Kids Toys

I let DD be part of "now or later" when I put toys away. She liked some toys I had not seen her with and I gave her x bins and said that only the toys that fit would stay out right now. I explained that she had more stuff coming for Christmas and it would be easier to keep picked up if there were fewer toys around.

If there are any toys the kids would like to part with (or you would like them to part with - like some crazy Elmo thing my uncle gave DD), take them aside and either donate them to charity or offer them on freecycle. I quietly took a Spongebob that DD didn't play with and freecycled it to a mom looking for SB for her son.

Anything (be it an outfit or a toy) that has sentimental value for me goes in DD's box where I keep all those precious things.

Hi - Recognizing you need to do this and ask for guidance is the first big step. I have two boys - age 4 & 5. I have a couple (2) storage tots upstairs that I rotate with the toys the boys have out so they have "new" options every month. After Thanksgivng, the boys and I pulled out all the toys and we went through them. I told them Christmas was coming and they would be getting new toys. I explained about other families not having enough money to buy their kids new toys and that we should give their old toys they don't play with to the donation center in town. Let me say - WOW! They got rid of 2/3 of their toys and went with me to donate them. We call it recyling in our house.

A suggestion about the toys you're getting hung up on. If they don't play with it anymore and it's not age appropriate, take a picture of your child with the toy so they will have that memory - it takes up a lot less space and my boys love looking at pictures. I have kept a couple of toys from their earlier years but only the ones they couldn't live without. It's contained to a very small tote/keepsake box.

Good luck - you will feel so much better once it's done. I know you've heard the saying "Less is more" - it's so true. For you and your kids!!

If my children play with it, then I keep it. If it's no longer age appropriate, I donate it so a family who has less can enjoy the toy. I did keep two or three "first toys" from when my girls were babies for sentimental reasons. All small things, of course.

Boxing up toys for grandkids is great - but be realistic about what your grandkids will really want to play with. Legos, matchbox cars, barbies - those things will stand the test of time. A lot of other toys won't, so donate them so other families can use them.

Dealing with past toys... save a "baby/toddler" tote (one tote) for when company with toddler's come over (I have done this... works well and takes up little space). Have the kids help you with this. Donate or consign the rest. Dealing with toys from this day forward... stop buying them :-) In all honesty, this "problem" will never go away if things keep coming in to the house. I just wen't through 2 November birthday's and Christmas without 1 toy that I had to take out of all that crazy plastic wrapping. Our motto... if it was made in China, we are not buying it! It cuts down on a lot of "stuff"... and I LOVE that we are much more clutter free and have some really unique and different things.... This also teaches my kids how to become aware of what we support by the things we buy. Good luck! Less really is better :-)

Have the kids help you. You might be surprised at what they are willing to get rid of. (I know, I was!)
Then, find a friend who has younger children, or find a place that could use the toys (women's shelter, freecycle...) and start giving them away.

It is important to remember the fun times, but also make space to make more fun memories. If your house gets too crowded with things, then there is not space to do new things. Keeping too much clutters up your life now.

In terms of keeping things for future generations. Keep that to a SMALL amount - and keep in mind that plastics change and age somewhat poorly - so make sure that it is something that will age well - as they will be moved many times over the coming years, before they can be played with again.

I make this sound like it is easy. It is not, I feel your pain. I have been working on getting better about getting rid of things. My tendency is to keep EVERYTHING. This is not a good plan, as my house (which is a good size) is starting to feel small, due to the extra stuff that is not needed or used. I find as I get rid of some of the stuff it really helps me realize that the stuff, is just stuff. The memories are still there. :)
The stuff also becomes an problem to enjoying daily life - if you are tripping over stuff, or have no way of actually getting it put away, then you are giving the stuff a lot of control over your life. Thinning down the stuff to what is actually used, and is able to be put away makes it so that you don't have to use your brain worrying about it anymore.
I find that having someone in mind for who is getting the items makes it easier to part with them. :) If you are part of a mom's club, or if you know someone who is, they might have specific suggestions for who would enjoy them :)
Good Luck!
(Not sure I answered the question - but I wanted to share support of the idea - and understanding that it is not always an easy task.)

I struggle with this too and my kids are much older. We are keeping the classics, like Legos and Brio/Thomas the train set. I have been donating things to our church nursery on an as needed basis. It is so nice to see stuff that my kids used to enjoy getting used and played with by other kids. My brother and his wife, although childless, have taken some of our higher quality stuff to keep on hand when nieces, nephews and friends' children come over. I've also given a few things to neighbors. We also have a children's consignment type store that buys high quality toys. For me, it's so hard to part with books! We are overrun with books, but I love books and the memories of reading to the little ones. Good luck.

