Too Many Toys

[Earthy]

Does anyone else's children have way to many toys?

It is so hard sometimes to get rid of them. I go through the bedrooms as least a few times a year and get rid of things that are not played with, broken or will just never get used even if it's new. I still feel like there is still too much! It feels great though to give it all to chairty. I keep explaining to my children that some children have no toys at all and they are very lucky. They get the toys from all the family and friends, birthdays, Christmas', pretty much any holiday and more.

But then there are those toys that they played with when they were small and you just can't get rid of those! So, for those I put in boxes in the attic at least one box per child that is.

[momothem]

Same story here. I do it at least 2-3 times/yr. We give ours to charity too. One of mine asked to yard sale them. Well, I've never done a yard sale and since they were mostly given to them, it doesn't seem right to sell them. I told mine the same thing you told yours. Our kids are so blessed compared to so many others.

[bunnytracks]

YES!!! It is so hard cause some toys are just too cute and i want to play with them too. Like there can never be too much play food or train tracks. THe older two are a bit easier as they are getting older. Plus they have a truck with a lock to keep the younger two out so they make sure all their stuff fits in there.

[Earthy]

Like there can never be too much play food or train tracks.

Oh my goodness! Playfood! We just got rid of a very large bag of that! There is no way any one imaginary or not could eat that much food.

[timkelmom]

Same story here. Way too much. We give to charity all the time and pass some of the stuff down to younger cousins. Especially if Grandma gave it to them in the first place.

I get frustrated because a lot of places will only take new toys and I have perfectly good, gently used, toys.

[bunnytracks]

I get frustrated because a lot of places will only take new toys and I have perfectly good, gently used, toys.

Oh i know!!! I think that is crazy. I mean a toy only stays new until youtake it out of the package. Many places that ask for toys do so for multiple children so it doesn't make any sense at all.

[SoonerMama]

Do you have a Just Between Friends sale in your area? They take gently used toys, books, clothing, etc. and sell it and give you part of the profit. I think their site is jbfsale.com or something close to it. We are not getting rid of stuff at this point since we are planning on having another child in the next couple of years, but it is getting crowded already!

[Jackie]

Rachael is really good about understanding this. I can always recruit her help in getting rid of (TRASH!) some of the small, junky stuff similar to what you get from the Dollar Store or from a Kid's Meal! She's great at sneaking it out when we are cleaining a room!

[Earthy]

We have women and childrens shelters that are not to far from here. They take everything new/old/used it doesn't matter. They give everything away to those in need for free. It's just fantastic!

[vantage]

We have two dd's 4 years apart. that means we have two sets of stuff with some in the middle. DD3 is just getting past most of the toddler stuff and not quite ready for other stuff. the overlap causes a glut.

I buy very few toys actually and we still get the stuff given to us all of the time. Urggh.


Toy food, we use that in homeschooling. I am teaching a mini nutritian course again this year. I have the kids put balanced meals on to play dishes. We sort the food into food groups and other activities. I like to put two things on a plate and have them finish. Or put a breakfact and lunch or dinner together and let them finish the missing meal taking into consideration what else has been used for that day.

[Ava Rose]

We have always had too many toys. I just took a garbage bag each out of my kids' rooms and I am sure I could get rid of more. It seems toys in our basement grow back! I can fill five garbage bags of junk and soont their after I can fill five or more again! lol. Olivia is very good at getting rid of things. Aaron wants to keep everything!!! Broken...missing pieces...something he forgot he had..lol...typical kid.

[Brixsco]

:) I think every Mom goes into their child's room and thinks that they have too many toys. That just means that your children are blessed! I don't remember having half of what my kids have. ;)

Well, I have learned how to solve this problem. I do online selling. Whether that be Ebay.. or Yahoo.. or Amazon.com.. or half.com.. or any other selling site you can find. My kids do all the work to get the item ready. We take the picture. They find the one they like the best. And I help them write up the description. Then we wait. And if it sells, I give them a big chunk of the money. Then they can buy new stuff. Or.. if its around Christmas time.. or someone's birthday time.. often they use this money to buy a gift. Then we pack up what doesn't sell and give it to charity. Its really a win win for us. It teaches the kids that even they can work for money. And in the end.. I still get the tax write off. :)

[ABall]

Our kids do have way too much! we try to go through and sort things when we can, and give things to charity or take things to the homeschool park where if no one wants it there then it goes to a womens and children's center.

