AnnaM Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 what would they be? Would you let them choose or would you choose? I am doing a MAJOR purge of my children's toys. I just can't stand the mess any longer. I always thought I did a pretty good job of keeping the junk toys out but even with that, they still have WAY.TO.MUCH. We are going to have a garage sale and sell some stuff on craigs list and ebay. They can then take the money and buy either something in the approved toy categories or consumables like art supplies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 Legos and Lincoln Logs are two keepers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristusG Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 My girls love playing with houses (we have a variety of various house structures), animals, Disney figures, Trio blocks, and their American Girl dolls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnaM Posted May 20, 2011 Author Share Posted May 20, 2011 Legos and Lincoln Logs are two keepers. :iagree: Anything we build with (legos, lincoln logs, tinker toys) American Girl Dolls Dress ups Kitchen and accessories Doll House Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impish Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 I couldn't do it. It would be like limiting me to five books. :blushing: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayne J Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 Lego Playmobil *Special* dolls/stuffed animals Games and puzzles I know it is not just 5 items, but these 4 catagories of toys cover 90% of my children's playtime. The other 10% is generally art supplies. I am trying to get rid of everything else, but the dc are reluctant. I am like that drip of water that will eventually wear down the mountain.:lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisy Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 Problem is that 5 toys would be 5 sets of toys and would equal a bazillon pieces still. Legos Playmobil Wooden Train Set Snap Circuits Lincoln Logs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 a box of legos, a box of matchbox cars OR trains (depending on age of children), a small box of baby clothes + 1 baby OR a small box of polly pockets playsilks (great for dressup or pretend play for both genders) a small box with art & craft supplies When my kids were preschoolers and younger, the list was: wooden blocks little people thomas trains puzzles kitchen food Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 (edited) Toys-- not puzzles, geo globes, pattern blocks, art or knitting supplies or the like? No bikes or balls? Basketball hoop, fooseball table? Here's my list. Not 5, but I've gone back to try and compress into 5 catagories. We have a 5 yr old here regularly, plus my youngest (and visiting friends) Our toys, choosen carefully over the years: 1. Wooden blocks, and to go with this: Basket of cars Baskets of animals, wooden fencing, wooden trees, etc 2. Plastic toys for imaginative play Playmobil sets Lego Sets Basket of Pokemon that are 15-18 years old 17 year old collection of Breyer horses (These items are stored on shelves, in baskets in the cellar playroom. The Breyer horses are displayed on a shelf. No baskets; their legs can break) Baskets can be brought up to the living room 3. Dollhouse (large, heirloom, German, 16 years old) and to go with this: House full of wooden furniture' Doll house dolls 4. Wooden kitchen from a Waldorf catalogue (20 years old) and to go with this: Wooden fruits, eggs Metal pots & pans Enamelware plates & little mugs Wooden spoons 5. Wooden treehouse (15 years old) and to go with this: Fairies Wooden rainbow puzzle/arch thing Gnomes Wooden tree house furniture Plastic Shleich faries, horses, wizards etc These don't go with the Playmobil, they are in the enchanted category with the tree house. Is that 5? It's the best I can do. lol We did recently send our marble run home with dn. :) I like toys and I enjoy looking at the little scenarios the children have set up over the years. I've left block villages set up for days in my living room, for instance. I enjoy seeing their imaginations at work. Edited May 25, 2011 by LibraryLover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty in Pink Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 Can we assume that you are referring to 'inside' toys, and so exclude bicycles and such? And a set of some sort counts as one toy? And that we can also exclude school supplies that may, in fact, also be favored playthings (oh, the linking cubes...) Legos Dress-up clothes Play kitchen w/ accessories I'm not sure that my children have more toys than that...they have a few random stuffed animals, but we're talking less than half a dozen altogether. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandsam Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 I hear what you are saying about having too much. We do too. When I want to purge, I ask my kids to help. I pull things out and ask if they still want them. Usually we donate/sell the toys they have outgrown - sometimes it's games or weird things like clik-its. Classics seem to be keepers as are the following: Toy kitchen and play food American girl dolls (altho they don't play with dolls!) Games Art projects Legos Thomas train and tracks I have 13 yr old and a pair of 6 yr olds - all girls Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnaM Posted May 20, 2011 Author Share Posted May 20, 2011 Ok question for those with kitchens. How long do kids typically stay interested in them? I have been thinking about replacing ours with something more sturdy (and beat up since they have had this one since they were 2), but at 6 and 7 is it worth the money to replace? