So Many Toys (Decluttering)

DC are 4 and 7. They have so many toys and our house is NOT big so I feel like I am drowning in all their stuff. How do you streamline their stuff especially with Christmas around the corner.

So Many Toys (Decluttering)

Anything that doesn't get played with gets hidden in the basement. If nobody asks in 3 months is gets sold/donated/given away. I do this in a regular basis!

So Many Toys (Decluttering)

When DS isn't looking I throw away the junky stuff (tiny erasers, happy meal toys, etc). DS is motivated by money so i ask him to go thru his stuff to see what we can sell at a garage sale and he gets to keep all the money. If it doesn't sell he knows it's getting donated.

Re: So Many Toys (Decluttering)

I do the same as the two previous posters!! Im embarrased to say there are toys from two Christmases ago in the basement never touched. Well this year im giving them to the local toys for tots drive. And lil junky stuff gets tossed after a while.

Re: So Many Toys (Decluttering)

I make them decide on a few things to donate. start with what they have a lot of. she had like 20+ puzzles and 20+ stuffed animals, so I said, pick 5 of each you are willing to give away. and she did. 10 items gone. Planning on doing this with board games too. when she is sleeping i will throw away some of the "junk" that she doesn't really play with but is out and about (like party favors, odds and ends of old toys, gifts from school, etc.) and with art supplies whatever fits in the bins. I recycle old artwork. It's alot. It all builds up for sure. I also make sure to ask for clothes, books, or EXPERIENCES over stuff/toys. Because she doesn't need more of that....

So Many Toys (Decluttering)

My kids have a ton of stuff. I keep a toy box then a toy basket. I put like 10-15 toys in a basket on a playmat, then rotate from their toy box. I don’t keep a ton of toys out. If they get gifts I do keep theme in my storage and rotate them. Things from baby baby time is boxed up just in case there’s a surprise baby. In a few years I hope to get rid of all that stuff

So Many Toys (Decluttering)

I clean out DD’s toys twice a year (by Christmas and her birthday). We sit and go through each toy together and decide to either keep, donate or throw out. If she hasn’t played with something in a long time, I encourage her to get rid of it.

So Many Toys (Decluttering)

I need to get on this, too!! Its ridiculous around here!!!! we bought our house from my in laws- and DH was an only child, so my MIL kept SO much of his childhood stuff, too-- and never did anything with it when they moved out, since they knew we were moving in! @@ and of course my husband sees it and its like its all the most important stuff in the world @@ some of it is nice to have, like BINS of Legos...but most of it needs to go! LOL
AND my oldest son was an only child for 5 years, and i'm a SAHM... so i would end up buying him little toys like every time we went to Target, or buying his some toys off of Facebook swap sites. MY youngest DS is 3 now, so he plays with some of it, but not a ton. So I really need to get honest with myself about what they actually play with regularly (which isn't much) and ditch a lot of it. Especially since the boys have November and December birthdays with Christmas right behind, so all the stuff comes at once!

Re: So Many Toys (Decluttering)

Re: So Many Toys (Decluttering)

Basically the same as everyone else - start going through and selling or donating...do this a few times throughout the year.

One of the biggest changes for me has been changing my mindset to making more memories than having more stuff.

So we'll do special things for his birthday like a trip or fun tradition instead of more toys. Same with Christmas...we focus on things like a season pass to Splish Splash that he loves.