I have been getting rid of the toy food when I find it, because the play kitchen has been played out and the McDonalds drive threw is warn out,

we have legos galore and they just have a hard time putting the little pieces up..... so we have bionicles, legos, K'nex etc.... every where!

Lets not even go into why the girls save scraps of paper and what not that is all over their room.

[Ava Rose]

:) I think every Mom goes into their child's room and thinks that they have too many toys. That just means that your children are blessed! I don't remember having half of what my kids have. ;)

Well, I have learned how to solve this problem. I do online selling. Whether that be Ebay.. or Yahoo.. or Amazon.com.. or half.com.. or any other selling site you can find. My kids do all the work to get the item ready. We take the picture. They find the one they like the best. And I help them write up the description. Then we wait. And if it sells, I give them a big chunk of the money. Then they can buy new stuff. Or.. if its around Christmas time.. or someone's birthday time.. often they use this money to buy a gift. Then we pack up what doesn't sell and give it to charity. Its really a win win for us. It teaches the kids that even they can work for money. And in the end.. I still get the tax write off. :)

That is a great idea! I sell my kids stuff all time online and keep all the profit. lol. I never thought about giving them some of the money. lol. For garage sales I do..but ebay was just my thing. I think I will include them in that also. Great lesson for them!

[bunnytracks]

One thing I did in deperation was clean their rooms for them. I gave them a whole week to have their room cleaned and instead of cleaning it they played. :( Anyway, I had to stay true to my word so i cleaned it and took everything out. Each day they could take some out beased on their behavior. I gave them a time limit and what was left was given away. I could easily tell what their favorites and there were many toys that they didn't even bother claiming.

[becky]

If I had time I'd do a serious search and seizure on the toys! I just never get the free time to do it, plus Jeannie is always around.

[Earthy]

My kids are mostly helpful when it comes to getting rid of items. I pretty much let the choose what to get rid of, because they know if they don't I will. I will though take the stuff they don't ever play with. They know that the items are going to help those without. My little ones especially think about how another little child will be giving love to an unwanted stuffed animal.

[dozermom67]

Try rotating their toys. Put some in a box, put the box up somewhere, and about six months later bring the box down. Put different ones in the box and repeat. That way the toys are 'new' to them.

[mommix3]

My boys room isn't too bad. They are mostly into books and video games so the toys are pritty much gone.with the exception of the tiny legos and kinex pieces which they happen to be VERY picky over. The girls on the other hand have a TON of toys. BARBIES everywhere. Play make-up, jewlery baby dolls,dress up clothes. You name it they got it thrown EVERYWHERE. We go through their room several times a year and give to charity. The keepsakes are placed in storage. We save the little tikes toys for Grandkids someday A LONG TIME FROM NOW!! LOL! But storage is running out of room so pritty soon we'll be either upgrading to a bigger size or going through it and getting rid of stuff.

Angela

[becky]

I remember the last time I cleaned out the toy bins, I got rid of this red barn that was at the very bottom and Jeanne hadn't touched it in months. Now, she was asleep in her room when I took it out, and I was in the living room while she was in her bedroom. That evening she gets out some of her little plastic animals and starts digging in the bin I cleaned out earlier. Remember, she was asleep upstairs with her blind down and a fan running when I cleaned out this bin. As she's digging she says 'I can't find my red barn! My animals want to go home, but I can't find my red barn!' I'm thinking she's got a nannycam somewhere!

