Has anyone done a toy purge?

[Delight]

We are contemplating a move to a tiny cabin...there would only be room for maybe a small basket of toys plus books. DD doesn't have much toys right now the way it is, and what she does have, she rarely plays with (she just has her favorites)...but I'd love to hear how some of you have done with minimal toys. Here is what I think we will keep:

Stacking/Nesting blocks
Small cloth dolls
Cloth tree house with animals
Wooden blocks
Shopping cart
Wooden "popper" push toy
A few puzzles
Books

Wow...typing that out makes it seem like a lot! Has anyone else done a "radical" toy purge?

[peverroad]

I think i am about to. DS has 3 full over full toy boxes and stuff just hanging out on the floor. I am going to make a grandma mad by doing it but i have already gotten rid of 2 trash bags full of toys and i plan on getting at least 2 more.

[crunchymomof2]

This is how we are. We are trying to get down to favorites and more imaginative toys. He doesnt play with most of them.

Michele

[pilesoflaundry]

I did a big toy purge and we still have too much more! I did pull everything out of the house and put it in storage for awhile and then only let back in the few things they asked for. I should just cut it down to those things! I still have a few boxes in storage of stuff I'm not sure what to do with.

[miss_sonja]

I do regular purges, in stages. I'll box up stuff, and if the kids mention wanting something or looking for something SPECIFIC, I'll dig it out. Otherwise, after a couple of weeks, it goes to the thrift store.

I get rid of: plastic crappy stuff, broken things, torn books, puzzles/games with missing pieces, stuffed animals that aren't 'lovies', etc. Keep the legos, playmobil, wood toys, and stuff I actually see them playing with (even if I don't like it much)

[Siana]

We did a plastic toy purge a long while ago. We took out all the good plastic toys and donated them to Goodwill. We had some bits and pieces that were plastic that just got dumped in a bag, which I'm sure is still around somewhere

The sad thing is just months after the purge, my parents visited and gave the kids many plastic toys. I'm sure I mentioned to them I was only trying to have natural material toys, but they just get carried away when it comes to giving to the kids I guess. Also, my in-laws seemingly forgot that we had told them about the no-plastic rule, and we got more plastic toys last Christmas : The hardest thing is how to tell them again without sounding ungreatful!

Anyway, I need to purge again, but I think we'll always have a few plastic toys, and that's fine with me. They'll definately be the ones the kids like the best of course (Lego most certainly stays )

[Alkenny]

We need to do another one (what you have there is peanuts compared to what we have here!)...I'm handing them down to my nephew though, since most of these were handed down to us.

[TwinMom]

I have done a huge purge recently, but only about 1/4 of what I purged went to Goodwill. The rest went to the attic, so that in 2-3 months I can pull the toys out and switch them with the toys in current rotation. Seriously, though, if I knew that my dh was on board, I would LOVE to have only a few toys. Here's what I would keep (this is for the almost-5-year old and 1-year old, not the older kids):

wooden blocks
musical instruments
BOOKS (as many as I could get away with)
art supplies
Hot Wheels
Go-Bots & other random robot toys (he has a collection of Star Wars droids)
Legos
household type stuff (play kitchen, food, vacuum cleaner, broom, etc.)
dress-up clothes
play tools
puzzles

Wow, it looks like a lot typed out! I don't know WHAT I would do in your position, in such a small space. So, I guess maybe I'm not helping you, but I would love to see what you actually decide to keep. I noticed that there are no art supplies on your list; is that because you don't consider them "toys"? I think all kids should have easy access to markers, paints, crayons, clay, scissors, glue, and different kinds of paper. You can kill an entire afternoon with those supplies!

[2GR8KIDS]

We packed up our house for a year while we are remodeling. We were able to store most of the kids' toys in one of the rooms. I planned to "rotate" toys from there to where we are living. But after a month I haven't brought anything over beyond what we brought with us in the first place! My 6 y.o. ds has his Legos, some of his books, a box of markers, a couple of computer games, and his bike and other sports equipment (stored outside). My 1 y.o. dd has her books, favorite stuffed animals, a couple of puzzles, a few art supplies, and her trike and scooter. They haven't missed their other toys at all. And we have spent lots less time cleaning up the "stuff" in our house and more time going to the park, playing outside, etc. I have really enjoyed our "simple living" experiment hen we move back to our house, I think I will keep only:

legos (duplos for dd)
art supplies
puzzles
board games
musical instruments
books
dress-up clothes
toy kitchen
dd's favorite stuffed animals
a dollhouse
a few baby doll items
sports equipment

[USAmma]

I cleaned out their toys a few mos ago and it has made a huge difference with the clutter. They also play nicely with what they have. I still have a lot of stuff but each thing has its place and if it doesn't, it goes.

5yo has:
Angelina dolls and playset
My Little Ponies and playset
board games (part of homeschooling)
Leapster
art supplies
a few stuffed animals
ceramic tea set
a Barbie doll set that she never plays with-- saved it for dd2.
a small box of dress up clothes

2yo has (and these are all hand-me downs from dd1):
ring stacker
Little People Farm
Musical set that they share
two push toys
a doll basket with clothes, etc
shopping cart
a few stuffed animals
a hammer and ball toy
Mr. Potato Head
blocks (they share them)
a toy truck and a toy school bus
Play-doh
Bead threading toy
wooden puzzles
shape sorter
bead maze
doctor kit

As 2yo ourgrows the toys I will get rid of them and probably not replace them with nearly as much. She has a shorter attention span than her sister thus the need for more toys.

