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I started reading the sample of Simplicity Parenting. While I do like some of the ideas from Waldorf, I do not believe media and lots of books is bad for a dc. Nor do I have any problem with my dc's toys being plastic.

 

If you could start over completely and buy your dc all new toys, what would you buy? I did not include books in my list because we are hs'er and our book are necessary!:lol:

 

This is my list for my 3 littles:

 

Wii gaming system + games

TV for playroom + movies

ipod and docking station with speakers (for music and audio books)

One computer for dc to share + educational games

wooden train set with extra tracks and several trains

large Lego set

large Duplo set

large set of wooden blocks

quality play clothes

6 dolls with clothes

Waldorf art supplies (they are nicer and laster longer), paper, scissors, tape, glue

set of play dishes

6 action figures

6 toy cars/vehicles in various sizes

 

I do like the idea of scarves and clothespins-I would have to think about that.

 

What would your list be?

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The toys that have lasted here, and are still played with, either by friends or my youngest, regardless of gender, are:

 

Wooden blocks

Wooden train tracks

Wooden animals

Wooden dollhouse (German, given by mother)

Wooden kitchen (mother)

'Waldorf' wings & silks

Certain puzzles

Playmobil priate island, castle, ship, cabin, horses

Breyer horses

Lego - assorted, but also Star Wars & Harry Potter

Schleich animals & fairies

Pokemon toys (kids, including my 5 yr old nephew, go crazy over these, and some of these little figures are 15 years old)

Games that have stood the test of time: Candy Land, chess, checkers, dominoes, Shoots & Ladders, Snail's Pace Game, Mancala, Uno, Clue, Trouble, Settlers,Parcheesi, Scrabble, Boggle, marbles, and the marble run.

Edited by LibraryLover
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My daughter's post-purge toys are limited to:

 

All her American Girl dolls and accessories. No other dolls, et c.

All her legos but got rid of duplo.

A huge tub of fabric, pins, et c (got rid of the dress up stuff)

2 stuffed animals.

Several board games.

her knitting, sewing, and embroidery supplies.

Books.

 

Please trust me when I say that this only child of an only child and only grandchild had more possessions than most ppl could imagine.

 

She also gets a magazine and will get a kinect and one other thing for Christmas. Actually, my daughter has been begging for a wii but my husband and I have steadfastly refused. Finally, overwhelmed by the stuff (and deserted in the cause by my husband who joined her in wanting the wii) I offered to get her the wii (but we got a kinect) if she would get rid of everything she owns. Pretty soon we understoon that to be unreasonable and we came up with the above.

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Our top hits are:

 

books

board games and card games

puzzles

magnet sets

lego

play kitchen and play food

dress up box

wooden train set

a few stuffed animals and dolls

art supplies

homemade playdough

 

Basically, anything Fisher Price has been a gimmick and my children will not play with it for long.

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My ds LOVES fisher price little people sets. He plays with at least one of them every day- school bus, airplane, circus, pirate ship, Noah's ark, etc.

 

The thing that gets played with the most are any figurines- plastic or wooden. We have tons and tons of dinosaurs, fish, animals, and people and they all get played with constantly.

 

Wooden train set

Matchbox-size cars

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I started reading the sample of Simplicity Parenting. While I do like some of the ideas from Waldorf, I do not believe media and lots of books is bad for a dc. Nor do I have any problem with my dc's toys being plastic.

 

If you could start over completely and buy your dc all new toys, what would you buy? I did not include books in my list because we are hs'er and our book are necessary!:lol:

 

This is my list for my 3 littles:

 

Wii gaming system + games

TV for playroom + movies

ipod and docking station with speakers (for music and audio books)

One computer for dc to share + educational games

wooden train set with extra tracks and several trains

large Lego set

large Duplo set

large set of wooden blocks

quality play clothes

6 dolls with clothes

Waldorf art supplies (they are nicer and laster longer), paper, scissors, tape, glue

set of play dishes

6 action figures

6 toy cars/vehicles in various sizes

 

I do like the idea of scarves and clothespins-I would have to think about that.

 

What would your list be?

 

 

I haven't read that book, but I might try to see if my library has it. It sounds interesting. I am however into living more simply. I'm de-cluttering right now too, not just toys but everything pretty much. As I go through the toys I do want to keep it simple and have quality over quantity.