I am not trying to be mean, so bear with me...but the reasons you give for keeping these things are what start hoarding behaviors.

If I kept every toy that had a memory attached...well...I'd never get rid of anything!!

I used to feel the same way, though, and was keeping it all...until I started running out of space. Then, honestly, I watched Hoarders...and was like, forget this!! I did a MASSIVE sweep and got rid of everything that was outgrown...and it was a ton of stuff. It felt so good, that I do it twice a year...once before Christmas, and again before summer.

I also keep a box in each closet. When we're done with something for good (clothes, toys, whatever) it goes in a box. When the box is full, it goes to the stack in the basement. Each summer, I have a garage sale and put it ALL out...and what doesn't sell goes to the Salvy.

You can do it...once you start, it feels really good and gets easier. Plus, you'll clear up space, your house will be cleaner, your children will play better and easier, it will be easier to pick up...I love it.

We were at teh same point with our son and his toys. Our son is 5 and we still had many of his baby toys stored in bins. This past summer we had him help decide which toys to sell at our garage sale. This process was difficult at first but we explained how toys show the ages of children that they are geared toward - he was all about "big boy" toys so this made it easier if we had an age on the box or toy. We also told him that he could use half of the money to buy new big boy toys and the other half could go into his savings account. He actually did very well considering.
We also are lucky enough to have a place in our town that is basically a toy library - you pay $5 / mo. They get the toys from donations. This also made it easier to donate our toys to this place as he knows that if he really wants to play with it again at some point, he can check it out. The bonus is they store it and we do not.

I too have been down this road many times, it is hard to part with things. I tend to be more sentimental over clothes, they are easier to store. lol It is often hard to let the kids help in the donating process, because if they see something that they like or have not seen in a while they will want to keep it. Regardless if they have played with it in years or not. Weed out what is not age appropriate for them right now. You can keep it for a yard sale in the summer, donate to goodwill, hand it down to another family or freecycle. I agree with the poster that said some toys will not store well, so definitely keep that in mind. I say if you have toys you would like to keep, then do that but limit it. Often times the toys kept by parents for grandchildren are not really enjoyed anyway, so know that you will be keeping it because you can not part with it. I usually take out of "play" toys that I don't think they will missed and put them away in a closet. If they are not asked about within a 6 week time span I know they are good to go. If they are asked about they suddenly reappear. Most of the time the kids never miss what is gone and you will feel so much better about having less clutter. Just remind yourself of how much you have already and let go of the older stuff. If it has memories attached, take a picture of it and let the item go. You can keep the picture and let another child enjoy the item.

I totally feel your pain, as it sounds as overwhelming as what I went through a few years years ago when we moved out of our children's first home (my oldest was almost 8, at the time)! We had a TON of storage space, so my tendency was to keep, rather than throw/give away. Let me tell you, I vowed to NEVER do that again! Once you go through the process, the memory of it with be a great motivator!

You have gotten some GREAT advice so far -- you will be surprised at how your children respond to being involved -- at the very least, much better than the reaction you will see once they discover a "treasure" mysteriously gone! The idea of "rotating" toys is a great one, too, as it will give you the opportunity to wean out the outgrown toys more often.

As for organizing of the toys they do play with, do you have room for a few book shelves? Although they aren't the greatest "quality", I've picked them up pretty cheap at Shopko (I'm sure you could find them at Target or Walmart, too). Then, buy baskets to keep "like" items in, Barbies and all their clothes & accessories (keep small things, like shoes, etc. in a zippered pencil case), match-box cars, etc. For legos, I've always bought clear bins with lids - when they get a little older and have the "kits" you can keep the instructions in there, as well - no need to have a bin for each kit, though - just a large enough one to fit a whole mess of the things in.

This system will cut down immensely on toys being strewn all over the place, and minimize the risks of losing pieces, etc! You just teach them to take one basket out at a time, and put everything back in the basket & back on the shelf before getting something new!

Good luck! You will be soooo happy to complete this project!

If your children are older, you can ask them to pick some toys to give away to Goodwill or the Salvation Army. Explain to them that there are other children out there that aren't as lucky as they are and don't have many, if any, toys at all to play with. Kids are incredibly generous, and yours may pick a lot of toys to give to other children. My younger kids aren't quite old enough to understand that concept yet, but I did it with my daughter, and it worked great. We got rid of toys she didn't play with any more, and she felt really good about it because she got to pick them out, and help me take them for donation.
Hope this helps!