They both enjoy play cooking with real pots and pans, helping me vacuum, and other real-life play.

[serenetabbie]

I just got rid of about 1/2 the kid's toys... it still looks like a toy store exploded in their rooms (IMO anyway, compared to a lot of kids they do not have that much!)

I have chosen to not clean thier rooms for a week, and not remind them to. I will take all the toys that are in the toy box still (and thus not played with all week) and get rid of them. There is a new consignment shop that opened nearby, I am going to load up the car and check it out!

[momto l&a]

If you are going to living in a cabin makes me think country living. If that so she will be so busy outside playing you wont need much for inside toys.

Least thats how my girls are.

They like their dolls and clothes
blocks
pens pencils crayons and lots of paper
little farm animals and horses from Lemans catalog. Those are their favorites.
barn
card board boxes
and they love playing with all our junk mail.
some stuff animals we have they like to play with also though those things drive me batty.

[kathirynne]

Summer toy purge

I am really trying to do this. My children have so many toys that they never play with. They are outside kids, even in the winter, so they really don't need a lot of "inside" toys. We live in a little flat, so space is at a premium!

I have gotten rid of most of their stuffed animals - except for 1 Teddy Bear each that they got for their first birthday, but the Teddies just live on their beds, so it's not a storage issue.

We also have:

A small bookcase half full of books, books-on-tape, and a "boom box".

A large wicker basket full of board games (which get regular use in the winter)

A matching small wicker basket (that lives on the bookcase) with "activities":
"strings" for the String Games book (Cat's Cradle, et cetera),
Hacky Sacks
juggling balls
deck of cards in a special wooden box from Poland

My youngest son's lidded basket of marbles, "marble scrum" men, and the "marble game" rug (which also serves as the area rug in my front room )

My daughter's art table (with a wooden apple box full of art supplies underneath)

My eldest son's MAGS (in a wooden storage box)

My daughter's baby doll, doll cradle, dolly push-chair, and small basket of doll clothes

My daughter's ceramic tea set

Various, sundry, and MULTIPLE dress-up clothes that are currently homeless and roaming (Any ideas on how to store them?)

A 10(?) gallon Rubbermaid tote full of Legos that NO ONE plays with, but I can't find anyone who wants to give them a new home.

My biggest problem is Playmobil. I love Playmobil because it can go out of doors, in the bathtub, et cetera. But at our house, the Playmobil is taking over. We have the remote control train (which has a footlocker to live in), some random vehicles, and LOADS of animals and people. I'm considering filling all the seats in the train with people, relegating the animals to the bathtub, and getting rid of the rest. WWYD?

[hlkm2e]

I've been purging my dd's toys too. Here's what it is down to.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/nakito...e2.jpg&.src=ph

2 rolling carts with 8 bins. Each has a theme, puzzles, dressup/fantasy, wood toys, trains, legos, music, balls, plastic toys.

Milk crate of books

small plastic trash can with stuffed animals

coffee can filled with dry pasta

a couple games

wooden bus

wooden shape game

She also has art supplies in a bin in another room, a rocking horse, and a few dolls.

[ankh]

I'm always sneaking things into bags and hiding them. I put them in a cupboard for a few weeks and if noone notices, off they go. I'm SUCH a meany

[AuntLavender]

When we lived in a motorhome the children's toys went in the large drawer (It was large - the size of a deep under the bed box) under their beds. If it didn't fit it lived at Grandma's!

[TanyaS]

I did a big toy purge recently to donate to the LLL garage sale. But there's still WAY too much. Some of the baby toys my dd is outgrowing/bored with I'm holding onto for the new baby coming this month. It'll be a while before she will be able to play with them, and I'm storing them in a large wooden toy box. Most of dd's toys are stored in small bins in her room.

My ds's toys are out of control. Last year I decided not to feel guilty anymore about toys that were given to us that he doesn't play with. I had such a hard time with that at first! That and my ds remembers every single toy he owns. My plan is to purge a bunch of toys before the baby comes (nesting is kicking in) and store them in the garage, hidden from view, of course. If after a month there's no mention of them, then they will be donated or freecycled. This way if there's something he says he "can't find" I can "find" it and let the rest disappear into someone else's home!

[serenetabbie]

Kathirynne-

I am sure you will have no problem getting rid of your legos. You could sell them (Ebay, consignment or on the Trading Post here), or if someone you know would appreicate a gently used gift, give them as a gift. We had no problems at all getting rid of our outgrown legos (just got rid of the Duplos).

Dress up clothes; DD has a drawer dedicated to hers. Whatever does not fit into the drawer dissapears. it was pretty easy to get them all to fit... i just got rid of all the cheap-o disney stuff, and now there is room for all her fancy skirts and "super hero capes" (scarves) and a pocket book full of accessories

Lisa, you are not mean! I do the same thing

[*clementine*]

I've thrown out every plastic toy that we own and switched to all wood- or Waldorf toys. I chose to do it at Christmas time when they were going to be getting a lot of new things anyway, and they were sooo happy to make room for their new toys. I did save the Polly Pockets, as my daughter plays with them on a daily basis. We accumulate so many toys, as I have four children, but every week when I clean their rooms, I just pitch what I don't want around. Seems harsh, but they really don't notice.

[memory maker]

we need to do one, but am waiting for ds to go back to school so that he wont be home to witness it-he is a big pack rat