Severe Toy Purge...what to keep?

[CathyCDK]

Let's say you owned almost every toy ever made (really not so, but feels that way), and you needed toys for boys and girls, multiple ages (pretend that kids keep growing older, but no one ever outgrows any toys) when determining what to keep, what would you focus on? How many would you keep?

 

For multiple sets that have similar purposes, for example, Barbies, Polly Pockets, Loving Family, Little People, would you keep a little from each set, or eliminate complete sets, and keep a couple whole sets?

 

Would resale value play any part in what you decide to keep or get rid of?

 

For toy rotation, how many toys would you keep out at one time, how many would you put away for rotating, and how often would you rotate?

 

Thanks very much for your help!

 

Cathy

[Chris in VA]

Personally, I'd ditch Barbie, but I'm anti-B anyway! :D

I'd be more inclined to keep a little of everything else.

 

I'd rotate once every 2 weeks, keep 5-10 things out (depending on the age).

But, some of it depends on how much they are playing with it. I am not good with keeping up a schedule, and it would make me sad to put away something that is a current favorite, just because the 2 weeks are up, iykwim. I guess I'd rotate when I saw interest fading.

 

Do you allow a lot of mixing of the toys? That is a pain, but it does provide creative and "deeper" play. Not having big sets can help when they get mixed together.

[Mommee & Baba]

After years of lots of toys....we started to purge often 3 years ago. I let the kids sort until I realized that didn't work well. Then we began donating every December to families in need for the holidays. The kids did well for this as they understood the purpose. We'll do it again this year. My kids are allowed 1 open tub of toys & stuffed animals. However they have a roll-away tupperware stored under their bed for barbies, polly pockets & pony's. That's it. All the little people we're saving no matter what...but they just got moved from dd's room to ds's.

 

We also donate toys to Goodwill once a month...sometimes 1 toy, sometimes a bag full. We're getting to the point now that it's hard to donate since they have WAY less then they use to. At one time each child had 2-3 TUBS full! :glare:

[2squared]

Your dc situation sounds like my family. I have boys and girls of multiple ages and our toy needs keep growing. As much I protest, the olders do need older kid toys.

 

I focus on keeping the toys they play with the most, and I eliminate complete sets of others. If you don't eliminate complete sets, you still have a storage issue.

 

8yo dd has - (1) Barbie type dolls, strawberry shortcake dolls, and Loving family stuff, (2) baby dolls, (3) dress-up

6yo & 4yo boys have - (1) legos, (2) bionicles, (3) playmobile knights, (4) army guys, (5) hotwheel type cars, (6) dress-up

2yo girl has - (1) baby dolls, (2) little people, (3) farm animals, (4) dress-up

 

They all share Thomas wooden trains. I definitely allow toys to be mixed.

 

The toys are in their bedrooms, and I don't buy new storage bins. We often get one-off toys for birthdays and holidays, and those toys silently disappear.

[NanceXToo]

Well, truthfully, I wouldn't decide. I'd let my kids decide.

 

I'd ask the kids to go through (or help me go through) some things and make boxes or piles of 1) things they definitely want to keep 2) things they want to donate to the salvation army or some such so that other kids who don't have many toys/money whatever, can benefit from them, 3) things they might want to try to sell (online, yardsale, whatever) to make some money that might go toward something they really, currently want and 4) things that we agree should be thrown away (broken, missing pieces, etc).

 

If there was something they really wanted to keep or they were going to get upset about, regardless of how *I* felt about it, I would let them. After all, it's theirs. I wouldn't want someone bullying me into "getting rid of" MY belongings, whatever those may be.

[JFSinIL]

I would keep whole sets of whatever item got the most play AND was most durable (thinking grandkids eventually with Legos and Barbies) - for doll stuff aside from Barbie I'd get rid of the Polly Pockets (didn't a lot get recalled for lead or something equally bad a year or so ago?) and keep, again, ONE complete set of whatever tiny girlie doll item the kids loved most.