[TeacherMom]

okay not even reading all these,
We have this problem because I never had toys as a kid, well I did but nto this many!
Inlaws constantly bought kids whatever they asked for when younger and the only grand kids, now that they have seven they have reverted to gift cards Lol.
It got to where I stopped getting more than one toy at Christmas because of the toy pile!
They have been told that I want them to seperate toys to sell... they get to keep most of the money too!
I will put some in the Mickey Mouse fund.
( thats our disney trip)
We are going to sell videos and dvds too, cheap as possible to get rid of them and still get some cash !
Toys work best though in individual containers for clean up times, becuase then they can only take one type of toy at a time out!
if more than one is out, it gets taken away.
For a while I did if it was on the floor at night when I came in to tuck them in, I took it to the garage in a box!
That worked well when they were younger!
NOw they just have to box up what they want to keep for thier own kids some day, or whatever, and sell the ones they are ready to get rid of.
DD just asked for a big box to put all her barbies in to save forever in the garage. She said she is not playing with them anymore so it would be best to keep them nice that way. SIGH< SNiff Sniff! Id like to get her a shelf to display some she has 50!
Collectable types and playables, so some I want inside especially the one that looks like my mom!
she gave it to her.
She has collected all teh Disney princesses and some fo the princes.
Since her room is Princess style I think those would be good to display somehow as part of the decore...
Okay I am rambling on now HHAHAHA!

[AudMama4]

My kids have WAY too many... daddy won't let me get rid of them... so I have to "sneak" and get rid of a few at a time.

[MamaBear]

I remember the good ol' days, stepping on Legos in the middle of the night, tripping over toys all the way to the kitchen. :lol: We put the toys in Rubbermaid containers to deal with the situation.

Embrace the painful injuries from stepping on toys. My kids are teens now and instead of buying Rubbermaid containers for storage............................
We had to build on another 2 car garage to store their BIG BOY toys~CARS and TRUCKS the real kind, the kind that you drive.

Enjoy them when they are younger, their toys just keep get more expensive as they get older. :lol:

[Actressdancer]

Here's (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080210/ap_on_hi_te/toy_rental) one mom's answer to toy clutter.

DH and I require that before any birthday or Christmas, all toys are sorted into sell/keep piles.

Also, my taking away any toys that aren't cleaned up by whatever alloted time helps curb the clutter a little, too (not that I take many, but even one a week helps).

[Ava Rose]

Well, I didn't read all the responses. I throw toys away or get rid of old toys when my kids are not around. (well, when my older two were smaller that is what I did, at 8 and 10, they would know if something was missing. lol)

Anyway, my kids are also required to take a garbage bag in their rooms once a week on garbage day and get rid of any junk, old broken toys, puzzles or games with missing pieces, or any "parts" of toys they no longer have.

I just started doing that. It is way better than taking garbage bags of junk out of their room and basement once or twice a year.

My kids are pretty good at getting rid of old things or finding a place for misplaced things they want to keep. They also know I will throw away anything I deem unworthy of being in the house. LOL. Yet, there are a few things I am more sentimental about. lol.

[Mrs. Mommy]

Our kids do have way too much! we try to go through and sort things when we can, and give things to charity or take things to the homeschool park where if no one wants it there then it goes to a womens and children's center.

I have been getting rid of the toy food when I find it, because the play kitchen has been played out and the McDonalds drive threw is warn out,

we have legos galore and they just have a hard time putting the little pieces up..... so we have bionicles, legos, K'nex etc.... every where!

Lets not even go into why the girls save scraps of paper and what not that is all over their room.

Ohhhh, those scraps of paper!!! Drive me crazy!

[TeacherMom]

lol, I hear ya on that one, but let me tell you they do finally grow out of it! My dd was a paper scraper up to about 6 months ago , she is now seeing how much work goes into keeping track of the papers,
My suggestion is to get a cute looking box, photo box like only bigger, they are e very where in office sections of stores. Have your dd's or sons if the case, seperate the special stuff from the gotta go cause its torn or not AS special and keep them in the "paper box" . I did this with my dd and my ds, it worked! They think twice while cleaning up rooms and put important stuff in there and trash the unimportant stuff.
Its actually a lesson in organisation that will stay with them forever, even if I CANT spell it!