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnaM Posted May 20, 2011 Author Share Posted May 20, 2011 Oh yes excluding any outside toys or consumables like art. I consider that stuff a neccessity that can not be gotten rid of :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleIzumi Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 It would have to be categories here. Dress-up (maybe 1 drawer each instead of one piece each) Baby dolls Stuffed animals shopping cart Legos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 It would have to be categories here. Dress-up (maybe 1 drawer each instead of one piece each) Baby dolls Stuffed animals shopping cart Legos Oh! I forgot the gaint basket (a tall one) of stuffies in the girls' room. You can't get them to purge those for love or money. They've given every one of them a name, and they all have a back story. I don't mean how they got them, I mean they each have a story..."Fell off roof when 4 years old, has no short term memory" etc :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tabrizia Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 (edited) Is it 5 toys/categories per child or total? Because if it is 5 per child then I could do it, if it is 5 total then no way. For DS: Magnatiles Legos/Duplos Toy Story toys Cars Train Table and set For DD: Wooden/building blocks A couple of dolls and accessories A few stuffed animals Play Silks and Dress up stuff Ponies and Horses For DS2: Oball and other assorted baby grab toys Trampoline/tent/tunnel Little People Mr. Potato Head and Friends Playmobile Yes they all play with each others toys, but there is no way I could get down to only 5 toys total. Things listed are the toys that are most played with in my house on at least a weekly basis. Edited May 20, 2011 by tabrizia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Lulu* Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 Going with everyone else on the assumption that we are not including outdoor toys or items like puzzles, manipulatives or art supplies that clearly have an educational purpose. #1- Legos #2- Blocks (and all the good stuff that goes with them) #3- Special toys/stuffed animals/dolls (one small basket for each child) #4- Doll House (as well as dolls/action figures) #5- Dress Up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunD Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 We would likely choose most of the same things, so I don't know if it would matter much who chose them. I would give them input though. Baby doll(s) & a few accessories (probably stroller, tiny Boppy pillow, and cradle w/blankets) Dollhouse & dolls blocks train table & trains play kitchen & food/dishes I once read a couple of great toy purging tips, but I can't remember where. One option is to pack up everything and get out the toys they specifically request. Maybe over a week, let them request one toy (or set) per day. At the end of the week everything that they forgot to ask about goes. Or have two sets (of a small number of toys, perhaps let them request ten and then break them up into two sets) and rotate them, keeping the "resting" toys in a bin somewhere. The other tip was if they are really digging in their heels about keeping a certain toy that you know they don't play with (you know, suddenly the ten zillion McDonald's toys are the best ever and we can't throw them out!), tell them they can keep it if they can play with it for 15 minutes. Nothing else, just that toy. If it's not fun enough to play with for 15 minutes, it's not fun enough to keep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 Problem is that 5 toys would be 5 sets of toys and would equal a bazillon pieces still. Yeah, but one of the issues we have is that when there's these extra pieces to random things, then I don't know where to put them. If it were *just* Legos and Playmobil, then that would still be easier even with all the bits and pieces because I can just chuck those in their bins. I would negotiate it with the kids and come to a consensus about which five stayed, deciding through discussion and hearing what they wanted and giving my own input and observations about what gets played with and will last. I think it's highly individual. I know one of the first things out here (I'm sure the kids would agree) would be the stuffed animals, which simply don't get much play (we don't have many either). But I was talking to a friend and her son has a million of them and it's practically all he plays with (setting up elaborate games and categorizing them and so forth). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinF Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 I could do 5 types of toys, I think. Playmobil, if we had to get rid of some of this it would be the big pieces, like castles and ships Legos, we could get rid of bionicles. trains, we would get rid of either geo tracks or wooden, not sure which the boys would choose. big tub of animals/dinos from Fisher Price army men I could purge the rest but there isn't much outside of these. We have slowly been purging the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 Just a thought. I was SO SICK of the clutter in the boys' room that I bought bed risers (Bed, Bath, Beyond) and bins that would fit under the beds. I handed them each bins and said, "You can keep whatever will fit in your own bins under your beds, the rest goes." They now have more storage room, but it is tidier. Dawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnaM Posted May 20, 2011 Author Share Posted May 20, 2011 We have an awesome storage system from Ikea called trofast. I want to purge the toys down to what will fit in there. So far so good. I have told them that if we get everything down, I will take them to the art store and let them pick out supplies. They LOVE doing stuff like that so they are all excited now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie Laurie Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 Problem is that 5 toys would be 5 sets of toys and would equal a bazillon pieces still. That's what I was going to say. Because my kids only really play with 2- Playmobil and Lego, but those have tons of parts and pieces. Oh, and I'd have to add stuffed animals for dd, she truly plays with those, dresses them in costumes she designs, and they have names and personalities. I'd have to add K'nex and Snap Circuits too, on second thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.