 

I had stuff like Polly P., Betty Spaghetti, etc. in plastic boxes - after a few weeks one box would go hide in the basement and another would replace it in the kids room. Rotate toys - kids do not need them ALL out at once!

[SquirrellyMama]

I have this problem also. We have way too many toys. My dh won't let me just get rid of them either. We have to save them for garage sale time. We didn't even have a garage sale this year. I just want to bag it all up and throw it in the trash.

 

I'm curious where people donate used toys to people in need. I know Goodwill and Salvation Army but they don't even take toys anymore.

 

I'm so tired of the stuff. I feel like I'm an anti-hoarder. I have the need to throw everything out and have an empty house. I think that would be lovely for a while.

 

Kelly

[CathyCDK]

Lol, I don't know if I should feel good or bad that other people are in the same situation as me! Good: I'm not the only one! Bad: I know how it feels.

 

I found a web site http://www.best-child-toys.com/toy-storage.html that has a lot of information on creative ways to store different types of toys. There is also a lot of discussion here on the best toys and why they are beneficial. Very helpful.

 

We have almost gathered all the toys in the house into one room so we can conduct a massive sort to get all the pieces together, and then decide that to keep!

[oraetstudia]

I know the feeling of having every toy known to man! We're paired down our toy collection considerably, though I think we still have too many toys. We focused on keeping mostly wooden, metal or cloth toys -- though we have enough Legos to start our own museum.

 

Usually my husband and I go through the toys after the kids are in bed. When we ask them to pick things to get rid of, they either cannot pick anything or they only pick things I don't want to let go. So when we, the parents, go through the toys, we tend to ditch the noisy things first, then the plastic ones and those that don't see much play time or have a million little parts (not counting Legos).

 

What do we still have a lot of? Wooden trains. Dolls. Dress up clothes. Toy guns and swords. Blocks. Little plastic animals. Riding toys and bikes. Play kitchen stuff. Balls (trying not to channel my inner middle schooler as I type that). And lots of Legos. Most other things eventually don't make the cut and are almost never missed. The one thing we got rid of that was actually missed were the Little People.

[Pippen]

Mostly I only kept the good quality and most played with for each child, and sent the rest out the door via garage sale or thrift shop.

 

Usually I limited it based on space instead of sets--ie one tub of stuffed animals, one of Barbies. When it was full the deal was that if the kids wanted to bring something home they had to give something up. From little on they learned that most toys weren't permanent fixtures.

 

I wouldn't worry so much about the younger ones--most toys are cheap and easy to replace through used sources or as gifts.

[Jennifer in MI]

Usually my husband and I go through the toys after the kids are in bed. When we ask them to pick things to get rid of, they either cannot pick anything or they only pick things I don't want to let go. So when we, the parents, go through the toys, we tend to ditch the noisy things first, then the plastic ones and those that don't see much play time or have a million little parts (not counting Legos).

 

What do we still have a lot of? Wooden trains. Dolls. Dress up clothes. Toy guns and swords. Blocks. Little plastic animals. Riding toys and bikes. Play kitchen stuff. Balls (trying not to channel my inner middle schooler as I type that). And lots of Legos. Most other things eventually don't make the cut and are almost never missed. The one thing we got rid of that was actually missed were the Little People.

 

This is what we do too. Go through stuff when the kids aren't around. I put them aside for a couple months to see if they notice. If not, I donate them. Our local St. Vincent still takes toys.

 

We also have what you mention:

 

Trains

Dolls

Dress up clothes

Guns/swords

Legos

Little People

Kapla Blocks

Playmobil sets

Darda racetrack

Toy cars

LOTS of riding toys

Games

Erector Sets

Dollhouse and accessories

 

I also have one box of newborn-1 year toys as I have nieces and nephews who visit frequently. I think I'll be keeping all these toys for when I have grandkids. My mom has done that and I appreciate having so much for my kids to do at her house!