and greatest toys. And generally on rainy days when we're stuck inside, he follows me around saying he's bored. We play games, do legos or playdoh, he does imaginary stuff like build forts or play "clone trooper", but he spends a lot of time complaining, too.

I'm just sticking to my guns about it, though (kind of a bad saying, I know). I know the end result of appreciating what you have and being creative, etc. is important. But it's not easy. I try to be a fun mom in other ways...but I'm definitely not winning any awards in the toy department!

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

So my son plays at their house and comes home sad that he doesn't have the latest and greatest toys.

Oh my yes -- we are battling with this too.

We have the smallest home on our street so subsequently all my daughter's friends, our neighbors, tend to have a higher income than we do. And it seems like they all spend huge hunks of their diposable income on toys.

Her best friend has an American Doll that lives with nicer home furnishings than we do!

And Christmas? Forget about it. Those kids get sooooo many toys. My daughter definitely feels slighted and tells me about it regularly. She often says "I wish we could afford an American Girl dolls like all my friends have" because it seemed easier just to tell her we can't afford it.

How do you explain that we can afford that doll, but that we don't want to spend our money that way?

Because her answer would be that indeed, she does want to spend our money that way.

[PatienceAndLove]

Originally Posted by Crunchy*VT*Mom

Oh my yes -- we are battling with this too.

We have the smallest home on our street so subsequently all my daughter's friends, our neighbors, tend to have a higher income than we do. And it seems like they all spend huge hunks of their diposable income on toys.

Her best friend has an American Doll that lives with nicer home furnishings than we do!

And Christmas? Forget about it. Those kids get sooooo many toys. My daughter definitely feels slighted and tells me about it regularly. She often says "I wish we could afford an American Girl dolls like all my friends have" because it seemed easier just to tell her we can't afford it.

How do you explain that we can afford that doll, but that we don't want to spend our money that way?

Because her answer would be that indeed, she does want to spend our money that way.

I had something like an American Girl doll when I was younger. I still have her. DD plays with her, as well as her Fancy Nancy doll. I find that a nice doll is a good investment, and something she can take with her when she plays at other people's houses.
Then again, she is your DD and has to abide by you, and your husband's, decisions. Perhaps you all can sit down and talk about WHY she wants one. Is it just because everyone else does? Does she feel left out when she goes to play at her friends' houses and doesn't have a doll? Etc. How old is your DD? Can she start doing odd jobs around the house for "pay"? Perhaps get a checking acct book from the bank, and keep track of her "pay" in that, until she has enough for the doll she is asking for. LoL- my parents did that, and I earned enough money to "buy" a new bedroom set, as well as a bike!

[Misbehavedmeg]

I am on the path of minimizing our toys and collection quality wooden and open ended toys. The thing is, we have already given away a bunch of stuff and still have a bunch of stuff left. I feel like I am not sure what to keep and what to sell. I feel a weird emotional attachment to them and I don't know why. Also, my dd who is 3.5 has an attachment to the toys and doesn't want me to sell them. I feel a bit lost.