preparing to downsize and minimize our toys: how did you do it?

[Anonymous]

We lived in a small house. Then we moved out of DC and into large house. Turns out, we don't like the space and stuff. We recently purchased a small house. I really want to simplify our lives and get rid of *most* of the toys. My boys are 3.5 and 2, and we might have another child. We just have too much. We spend too much time cleaning. We are rarely home: we are downtown or at a park. We don't need all this *stuff*.

If you've minimized, how do you decide what to keep and what goes? We have lots of trucks, and they do play with most of them. We have some puzzles, Lakeshore learning games, etc.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

At the end of a play session, before they clean up take a picture. Repeat for a few days. Clear out 1/2 of the stuff they didn't play with. Wait a few days and clear out the other 1/2. Keep the boxed up stuff for a few weeks. If they don't ask for any of those items, donate them.

[Anonymous]

1. Set favorites aside
2. Get rid of anything that is missing pieces or broken
3. Get rid of Happy Meal type toys (if you have any)
4. Get rid of duplicates (you don't need 4 fire trucks or whatever)
5. Get rid of HUGE stuff.
6. Anything you are uncertain about, put it in a bin out of sight. If your kids ask for it, keep it. If not, get rid of it. In 9 years, there have probably been 4-5 toys my kids have asked after.

[Anonymous]

Thanks.

I have sold our kitchen and a dollhouse.

I do switch out their toys. So, 1/2 are upstairs are 1/2 are downstairs. They DO like everything. They play with everything. So, it pains me to get rid of it. It is quality stuff too!

But we have toys in a closet, ottoman, drawers, and a playroom. It is too much.

[Anonymous]

I've recently done this. I find that the key is not to overthink it. If you notice they don't play with it, get rid of it. If it hasn't been played with since Christmas: get rid of it. If it's huge, get rid of it. I like the ideas above.

Also, some families get rid of things by dark of night.

[Anonymous]

My son (5) chose the toys he wanted to get rid of.

A community yard sale was coming up, and I told him he could keep the money he made from selling his toys.

We went through everything together and pulled out sentimental, and broken items. Then we went toy by toy and he said “keep” or “sell”. I made no judgment one way or the other (except for the sentimental/broken stuff).

I put the keepers away, and the “sell” toys in a basket that left it in his room for a week. He took a couple toys out of the “sell” basket, but mostly left them alone.

He sold them at the yard sale, I donated the rest to church and goodwill, and used his money to buy something he wanted at target.

I’ll probably repeat again this year.

He usually only gets toys for Christmas, his birthday, and maybe one thing on vacation, so getting to buy something outside of those times was a big incentive for him.

[Anonymous]

In my closet, i almost always have a donation box/bag that I add toys and other stuff (clothes, household items, etc) to and I will do as others have suggested and keep items for a couple weeks then if they never ask for it, I take it to goodwill or another donation center. My kids are 4 and 2. i just pay attention to what they actually play with and basically get rid of the rest. Only things I keep other than stuff they play with a lot are higher quality items that I think they might grow into as they get older. I’ve learned kids really don’t need a lot of toys. My kids pretty much just play with LEGOs, cars and trucks, baby dolls, dress up clothes, art supplies, puzzles, outdoor toys. I wish we’d never bought the play kitchen, doll house, train table/wooden train set, all big things that never got used.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone successfully done this? Existed with blocks, a few trucks, games? Or is it just something of fantasies, or blogs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone successfully done this? Existed with blocks, a few trucks, games? Or is it just something of fantasies, or blogs?

We have a ton of stuff but honestly a few games and some blocks is what gets played with. And art supplies which are consumables. The dolls, character toys, play kitchen, etc. don't do much for my kid -- I mean she *wants* them but she doesn't actually play with them.

[Anonymous]

I just feel like it is 30% them playing and 70% me telling them to clean up. This is all during the couple hours we are at home playing at all!

[Anonymous]

We have toys DH and I will play with. So I’m sporty-sorta and we have balls and I’m the one that’ll enjoy catch with DD. Dad loves LEGO’s so we have those and they’ll do that. Kids mostly like what you’ll do together. That’s how I’d sort toys. Also, for that age, you might get serious mileage out of Gonge River rocks, which are large for a toy but stack and go in the closet. (We also make a lot of obstacle courses in our family to keep our furniture from being destroyed by acrobatics).

[Anonymous]

You are in the prime toy years.

Its fine and great to downsize but it sounds like you are valuing your aesthetics over your childrens' play. A dollhouse is a great, versatile toy. It is just a few short years where they really play with toys. Its not realistic to have just three shoeboxes of toys stored neatly under their beds.

[Anonymous]

Do you have a kid still in diapers? I try to fill each diaper box with stuff to give away. Having a place to do "purgatory" storage is really helpful. When the kids are napping or not at home, I go around and put things in the box that I haven't seen played with for awhile. Then I put it in the basement closet for a few weeks. If no one notices (including me!) what is missing, I donate the box.

I find that *I* really love some of their toys. I imagine how they'll use it and learn from it or how they'll appreciate it's cuteness. But in reality, if they are drowning in STUFF they don't play with anything.

My kids are 2 and 4 and their favorite game right now is to crash not each other and fall over. No toys involved!

[Anonymous]

I actually read somewhere that having more than 7 toys is too much. We have WAY MORE than that, but it's made me think.

If you have less, they can play more intently with everything. I try to remember this when letting things into our house. I am itching to clear it all out! You've inspired me to pare down even more this weekend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone successfully done this? Existed with blocks, a few trucks, games? Or is it just something of fantasies, or blogs?

Nanny here. I previously worked with a minimalist family. Birthday presents were clothes and Legos: theirs for the day, then into the communal pot. Other than those, each child had 2-4 toys in their room. With communal water/outside toys, they had plenty.

I’ve also worked with several families in which the kids got more stuff every time a parent returned from a trip or a kid asked. There was no value to all the things and each child was overly possessive of “their” things. When they were asked to play independently (ages 4-10) for 15-30 minutes, they’d get overwhelmed due to too many choices.