At What Age..... - Pittsburgh,PA

I go by what they play with. My daughter will be 5 next month and still loves the little people stuff. I just went and got rid of a bunch of stuff like stuffed animals, McDonald's toys, etc. from my daughter's room and she never noticed, but Lord help me if I get rid of her Little People! Lol.

my nephew gave his LP to my 1 year old daughter, when he was 9... so yeah when they are done they are done. Doesnt matter what the box says for age. My 5 year old still LOVES to play with the baby toys that light up and make noise. I just had to keep getting bigger and deeper toy boxes. ONE day I am going to have a MASSIVE toy sale!

Tell the kids that you want to go through the toys and put away things they don't play with anymore, or give them to other kids. You may be surprised what they keep or toss and whether they want to be rid of it or just put it up for later.

I would remove them and replace them with similar things upgraded for their age. You didn't say if they were boys or girls. If you have a girl you could upgrade up to a doll house that is more realistic. It'll move their learning and imagination up to the next level. If you have a boy you can get action figures to replace. If you already have these types of things then just take them and sell them or donate them and have the kids move on to more mature toys that are similar.

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets

I love Little People!!!! But my kids are getting older too (11 and almost 9). I packed up my favorites a few years ago and put them in the attic. I have visions of my grandkids getting them out. I saved the barn and some animals and the cottage and some of the pieces that went with it. I actually went on Craigslist with the carwash, carnival, etc. and made some good money on them! So maybe have your kids pick their favorites to put away (you can always get rid of them later if you *really* determine you'll never use them again) and then find a good home for the rest!

Put them in a storage bin and out of sight. If they don't ask about them for six months or more you know they have out grown them. You can then donate them or put them in deep storage for future generations (or visiting younger kids).

Heck! Some of those things are collectors items.
All the Fisher Price stuff my Mom boxed up when we were finished playing with them.
When our son was born and as he got older, Mom would send our old toys to him for Christmas and birthday.
He loved playing with those toys!
Now I'm boxing things up again and will pass them on to his kids.
Only the good quality sturdy stuff gets saved - the plastic junk and most battery operated gadgets get tossed.
We have pictures of me as a toddler riding my springy horse that my grandfather gave me and now we have pictures of our son riding him too!

I only get rid of toys when my kids stop using them. So if your seven year old still plays with it and you have the space, why not keep it?

My children play with an original Little People Mainstreet set when they got to their grandparents house. It was made in the 70s and the LOVE that thing. I plan on keeping a few of our favorite sets in hopes that they will be enjoyed again later.

When my sensational 6 were small, they had to pick the toys the would give away. I mananged to reduce the toy population by half. I simply told them this, "Christmas is coming soon. We must make room for new toys. So some of your old toys must be given away to make room for the new toys that will come." They usually had no problem giving their toys away because they knew new toys were coming. At Christmas, I would buy each kid 3 toys and limit family and friends toy giving to only 1 new toy from everyone else. I would just keep the gift for opening or distributing at another time. With 6 kids all those new toys add up.

I would also look into providing better storage for the toys they do have so they can access them and put them away easily.

By 9 and 7 the Little People were gone and the girls had moved on to Barbie everything and the boys were all about Lego.

usually Little People are forgotten by KG. :)

I would hang on to them for a couple more years if the little girl is playing with them. If you have space to store them in a box in a closet somewhere its always nice to have little people around for little visitors. there safe for tiny ones and up to about age 8 or so they can still have fun playing. Our kids are quite small still but I put my sons legos, trio blocks, and a fishing game up and in a closet. I only pull them out if he needs a new toy or like recently he had pink eye (eww) and I felt so badly for him. He loved having his old toy and has played with the blocks for weeks. We have a Nativity of little people and they play with it for that month then up it goes.

If your home is overwhelmed by little ppl left on the floor I would pair it down. Keep some favorites and donate,sell or hand down to a smaller family memeber the rest. You could even keep a few to stick in your shadow box. I totally understand the connection to the llittle ppl. We found one that looks exactly like my dad and I hardly let the kids play with it for fear they will lose it !

It may seem like a long way down the road (and let's face it, hopefully, it is!) but you could always just put them away in the attic or some other storage type area for future grandkids.

We got rid of our little people sets YEARS ago. Donated to goodwill, I think...

Have your children pick out 2 toys or sets that they are willing to donate to children who have nothing. Get them involved in helping others at an early age. It's a good feeling, and it's really important to teach them to be grateful for what they do have. If they are part of making the decision, they will feel better about parting with something. The more fun they had with it when they were younger, the better. It's good to know that someone else will have the fond memories they had. Find an agency that accepts toys and that the children can actually visit to make their donation and receive a thank you. They might even organize a toy drive in the neighborhood to really increase the value of their donations!

I got rid of them when my younger son turned six. They were great toys, but he no longer played with them, except to use the parking garage for his action figures and Hot Wheels. I decided to sell them when one of his friends asked "How come you have baby toys?" Kids will often play with stuff because it's there, but they won't notice if it's gone. It's probably time to let it go.