 

Here's what I'm thinking:

 

Keeping

~ American Girl dolls and their things

~ doll house and calico critters toys

~ legos

~ playmobil

~ toy kitchen and supplies

~ wooden blocks

 

Add

~more better quality art supplies

~hand craft supplies like for felting, knitting...

~some dress up clothes (hard to find for olders)

~puppets

~play silks

 

This is what I can think of off the top of my head.

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I haven't read that book, but I might try to see if my library has it. It sounds interesting. I am however into living more simply. I'm de-cluttering right now too, not just toys but everything pretty much. As I go through the toys I do want to keep it simple and have quality over quantity.

 

Here's what I'm thinking:

 

Keeping

~ American Girl dolls and their things

~ doll house and calico critters toys

~ legos

~ playmobil

~ toy kitchen and supplies

~ wooden blocks

 

Add

~more better quality art supplies

~hand craft supplies like for felting, knitting...

~some dress up clothes (hard to find for olders)

~puppets

~play silks

 

This is what I can think of off the top of my head.

 

I haven't actually read the book. I just read the sample at amazon.com. I have read and studied a lot about Waldorf and the person who wrote the book follows the Waldorf methodology. There are several thread about this book on the post right now.

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We're in the process of going through this book, and simplifying, and here's what we're getting down to, in terms of toys:

Keeping:

-a few stuffed animals-perhaps 8. Younger adores these and often has make-believe get-togethers with them.

-4 cloth dolls and 1 Target doll (cheap AG doll that younger DS takes many places)

-board games, although some will be moved to the toy library

-building toys (k'nex, kapla, legos, snap circuits, some robotics stuff)

-cash register

-card games (set, mummy rummy, uno)

-wooden swords

-wooden blocks

-wooden chess set

-marbles

-older camera that allows video and stills

-craft supplies kept in two 3-drawer sterilites filled with popsicle sticks, construction paper, glue, glitter, felt, pipe cleaners, paper bags, playdough and markers.

-books, which are well-organized by subject (science, history, holidays, picture books, fiction, etc)

-old cd player with cds

 

 

Concessions, mostly to DH, who isn't on board

-2 nerf guns (don't even ask how I feel about these)

-2 rubber band shooters (toy library)

-remote control motor boat (toy library)

-small drawer for each child of knick knacks-charms, rocks, screws, metal pieces found on the ground, flea market finds, necklaces.

-barbie dolls (younger adores these but I think is slowly growing out of them. They'll be in the toy library too)

-small air hockey game

-3 zhu zhu pets (i see these being given away soon, as DS no longer plays with them, but sometimes his friends come over and bring theirs, so I may keep them in the garage just in case)

 

What I want to buy (just need to find the $$)

-play silks like =tags&includes[1]=title&filter[0]=handmade&filter[1]=children"]these

-this beautiful =tags&includes[1]=title&filter[0]=handmade&filter[1]=toys"]wand

-a wand for elder

Edited by Halcyon
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This is what I would keep:

 

Kapla blocks (these are the absolute favorite here. We have about 2000. The kids have made amazing things with them and so many other toys and playspaces can be made with them, from marble runs to train set ups to farms, doll houses, castles, tombs, pyramids, greek theaters, kid-sized chairs, and yes, I have even seen the odd and forbidden gun--fashioned with rubber bands, etc. I love them because the can been picked up and put away quickly and there are no small parts and no one gets upset because that one tiny window piece is missing because there are no window or blue or double pieces. All the pieces are the same size. And they ca be used as math manipulatives and to stablize a wiggly table.)

 

A reasonable variety of art supplies

 

Legos but the old kind not the sets that are basically model kits (even though I have one child who lives for there sets)

 

Dolls and clothes

 

Play kitchen and felt food

 

Chess, backgammon, cards and a couple of board games of their choice.

 

Also, several "purse" games like Spot It, Hiss, Set, Gopher It, 24, etc.

 

Play Silks (worth every penny)

 

The six forest animal bean babies we have

 

Only some of the costumes we have (maybe the kings/knights/pirate/queen)

 

soft animal masks

 

Matchbox Cars

 

2 great wood trucks

 

Puzzles

 

 

Wouldn't that be great?

