OP here again: what I have thrown away so far. Obviously too much to be in super detail, but here are large chunks:
-straight up trash lol
-a stacking bucket set. will donate? Are people buying from thrift stores during Covid? MAYBE will put outside in the garage, but we already have buckets there
-marvel figurines
-TINY parts of the sets we are keeping. Does the airport set need a flag? Does the train set need all of it's road signs? No.
-a bunch of the bath toys
-young toddler toys
-4 megablocks.

I'm almost done sorting through. I've consulted the kids and also decided on my own what toys will be trashed. Trash bag is filling up.

I forgot one more category, which is American Girl Stuff.. That stuff stays mostly with the doll's underbed storage (yes, my doll has storage).

So far the kids have chosen for the 12 buckets:
1. the airplane/runway set by Driven
2. all other vehicles and hot wheels
3. lego duplo
4. little lego (I'm also going to buy a flat playmat that cinches up
5. dinosaurs
6. magformers
7. mini thomas trains
8. pokemon cards
9. shopkins/hatchimals

10, 11, and 12: I'm recognizing that DD9 doesn't like barbies anymore, has a bunch of Rapunzel or princess sets, etc that are funky and missing pieces.
She wants those buckets to contain:
10. more american girl clothes and accessories (she wants a whole bucket full--more than we keep in Doll's storage now)
11. lego harry potter stuff
12. some american girl accessories, but in one set like a sweet-shop set

I'm not buying her $300 worth of toys, but I will see about collecting a couple of new things. She has birthday money too.


I have ONE more toy that I can't categorize: a hexbug. So... that's just going to be the odd-man-out.

And two big vehicles that I think should stay. They can sit on top of a shelf.

ALMOST DONE

I realized that as I was thinking over this that we already prioritize collections of things. Our most popular for 8, 6, and 4 (all girls) are:

Schleich figurines
Magnatiles
Legos
My Little Ponies
Marble run
Train tracks
Doll house & accessories
American Girl dolls and accessories
Baby dolls and accessories
Play kitchen food (they could care less about the kitchen, but the younger two use the food all the time)
Legos

In addition, craft supplies and outdoor toys get played with nearly daily.

I don't know. A 3 year old has a lot more time playing with toys. You might end up tossing lots of things he will love later.

Legos. Keep Legos and donate everything else.

Only kinda kidding.

So all in all, I'm looking for 12 distinct toy types. Between 12 collections, I think it will easy to sort.
They will have.

Blocks
Hot wheel tracks
Train tracks
Dress up (boys, girls, and frankly unisex that goes back and forth between kids)
Outdoor stuff in the garage
Art stuff in the kitchen

1. Keeping: vehicles and runway by Driven
2. Keeping: trucks/hot wheels
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No more random paw patrol toy; random princess from a set that we lost most of; baby light up flashlight; etc.

My goal today is to get our kids’ toys down to a manageable size. My inspiration is my sil, who has slightly older kids than mine. She realized they either played outside (outdoor sports equipment and bikes and scooters), or played on screens. So she got rid of everything, except for 1 collection each for her younger two. One had a giant pack of megablocks. The other was allowed to keep a bunch of barbies and tons of Barbie accessories (quantity not being the issue, but rather easy sorting and maintaining).

I want to go in a similar direction. But NOT down to 1 collection for each kid. My reasoning there is that my youngest two still play a lot.

They each have 4 toy buckets that fit on coordinating shelves.

I want to allow them to keep 4 toy types, each. I’ll even trade out half of the junk we have for some brand-new sets.

I know what my kids like, but thought I'd ask you all--open our horizons a little bit.

9 year old girl.
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She has some dress up items that don't fit in the buckets, and the chest containing them just broke. Have to get a cheap basket to contain them for now. She isn’t as interested in toys, but does like ‘things.’ In the next year I will take away the 4 toy buckets and give her a more adult-looking chest. I'll keep some rubbermaid containers with any sets she still has. Over time, she can store whatever she wants in there.Any ideas for now?

5 year old boy
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(On top of this he has 4 sets that are easy to keep in distinct containers: 1 train track set, 1 block set, and hot wheel tracks. He also has a dress up bucket that is easy to keep distinct from toys).These 4 sets are shared with the younger brother too.

3 year old boy
1. Keeping: a set of vehicles and a runway by Driven
2. Keeping: Other trucks and hot wheels that he plays with every day.
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For the boys, over time I will also give them a chest instead of these toy shelves.

We keep art stuff outside of bedrooms, in the kitchen.

What toys do your similarly-aged kids play with? I have a 9yo girl, and two boys (ages 5 and 3).

What toys do you suggest for someone looking to minimize toys and keep distinct sets? The type of sets that if ALL toys were out, you could easily sort into bucket to put away.
*Toys may be on the outs for my 9yo, but she will still want things.

I'm going to make a second post with more info on the plans I'm working on today.