Anonymous wrote:You can't get rid of it, you have to keep it forever. And the artwork. And the other treasures too.
..hold on, Ill be right back, I think I just heard a noise coming from behind that pile over clothes in the other room, it might be fluffy, I haven't seen her in a month. It could be her. ...maybe. -Just keep it, keep it forever, especially if it makes you feel good.

Clean your act up woman!
You will own nothing and be happy about it.

OP - last update. My 7 year old found the piles of toys that I had sorted, had moved aside and has been aggressively playing with them lol!! The toy barn has made it's way back into my living room and he pointed out the play kitchen and toys and said, "you cannot get rid of that! I am not ready!!" He also found these building "STEM" pieces with wheels and other connector pieces that my older son got at maybe 4 or 5 that has been in storage for years after losing manyyy pieces. I wasn't planning on getting rid of that anyways, I Just organized it but my little guy is also super into playing with that and promptly built something. lol!

Lesson here: Reorganize, move around a little bit, maybe hide for a few months and bring out and see if they go to town playing.

You can't get rid of it, you have to keep it forever. And the artwork. And the other treasures too.
..hold on, Ill be right back, I think I just heard a noise coming from behind that pile over clothes in the other room, it might be fluffy, I haven't seen her in a month. It could be her. ...maybe. -Just keep it, keep it forever, especially if it makes you feel good.

OP here. Thanks everyone for the feedback. I will downsize a few things that are duplicates, ect. but keep the toys still available. I think one problem is that the toys get mixed up. I need to add labels with the words and visuals and cut down on the sheer amount of toys but still keep some of the toys for pretend play.

I've got to "play" with their "play area" to make it more accessible, reduce some clutter but keep access to some of the toys. Re-organizing it and doing that with proper labels might actually inspire my 7 year old to play with them.

He definitely still plays with his magnatiles, wooden train set, and is super super into legos but builds elaborate creations.

I've got direction now. thanks!

My 10 and 8 year old still play with our play food sometimes, but would be willing to part with the kitchen if DH would come around. He's having trouble letting go of some of the bigger pretend items. The kids use all the smaller ones, even the dress-ups.

We have a neighbor who is ten, and she has loved passing on her toys and “kid stuff” to my kids and other kids in the neighborhood.

It makes her feel grownup and also she’s happy other kids she knows are using them.

Agree w PP that I’d maybe wait until your kid is older to make the purge.

My youngest was never wanted to get rid of any pretend toys, but didn’t play with them at that age. I reduced the number we had while keeping some. I kept a small amount of play food and dishes while getting rid of the rest. Eventually, she came around and all left the house. Same with costumes, donated the too small ones and the duplicate accessories, but kept some. They’ve come in handy at times.

She’s 10 and will still dress up around the house. She also refuses to get rid of the toy shopping cart. She now uses it to take her book, sunglasses, blanket, sunglasses, drink and snacks outside to her reading spot. It’s still useful some keep it.