 

No more trains (which don't really hold anyone's attention, but there they are on their own little table, as they have been for almost 10 years). No more potato head. No more magnet dress up. No more Brio Builder. No more dress up felts. No more doctor kit. Life would be so easy!

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Oh, I'm sure they are different. But I think any fabric could be used for the same purpose, even if it does not generate exactly the same result. I have never had the desire to spend $ on another item when I have something similar around. I have any number of cotton cloth items in different sizes and colors, though rarely one solid color.

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I just did a big purge of the toys and got rid of any and every toy that was below my kids' level, was a repeat, or didn't get played with anymore. It felt good.:D What we kept:

 

-doll house with accessories

-Dora ride on car

-Barbies

-Polly pockets, Littlest pet shop, My Little Ponies, Strawberry Shortcake, etc

-Trains with tracks

-Lincoln logs (I was actually going to get rid of them but the kids ran off with the bag and have been playing with them constantly for over a week now)

-Building blocks of various sizes

-Mr Potato head

-Legos

-Marble run set

-Rocking horse (the type on springs)

-Snap circuits

-Erector set

-Knex

-Matchbox cars

-Dress up clothes

 

And a bin of odds and ends that the kids wouldn't part with.

 

 

My main issue with toys is that I don't like toys that do the thinking for you. So I try to focus on toys that require participation--to put it together, to make it move, to enjoy it beyond just pushing a button and it making music. As long as it is non-electronic (except for the building sets that have a motor and require batteries) I am pretty okay with it.

 

 

Oh, I'm sure they are different. But I think any fabric could be used for the same purpose, even if it does not generate exactly the same result. I have never had the desire to spend $ on another item when I have something similar around. I have any number of cotton cloth items in different sizes and colors, though rarely one solid color.

 

I bought some cheap satiny material and cut it into big rectangles and hemmed the sides. The kids liked them and have been playing with them for about 2 years now. They generally get turned into capes that I tie with rubber bands, but they occasionally are used for more creative purposes.

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Well until my son was 2 it was all wood all Waldorf around here and then he wanted the CARS cars and then after that Daddy let him watch Star Wars...

 

What we have in our playroom:

 

playstands

wooden kitchen

kids table

wooden baby crib & highchair

plastic stroller our wooden one has a wheel that doesn't turn well and falls off.

felt food and play dishes

wooden cash register

closet full of dress up and a small dresser as well.

some wooden toddler toys: stacking stuff

a FP shopping cart (gifted)

3 different types of wooden blocks

a wooden castle

knights, animals, dinosaurs

and some little doll people

dd 7 has lots of craft stuff on a high shelf

lots of wooden puzzles

dd 7's Ravensburger puzzles

A small bookshelf for Star Wars vehicles and figures

bean bags and finger puppets

musical instruments

 

I feel like we have too much:( There are only getting 2 gifts apiece from us for Christmas.

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I just purged a lot of toys about 2 mnths ago when I split the kids into separate rooms. I am currently doing another mini-purge as well to purge for Christmas, although they don't have a ton at this point. Most of their friends, even though they aren't big consumerist, have considerably more.

 

ds1-

-building-lego-k'nex-little k'nex- lincoln logs- tinker toys-considering ridding little k'nex& lincoln logs

-outside toys- skateboard- gloves-golf clubs- bubble blowers- a couple balls

-cars and a racing track to put together

-cd player and mp3 player- for books on cd, kid music and old records for free online

-6 stuffed animals- a few he won from the "claw" and a few from Granny- would like to get rid of the huge Spiderman, I love the Sock Monkey more than him though!

-RC cars- 3- he loves, absolutley loves these- I would like to make it just 1- but he is pretty attached to them right now

-Nerf gun- another one he loves but I would like to rid

-harmonica- and recorder

-couple of Transformers

-kid camera

-couple of puzzles

 

dd1 3.5

-tea party/dish sets

-a big hodgepodge of dress up stuff(all in the old wood toybox)

-raggedy ann and strawberry shortcake cloth dolls(old fashioned ones- fully dressed- girl looking)stuffed Clifford and horse-

-set of 4 wood music instruments- kazoo

-set of 4 Curious George puzzle and princess puzzle

-lacing beads

-animal puppets

-hair play stuff- LOVES this- she does daddies hair all the time- comb- dryer- curler-horrid pink princess plastic

