Which Toys To Declutter???

[chely7425]

I have 2 boys, 24 mos and 10 months and we have a lot of toys. Not like, HOLY CRAP they bought the whole toy store kind of a lot, but a fair amount. We have a train table/set and a play kitchen which they love, a lot of trucks which they love, and a lot of other random toys like musical toys and the like. How do I decide what to get rid of? I need to keep the younger baby toys (or at least some of them) because we are having another baby in October. How do I decide what to keep? They play with all of it but I don't think they would be horrified if some of it was gone, ya know? I think it would be a TON easier to keep clean if we had less stuff!

[RollerCoasterMama]

In your situation, I'd go at it in stages.

#1. Anything broken
#2. Duplicates -- if they have a lot of trucks...get it down to just a few...that kind of thing.
#3. Think about long term. Look at the toys that they enjoy now that they'll be able to play with for a few years. If there's something super age-specific, then maybe it can go. Something like a play kitchen, or Little People type stuff...those are pretty age-neutral.
#4. Don't worry too much about young baby toys...maybe just a small bin of them.
#5. If you're not sure if they'll miss something, put it aside for a month or two. Chances are they won't miss it.

Go for it! Be hard core! I found that that as soon as I started decluttering my son's toys, and storing them so that he could see them, his play changed. instantly. Instead of the pull out bins for his toy storage, I switched to the shelves (it was a customizable Ikea unit). One or two toys per shelf and a couple of baskets. It was great! At the same time, I took advantage of the transition from baby to toddler to switch out the plastic/battery stuff for open-ended natural toys that would last him until he outgrows toys. That was my own personal goal. But the idea to declutter with the future in mind still stands. Now, anything that comes into our house has to meet those goals. Now I'm finding that I have to cull the toys again. Even with almost no plastic, it's still possible to get to too many toys pretty quickly!!

Oh, and when we were staging our house to sell last fall, I packed away about 70% of my son's toys in storage. I'm embarrassed to say that he didn't even notice!!!

Good luck!!

[chely7425]

Thank you for the advice!! I need to pick up today before we have people over for my husbands birthday so maybe I will start with step one today... broken or missing pieces I am also planning to put up a bunch of the train stuff. My got him the set and table for his birthday a few weeks ago and he LOVES it but at 2 he isn't so into all the little accessories (people, signs, trees, a viaduct, mountains, etc) that came with it so I am thinking putting those in a tub will keep down on clutter until he is a bit older and then when I bring them out it will be like a new toy. Does that sound like a reasonable plan?

[RollerCoasterMama]

Totally reasonable! Lots (LOTS!) of people rotate toys. I'm not that organized. But I know it's a great way to keep down on clutter and keep things fresh for your kiddos. I even found out last year that my parents used to do that with our toys. I SO don't remember that!

Thinning the toys out is such a do-able project and it makes a huge difference in both how your kids play and the peaceful feeling in your home. And it's much less overwhelming if you tackle one thing at a time. I think you've picked a great couple of first steps!

[crunchy_mommy]

This is inspiring me... although DS (who normally doesn't play with toys much) is right at this moment playing with them OF COURSE, right?

I did put away a bunch of the Little People pieces that DS wasn't interested in (the signs etc. like you were talking about)... I have a box or two of toys for when he's older, I figure I can use them as rewards or distractions when I need something he hasn't seen before.

[chely7425]

So today I was cleaning up and I got rid of a few things... not a ton but a start!! I got rid of this little mini kitchen toy (because they got a full size play kitchen) and a work bench toy that they never played with, they just pushed it around and hit things with the plastic hammer. I also threw away a few small things that weren't really toys, just things they adopted into their toy bin. I also put all the little train pieces into a bin I am not sure it has made a huge difference so far but it is a start!

[RollerCoasterMama]

Yay! Each step is progress!

[lmbjer]

You have recieved great advice already. The only thing I would add is that you could eliminate single purpose toys. We had a lot of very very specific toys that were not open ended. I pitched all of those except a favorite one or two. I would rather my kids need to be innovative than have a toy for every need.

For what it is worth, my kids play SO much better now that the toy store sized stash is gone!

[chely7425]

Thank you all for the advice and positive words Some people have made me feel crazy for wanting to get rid of toys because "they can never have too many toys!!" I am definitely keeping the trains, the play kitchen, the cars/trucks, and the music toys (my younger son LOVES them) but I may pare down the music toys... we do have quite a few. I am also on the fence about the large number of different sorts of blocks that we have... but one step at a time!!

[LaughingHyena]

Under 3 was defiantly the age where rotating things worked best for us. The kids though it was great when I brought out "new" toys. Now they seem to remember more stuff even when it's out of sight.

It was also round this time I started getting more boxes and sorting the toys by category. The baby toys all got dumped in a couple of baskets but that no longer worked when we started getting train tracks, little people and other role play type things.

Putting away pieces of sets was also good, as you say it made the whole thing seem new when we brought out extra pieces.

we have sets of blocks, duplo, plain wooden blocks and stickle bricks. They are all used pretty differently so I'm happy keeping both. The stickle bricks and duplo tend to get played with alone which the wooden blocks are more often brought out alongside other things. For example making extra bridges for the trains to go through or tinned goods for the play shop.

With things like instruments and other long lasting toys I would make sure you keep enough for 3 little ones to play at once. I found my2nd started wanting those things much earlier than the first as he was watching big sister enjoy them.

[ParisApril]

The ideas above are great!

When the kids were little I kept a few wicker baskets with toys on them on the bookshelves in the living room. I would rotate these toys from time to time to keep them interested.

Now that they are older 11 and 4 I keep all their toys in wicker baskets and bins in their room and in the "playroom" which is just a space in the unfinished basement.

Every bin or basket has a theme trains, instruments, cars or construction. They can bring them out and play with them in the living room but when they are done playing they must be put away. What can I say I like clean spaces and the living room is the first room people see when entering the house.

[chely7425]

Yeah, we are working on the whole "pick up your toys" thing but it isn't going so well for us yet!! It drives me bonkers having toys everything but the only place to put their stuff is at the end of the living room RIGHT by the front door!! I wish we had room for a playroom but we definitely don't.

[abharrington]

we keep open ended toys...play silks, wooden unit blocks, cars and trucks, play kitchen, baby dolls...thats most of what we have. oh, trains/tracks too.