Can you hang on to them for your grandchildren? Pack'em away so they'll be "clean" for the next 20 years (say in the attic) and then pull them out for when the grandchildren are over? When I head to my parents I always lug along a big bag of toys because my mom didn't have much, but she has recently dusted off some of our old toys for my girls. They love it, and it actually "touches" me that she saved those things.

Um....wow. :)

Yes. It's time to let the little people go, like....when children reach kindergarten. I absolutely let go of a perfectly good toy just because my children have lost interest in it or have outgrown it. That's EXACTLY when they should be given to someone less fortunate! Or AT LEAST sold on craigslist or a garage sale. You don't donate trash, you donate good things that aren't getting love anymore....and taking up space.....right?

As for the kids wanting to keep EVERYTHING, you could handle that several ways. The way WE do it in our house is this: the kids know there are children who don't have much. We've been involved in outreaches where we've fed or made giftbags with gloves/caps/socks, etc for the homeless, we've volunteered in foodbanks and nursing homes, they've gone to play with the children at a shelter a couple times while I helped with a show for the children. My 5 year old also had a family in one of his clubs who was in real need and we donated some things to help with their emergency situation, and it really hit home because he saw this boy every week, he was "real" and not just an idea or theory. Doing things like this can let them see that not every little thing is of "dire" importance to them, and it's easier for them to give stuff away. I personally set aside a couple things that are very special to them; I know their toys and personalities, and when they outgrow something, it goes in a chest. I have some of their baby socks (that I use, thanks to a suggestion on mamapedia, as my own version of an advent calendar), I have special shirts that were their favorites, or their jerseys, or whatever. I will make a quilt out of their favorite childhood shirts through the years, they'll have a few of the "most" favorite toys through the years, but all other clothes and toys get donated. I do have to admit that I almost cried after donating the big stroller, not because I gave it away but because it was a reminder of babies. The kids saw that so I just laughed and said "This is how I feel, but it's kind of silly. I have reminders of you big boys back when you were babies all over the place: pictures! And lots of those pictures have that stroller in them. It's been to 6 other countries, it's been through all kinds of adventures with us, and I remember the day daddy and I were walking around and picked it out. We picked it out because....and told a few cutesy stories about it, then it was over. It was healthy I think to be honest about feeling an emotion, cherishing a time period, but allowing it to go away now and be of help to another young family that would be feeling the same way we did when we bought it.

At the beginning of October (the beginning of birthday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas season) we take a few weekends and go through the bedrooms and the playroom and clean it out. Give away, throw away, keep stacks. I go through and assist them with it, we keep some things that Joseph doesn't want, that he can pass on to Victor (little brother). When Victor outgrows it, it goes away. We don't make it like a whip-cracking experience but more like a "Let's take some time to be really happy and grateful for how blessed we are. Look at all this! What do you think would be helpful to another little boy?" If they want to save for a special trip, event, or toy, they can pick out some stuff to sell or donate (because Santa Mom does take note of that). We also discuss if it's donate worthy or trash, or if we can fix something to make it donate worthy. We do it again at the beginning of A., with spring cleaning.

But yeah: Little People toys---if you're not planning on having children, they can be sold for another toy that the kids want, or donated to make room for a cleaner playroom or the upcoming Christmas season. :)

I agree, I have my daughter go through her toys.

That is about the ages that we packed it up in a rubbermaid bin and stuck it in the attic. They are quality toys and I see no reason not to keep them. But keep them put up and away, not in their closet or somewhere else that takes up usable space. The attic is where I tend to put things that might be packed for a decade or more before being needed again.

You know, those things you want to have for your grandkids to play with, that you can tell them, "Your mommy/daddy played with this when THEY were your age."

My girls don't play with the house and other buildings, but love to tell stories with the Little People themselves. They tie them up with yarn and dangle them from stairwells. They are well beyond kindergarten. As long as they play with them and use their imaginations coming up with stories, I'll find room to keep them.

I think rotating the toys is so much easier for the kids. I do think if the one still likes them they should have the say so if the toys are taken away.

They might like to find a family to give them to at some point but maybe not for a while.

Oh my, I still have some of them in a toy box that belonged(s) to my son who will be 39 tomorrow. In fact I hope soon that there will be a few more little people to play with them so they are being saved. There are a few metal Tonka trucks and things that have not left the garage but are very good including the 2 ft fire truck (hook/ladder) that was a gift from a friend.

Several of these items are probably collector's items. I know the Star Wars items are originals from the 70s. They reside in the closet covered. Son always talks about getting them and I keep telling him he can have them when I am gone.

I did give him all the comic books last year he had again another group of collector's items.

Hubby said his mom once threw out all his comics which were really worth a lot because she didn't feel they had the room and now we could have had a nice retirement. So beware and have them evaluated befoe you toss them.

The other S.