-dr. kit- would like to replace this with a nice one but right now it is plastic

-I spy Card game

-chalk/dry erase easel

-kid camera

-flash light

 

Both:

Various art, drawing, painting supplies

Lots of games

 

baby dd1-1yo

-old fashioned Raggedy Ann-sm size- 2 small Waldorf dolls

-various wooden and cloth natural toys

-Little Tykes sm 4 key piano thingy

- wood blocks

 

For Christmas:

dd: wood kitchen, wood dolls set-Princess/Princess/horse, dress-up, lacing cards, beginner magnetic pattern blocks

ds: bb gun(for use w/ supervision), magnetic number sets, binoculars(for nature watching), drawing set,puzzle

dd2: wood blocks- wood cars

 

both:

games

4 books each

 

I don't know what they will be getting from the in-laws- I gave a list

 

I want to add felt food for the kitchen for dd- I would love her to have some playstands as well maybe a wood dollhouse some day.

 

Ds loves anything building and science related.

 

I would like to get the baby some nice wooden animals and such as she gets older.

Edited by soror
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We don't really do many toys as we have DRASTICALLY simplified. Well, until this year and my well meaning mother-in-law. :) I think our toys may be tripled by the end of the holiday season......

 

 

Currently:

 

We consider these to be necessities:

 

1. Waldorf Playstands - DH made them two years ago for Christmas.

2. PlaySilks from Beneath the Rowan Tree - we have a long one for the roof of the playstands and about six medium ones for capes, skirts, hair ties, baby blankets, slings, and whatever else they have to be! :) There is a difference between good quality silk & dye and not...

 

http://www.etsy.com/transaction/38145561

 

3. Wool & cotton food (Getting more for Christmas, but wood.)

4. Wooden blocks

5. SOME dishes. (This is what we're getting in triplicate - but they ARE wood.)

6. Wooden blocks

7. Lincoln Logs

8. Play animals

9. Waldorf Dolls - 2 "toddler" dolls for Sarah & Ella

10. Each girl (Rebecca & Elizabeth & for Christmas Abigail is getting hers) is allowed ONE nice doll. ONE because a child takes care of and appreciates ONE doll. When you have more than one they are abused and unappreciated.

11. Some doll clothes, mostly handmade.

12. A trunk of dress up clothes

 

All of our toys EASILY fit into these:

Pic19Masterpiece2-1.jpg

 

No toys in bedrooms.

 

Now, we have things we don't count as toys but we do count as "handwork" or creative endeavors or useful, purposeful things. I wouldn't count those as toys.

 

Art supplies - colored pencils, clay/play-dough, etc.

Knitting, embroidery, etc.

Woodcarving things

Paint

Books

 

Relatively speaking, my children aren't big toy fanatics. They help me in the kitchen so it's rare for them to even play with their toys... Why pretend to cook when Mama will really let you?

 

Tim works outside - he has a little saw and he cuts wood and stacks it... It's his FAVORITE thing to do, lol... And he spends a huge portion of his day outside. Not much time for toys. He owns three little John Deere tractors that we keep in a trunk. He pulls them out when friends visit. But he's never been a toy boy. No legos here.

 

Elizabeth (9) is either outside or doing handwork or reading.

 

Rebecca (6) is OUTSIDE as much as humanly possible. When she's not, she's reading or working on art.

 

Abigail (4) and Sarah (2.5) are really the two that "play" with toys. But they like to help in the kitchen and however they can as well so we manage to keep them fairly busy.

 

Toys really aren't very important here. :D

 

BTW, the VHC toys in the picture aren't making this year's pre-Christmas weed-out. ;)

Edited by BlsdMama
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Can I just add that I personally believe even I have TOO MANY TOYS?

 

I choose not to get rid of some special toys that grandparents have given. BUT, if I didn't do that I'd just have:

 

Wooden blocks - which can and have been used as play food, blocks, fences, animals, etc.

 

Wool food - limited amounts

 

Wooden bowls

 

Playstands

 

Silks.

 

Dress-up clothes (GASP) yes, I'll say it... Given play silks, dress up clothes are not NEARLY as often played with. And had I not worked my fingers to the bone creating them, I'd toss them in a heartbeat. I'll take Worst Parent of the Year Award now.

