Toys

yeah toys are a big problem my little girls room is the same way...i used to try and bag up as much of them as i could and give them away, finally i said heck with it...kept most of them and stopped buying her real big junky ones that just take up a bunch of space and just started buying her educational books and electronics...i figured not to throw them away since she might wanna enjoy in a while when she gets a lil' older.

If they really aren't being used I would donate them to someone who could or sell them at a consignment sale or garage sale. I always feel like we have too many toys too. Another idea I got from a friend of mine is to actually box up some of them and "rotate" toys. So when the kids get bored with the toys out, then box them up and pull out the ones you put aside in the box, they will be "new" again.

you can have a mega toy rummage sale, let everyone know that the rummage sale is going to be mainly toys, price the toys reasonably low, and you should get an awesome turnout!! or, if you dont want to take the time to organize a rummage, since they can be a pain in the butt, you can take them to a secondhand childrens store, like Children's Cupboard in Racine, or New to you Kids in southern Milwaukee, which will only take the best looking toys, clothes, strollers, cribs, etc. and will pay you for them.

Donate the toys that your children no longer appreciate to the salvation army, goodwill or a local church. Or have a yard sale. Or sell the toys on ebay. Or just throw them away (better to recycle, though).

If they are still in good shape, sell them. Local consignment store, garage sale, eBay (though works best for small toys that are popular to cover your fees and shipping), Craigslist (free to list and local!). If you don't want the hassle of selling and/or they aren't in the best of shape, use FreeCycle. (Search in Yahoo groups for a local listing.) You can list thing you want to give away and people will then email through the site and pass it on to the person you choose. Many charities would be grateful for toys as well.

One thing NOT to do... throw them in the trash. There was a house down the street that put a huge pile of toys out with their garbage this week. I felt a little odd, but I pulled a few of the larger items out of the pile that still have plenty of life left! (I wasn't brave enough to start digging through the bags.) The thought of all that taking up landfill space when another child could have gotten enjoyment out of it is pretty disappointing. But my daughter now has a basketball hoop, baby sled, doll stroller, pool noodles, T-Ball set up and 2 scooters. All in excellent shape once I just washed them up.

I bought many of those clear plastic containers with lids, labeled each one with what set of toys belonged in it (i.e. blocks, cars, people, trains, etc.), and stacked them on shelves. My boys are allowed 2-3 containers at a time (you can't play with cars without people, right?) and have to clean everything up before they can take out a new container.
It doesn't always work, but it's a pretty good system. they can find what they want and everything has a place.
I do have to go through everything every couple of months and make sure the toys are sorted correctly. Frequently, when they are in a hurry to clean up, everything just gets chucked into the nearest container, regardless of where the toys belong. That's kids for you! =)

Save the GOOD ones and donate the ones they no longer play with..or GARAGE SALE

Pack up 1/3 of the toys and rotate them, it will leave more space, less clutter and the kids will be happy to see their old toys all over again.

We donate them to our local daycare center. It is a tax write off for us and it's always fun to drive by and see kids playing with our old toys.

Go online and find moms groups that do "Toy Swaps." If the toys are in good shape, aren't big germ carriers like stuffed animals, alot of moms will trade out or check out toys from other moms or a repository of toys to be borrowed. It's a great way to keep your kids from getting bored with toys, and might be a way to keep them from sitting unused at home.

Have a garage sale, or sell on Ebay, Craigslist, and Once Upon a Child are great for making money. You could donate some to a church, a daycare, the Disabled Vets, Salvation Army, Animal Arc, St. Vincent De Paul Society or Goodwill.

As for sorting, it sounds like you already redecorated the room. If you still have room, or are open to making more changes, consider buying a storage system. IKEA has really nice ones that can add more storage space, without taking up space. Or check out California closets or knock-off versions at Target, Walmart, etc.

Hope these ideas help.

sort by age and donate to day care,churchs, schools

In order for all the toys to be used you could consider packing some away for a month or so. Then take those out and pack different ones away. This way it's as though they have new and fun toys to play with.

You're kids are 11 and 10 yrs old... They're old enough to be part of (if not most of) the decision-making process.

Explain to them that you have more toys than you have room for, and that so many are not being used etc. Ask them to go through their toys and give away x number of things, or fill x number of boxes with things to give away. then you do the same with YOUR stuff.

Have a garage sale if you have lots. Or donate to a Goodwill, Salvation Army, St Vincent De Paul, or other thrift store.

