Too many toys!

[inky leeuhhh]

Hello everyone! I haven't posted in this forum before, but I need some advice. We are currently a family of four, soon to be five, living in a tiny 2 bedroom apartment. We will hopefully be moving this Spring after the baby comes, but I figured I'd take the next couple months and de clutter, so we're starting over fresh in the new place. It is VERY cluttered in here right now. My question is regarding my girls' toys. They have a lot of plastic toys that I think are pretty junky. Lots of little bits of things that go with barbies, different plastic playsets and houses.. you get the idea. I'd love to be able to get rid of some (or all) of this stuff, and replace it with a few pieces that are of better quality (for example, a wooden dollhouse instead of the five plastic my little pony houses we have now @@). 

The thing is, my girls play with this stuff. I don't want to scar them by throwing their toys away, lol! I've sorted through a lot of stuffed animals and smaller toys and gotten rid  of a lot, and they haven't noticed, but this other stuff is bugging me now, and it's stuff they're more likely to notice is gone. How would you go about decluttering this stuff? Do I just get rid of a couple things? Maybe put things up in a closet and see if they miss it? Leave the stuff alone and try to find other ways of making the house more livable? Their stuff is ALL over the apartment, partially because they are homeschooled and i don't have one space big enough to keep all those supplies, but also because they just have tons of STUFF. Aaaah!

Lol! So as you can see, I could really use some words of wisdom here. I don't really know where to start. Thank you!

[SundayCrepes]

My analogy has to do with food. I introduced my son to dairy, french fries, and pizza pretzels from the drive-thru. Our daughter is on a restricted diet so can't have any of those things and it's great. I wish I'd done that with my son. Thing is, I didn't. I gave him the stuff and he likes it. Although he now gets it in much lesser amounts, I can't just take it away from him. It's what he likes. So most of the time when he asks for that I say no, but I have to say Yes as well.

So, you let your daughters have this and they like it. Taking it away from them would be mean. (The stuff they didn't play with is no biggie.)

However, I understand about the clutter. We're a family of 4 in 900 sf except we have a basement so it's not quite the same.

We recently moved most of their toys downstairs. They don't go down there much unless a friend is visiting and they don't seem to miss the toys. However, when they do go down some of the stuff migrates upstairs.

I would recommend organizing what you have. We have this bin http://www.amazon.com/Tot-Tutors-Organizer-Primary-Colors/dp/B000067PTO/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1321242549&sr=8-4 The toys are visible, organized, and off the floor. The bins are plastic. I got it off craigslist for $20. They sell another set with cloth bins but it's not as well reviewed.

Or maybe a dresser of some sort (I got one for $5 at a yard sale for all the costumes and dress up stuff.) For our firetrucks and stuff I have a big plastic box with lid for all the firetrucks and a smaller one that goes inside for the people, axes, fire extinguishers, etc.

Once it's well organized, guide your kids into maintaining that. And see what happens. 

[inky leeuhhh]

i've been working on organizing what they do have. it does look a lot better, they just have SO MUCH. lol. or maybe it just seems like a ton in our little place. if each girl had a room to put the stuff in, it would all be contained, but they share this one tiny room. i think i'll weed out what they don't care about and go from there. i think my older dd would even help me get rid of stuff. hmmm.

[SundayCrepes]

Originally Posted by inky leeuhhh 

 i think my older dd would even help me get rid of stuff. hmmm.

I once asked my son if there were any toys that he wanted to give to other kids that didn't have toys. He only chose one or two, but at least that was something. Maybe your daughter will choose more to give.

[crunchy_mommy]

If you celebrate Christmas or any other gift-giving holiday this winter, maybe you could take advantage of that? Let them know that "we need to clear out space to make room for new toys from Santa" or "we are going to donate some of your old toys so that kids who don't have much money will be able to have toys for Christmas." Would they be receptive to that?

How are the toys stored/organized? Shelves/bins/boxes? If you don't have a system yet, decide on one, and introduce it to your kids. Explain that all the toys need to fit on these 2 shelves and they can decide which toys to put in there, and there will be one empty shelf so there will be room for their Christmas gifts.

It's way easier with younger kids, and I have made DS a part of toy decluttering since he was under a year old, so he doesn't balk at it (yet!) I don't think you can go behind their back with older kids, you need to somehow include them. Figure out what motivates them most -- donating to others, or going to the store to pick out a new replacement toy for every 10 toys they get rid of, or having extra space in the living room to make forts -- something will likely be exciting enough to them that they'll be willing to participate!

[mattemma04]

Save some.Bag many and hold.I got rid of lots of barbie stuff.DD is fine.Like you said it is plastic junk. I can't believe all the junk I dragged from house to house.Purge now before the move.Give each child a small bin with lid,and let them fill it with keep toys.The rest is free game to toss.

Get them on board to donate toys to a animal shelter garage sale.Kids love helping animals.

[ssantos]

I occasionally buy toys from my kids to help keep down the clutter.  $1 per stuffed animal, maybe $2 or $3 for something expensive, and $0.10 for tiny junk toys.  This really helps keep down the number of stuffed animals.  They can spend their money on something at the consignment store.  It is usually one "new" thing per 10 or 20 things gone.  They don't get an allowance yet so this is how they get money.

I used a different strategy when they were a little younger.  At one point I could not walk in their rooms without stepping on something.  I filled two large plastic bins with toys that I did not think that they really played with or I thought was junk.  I did not even sort - everything went in - even trash.  I told them I would keep the bins for 2 months and if they did not ask for something that was in the bins, I was going to get rid of all of it.  One dd asked for a little plastic mermaid they she played with in the tub and I dug it out and gave it back to her.  After 2 months, I sorted into trash/goodwill/consign.

[starling&diesel]

Great ideas!  I'm hoping to get my nearly three-year-old on board with the 1-in-1-out rule that we have in our house.  So far, I've been thinning her toys without her knowing.  I like the idea of making more room, and I'm also not above buying toys from my kids once they're old enough to appreciate the cash.  I think my dd would be happy to give to kids who don't have toys too.  Thanks for the ideas!