 

I think kitchens, indoor playhouses, wash machines, dryers, etc, markets, play libraries, puppet theatres, etc are ALL useless. Give them a set of playstands and silks and they have ALL of these. The point is to foster the imagination... Not draw them a picture and tell them how to play, kwim?

 

And, nope, we own no Wii, no PS__, no Nintendo, not even an Atari. We used to own computer games for little kids and don't anymore.

 

We have CJ's games which he's allowed to play two hours, once a week.

 

I'm going to peek for that book.

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I started reading the sample of Simplicity Parenting. While I do like some of the ideas from Waldorf, I do not believe media and lots of books is bad for a dc. Nor do I have any problem with my dc's toys being plastic.

 

If you could start over completely and buy your dc all new toys, what would you buy? I did not include books in my list because we are hs'er and our book are necessary!:lol:

 

This is my list for my 3 littles:

 

Wii gaming system + games

TV for playroom + movies

ipod and docking station with speakers (for music and audio books)

One computer for dc to share + educational games

wooden train set with extra tracks and several trains

large Lego set

large Duplo set

large set of wooden blocks

quality play clothes

6 dolls with clothes

Waldorf art supplies (they are nicer and laster longer), paper, scissors, tape, glue

set of play dishes

6 action figures

6 toy cars/vehicles in various sizes

 

I do like the idea of scarves and clothespins-I would have to think about that.

 

What would your list be?

 

If I were you, I'd consider removing the TV from their playroom. :)

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Kelly, I don't think you'll need it! :001_smile:

Why don't you write one?

 

I'd love to see pictures of a house not overrun by toys but with lots of kids looks like.

 

Are you so spare with clothes, books and other possessions?

 

 

I'll be taking some photos this week and posting them on my blog.

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I think kitchens, indoor playhouses, wash machines, dryers, etc, markets, play libraries, puppet theatres, etc are ALL useless. Give them a set of playstands and silks and they have ALL of these. The point is to foster the imagination... Not draw them a picture and tell them how to play, kwim?

 

 

:iagree::iagree:

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1. Waldorf Playstands - DH made them two years ago for Christmas.

 

Can you share a pic of your playstand? Also, I would like advice on limiting your dolls to one per child. My son has 4 cloth dolls and one larger doll with "real hair" and he plays with all of them, arranges tea parties for them, names them....I would love to get him down to one.

Edited by Halcyon
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For what it's worth the cloths I have may not be of the highest quality (the fabric and the dye), but they are of cultural value, and their use is part of my kids' ethnic culture. So it works for us. I use the cloths myself, and they have all sorts of uses, so they are not exclusive to the kids, which playsilks would be. Not to mention much cheaper.

 

My kids like playing with cardboard boxes. They don't have any that are theirs permanently. They tend to take over what I've got handy, until I get rid of it. They used some odd pieces of cardboard today with toilet paper rolls to go bowling.

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We ended doing something similar by accident. We moved to a tiny apartment so most of our stuff is in storage. I had the boys pick what they want to bring but, it all had to fit on one bookshelf and one stack of drawers.

 

They picked...

Legos (3 drawers full)

Matchbox cars (1 drawer)

Transformers and a few star wars action figures (1 drawer)

Books (2 shelves) these are separate from the hs books

A few board games and a chess set

A small box of mind game type puzzles

And a few stuffed animals

 

I also allowed a basket of outdoor balls, bats, and gloves. They have their bikes and skateboards for outside as well.

 

I notice that they stick with what they are doing much longer now and have yet to become bored enough to complain about lack of toys.

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Can you share a pic of your playstand? Also, I would like advice on limiting your dolls to one per child. My son has 4 cloth dolls and one larger doll with "real hair" and he plays with all of them, arranges tea parties for them, names them....I would love to get him down to one.

I would like to see pics as well. Dh was going to build playstands for Christmas for dd but honestly he hasn't had the time. I am still hoping for some though, maybe as a birthday present. I found the wood kitchen for less than he could build anything else and as she loves playing kitchen thought it would be used. We will see. She is in the kitchen all the time with me as well, she is always helping me cook but she also likes pretending. She likes doing her own thing.

 

Today with her new wooden pots she wanted to make oatmeal. Obviously that wasn't going to work so I directed her to the fruit and veggies she peeled and chopped a veggie in there and some pear and then served her and her brother a snack. She loves serving people.

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