Sometimes churches have programs where they collect stuff for the needy. One of our local ones sends stuff to the poor in mexico.

The MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) group I am in does a swap each year. We all bring in the stuff we don't need anymore and "shop" through it for free, taking what we want. The rest is donated to Goodwill. If you belong to a group like that, you could suggest that you all do that in a few weeks.

If you are going to be getting rid of stuff, make sure your kids are very involved in the process. If you don't feel like you can part with these things, you'll need storage space and storage solutions, but I really advocate getting rid of anything you don't need, use or love.

(www.flylady.net has suggestions on how to de-clutter your home- you might find some of her stuff useful.)

Jen

There's a big difference in age 4 to 10/11 yr old, that means different toys. Anything that the 4 yr old has grown out of get rid of- garage sales, Once Upon a Child (sell it!). Maybe some of the sentimental stuff you can pack away for grandkids.
Pack up some of the toys that the olders have grown out of but that your 4 yr old may get into over the next few years. Then for birthdays, holidays, major boredom times... pull out something 'new'.
Good luck!

I'll buy some if you want to sell them. You could put up an ad on Craig's List or donate them various charities. Is that what you are asking?

for free, you can list them on Craigslist.org and someone will come to you and buy them. a cool way to pass it forward and make money as well!

The toys that aren't age appropriate or those that you don't have any reason to keep can go to Salvation Army, Good Will or consign them. You may want to even consider checking with your local area to see if there is a place for them so that kids without homes or if they have lost a home due to natural disasters is available as well.

Good luck!
A.

ECFE teachers/classrooms are always looking for toys. I know that they usually have a wishlist. If you can wait until Fall (2 months), I'm sure you can get ride of them that way. Battered women's shelters, church nurseries, Bridging (charitable group based in Bloomington) who help families in transition accept toys. I live in Bloomington so if you need help taking them to a charity, I can help you. I grew up in CA when the "boat people" were being relocated to the area and so I use to see how little children had (basically, nothing) when they would come to america so I'm really into donating to kids.

J., toys, toys toys , we all have a plethera of toys, when we have kids, one thing you can do is sort them by what they are, cars, legos, people, mcdonalds stuff, its nice to have a bin, for separation, cars in one bin, blocks in another, or you can simply put stuff in a box and store some for a few months, then swap them out later, or you can build shelves in the room, and put like stuffed animals on them, or things they dont use often, and use them as wall decoration on a shelf, any way, they got lots os underbed storages , too, if you want to just throw them in that, and out of sight, for a while, but it is nice to have them sorted, but a kid dont care, but it is nice to have all car stuff with cars, it makes playing with them much easier, any way, the stuff they play with , keep out, and the stuff they dont very much, put away for a bit, bring it back out later it will feel like a new toy to them, have fun, and enjoy finishing that room up, toy boxes are great, too, the kid can just throw stuff in it, but eventually they wont find anything they want to play with in there, cause its soo scrambled, and that too will have to be cleaned from time to time, just enjoy your child no matter what stage and enjoy watching them play with their toys, D. s

J.,

My boys and I sort through the toys after their birthdays in September and also, after Christmas. We donate what they're no longer using so that we have room for the new toys and are never overrun with toys! At the same time, we rotate some of the toys from their bedrooms to the playroom and vice versa. Inevitably they find something that they "forgot" that they had and it gets a new life!

We've also sold toys on my husband's company's online want ads. (We've gotten rid of A LOT of stuff that way and made a good deal of cash in the process!)

When my kids were small, I saved some favorite toys for when they have kids and such, like the barbies and a couple dolls, rocking chairs and favorite stuffed animals. Thing is now I have a granddaughter and she has sooo many toys here at grandma's that we really don't have room to get out all the others I have saved through the year. The table and chairs,I saved got wet and ruined up above the garage where we kept them. I have a whole barrel of stuffed animals, some collectors, that I haven't even went through. I know she will get use out of the barbies when she gets old enough though.

I took a lot to the day care center, especially the bigger items like the peddle cars and such. They loved that. Others we sold in garage sales, giving the kids the money. Your 10 and 11 year olds would probably like to have a garage sale and I would let them. It is a nice way for them to earn a little money and learn how to deal with public and how to haggle.

are you looking to get rid of the toys? your question is unclear to me

however, if so.
www.freecycle.org i believe is a place to get rid of or find things for FREE COMPLETELY FREE!! so try it out. or you could call any day cares in your area, or schools.