Do you save/store any of your kids' toys they outgrow?

[VeteranMom]

I'm having a hard time parting with a few of their toys, but live in a small house and it's hard to be a pack rat.  The kids don't care.  I think I envision future grandkids playing with the toys, too.  

What do you save?  

I'm holding onto Geo-trax, Legos, and Calico Critters.

[Wabi Sabi]

I have wooden blocks, a wooden play kitchen, a barn and assorted animals, and the wooden Thomas train tracks stored in my basement. I just can't bring myself to get rid of them. 

 

[Arcadia]

Legos, Playmobil and Thomas trains & tracks

[HomeAgain]

Only very special ones.  A handmade kitchen. A well-loved wooden turtle.  Noah's ark.

 

If it's not important, it goes in the 'maybe' pile that I resort through every year or so.  Things I thought were special turned out to not really be.  Others made their way to the top of the closet to join the few to keep for the grandchildren.

[Loowit]

We had a huge collection of Little People that DH and the kids talked me into donating.  I am sad I did, but we don't have a ton of storage space.  We have kept, and I am not giving up if I can help it, older DS's Thomas trains, Legos, DD's Barbies and American Girl Doll.  I also have a few toys from when I was a kid that I would like to keep like my dollhouse.  I am very sentimental so it is hard for me to part with things a lot of the time.

[LisaKinVA]

Toys we bought for my oldest are still being played with by my youngest.  We have culled out some, and will cull out some more.  The Leap Frog magnet stuff is about ready to hit the dustbin of history (probably will give it away).  All electronic toys will be gone.  

 

Things we're keeping:  Train table (handmade by my in-laws, we're going to remake it into a more usable table by adding a removable table-top, drawers, and some casters.) Wooden train set (Brio = bucks).  ALL Duplo/LEGO items. Dinosaurs. Some Little People items (already culled those down), Some Hot Wheels (culled out what we didn't want), Lincoln Logs, Wooden ABC Blocks (Pottery Barn), and I'm sure we'll keep a bin of wooden puzzles, and some games.  Things that will probably get gifted/tossed (for the most part) Ponies, Littlest Pet Shop, Barbies -- although I may just really cull them down.  By the time my youngest grows out of the majority of these toys, my oldest *could* be married w/kids...and it seems silly to re-purchase things for grand-kids later.  I have a very small bin of classic baby toys (shape sorter, ring stacker, old telephone), and some baby gear (pack-n-play, Johnny Jump, Moby Wrap) I've also kept.  It all has to fit in what will one day be the only "toy cabinet."  

 

I do not know if we will keep our wooden play kitchen, or if it will be refurbished and given to one of the girls for their children (it's a nice one...Pottery Barn, and was gifted to the girls from their grandparents).  Oldest daughter has her grandmother's handmade doll bed (made by my grandfather), with bedding made by her Nana.  

 

I will be getting rid of books, though.  Mostly, I'll disseminate my library among my children -- re-gifting chunks of my library to them to build theirs.  A few books we've received I'll get rid of once they are outgrown.

Edited May 20, 2016 by LisaK in VA is in IT

[MEmama]

I don't keep anything he will let me get rid of. I can't wait to purge it all. :)

[purplejackmama]

Thomas and his friends are sitting in storage :)

[FaithManor]

We have a Lionel O scale train saved for each child, and some Thomas the Tank as well as dd's American Girl dolls. We pretty much purged everything else.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

We're definitely saving the wooden train set, the Loving Family doll house, and the Cars movie collection, and the Transformers, and the American Girl dolls.  Each kid has also selected their most special stuffed animals.  

 

I keep a few others around for when the younger cousins come visit, but many times, those go home with them.  

 

My youngest has grown out of her toys.  On my list for this summer is to cull 90% of those.

[SKL]

No, I pass them down to my nieces.

 

When they give up their one "special toy" that they sleep with (if that ever happens), I will probably save that.  :)  I also save some that are from their birth country.

[importswim]

I will keep the LEGO, Calico Critters, and the one stuffed animal that they've had since birth that they've slept with every night. I MAY keep some cars/trucks/army guys in a tin for grandkids/guests.

 

Everything else will be purged. We don't have MUCH more than that now, but I'm not big about keeping things.

[happypamama]

I'll keep the LEGO (we have DH's LEGO from when he was a kid too!), the wooden train track set, very possibly the blocks, maybe the toy kitchen.  Maybe the marble run, maybe the Little People.  I will definitely keep the wooden rocking horses (we have a regular one and a tiny one for babies) and the pedal tractor and DD's American Girl dolls, and DS1's vintage tractors if he doesn't take them with him.  We have a big attic, and we are sentimental. :D

 

Right now, my three little guys play with their Imaginext Batman friends ALLLLLL the time, but I don't know if they'll survive or not.

 

Of course, by the time my little ones outgrow stuff, my older ones may have children.

[laughing lioness]

My youngest is 13 but our first grandson arrived (this week!). We have saved Brio train and playmobile and American Girl Dolls (some from before Mattel aquired them) Ds 16 still has the Legos in his room. Everything else is gone. 

[Alte Veste Academy]

We will never get rid of any LEGO. That is a promise we made the kids years ago. My grandkids are going to luck into an amazing collection!

 

Aside from that, we are keeping a huge set of maple wood unit blocks, a huge set of Citiblocs, a bajillion Schlecih/Papo/Safari animals/people/fairies, play silks, our wooden marble run, a large Millennium Falcon and AT-AT, and a bunch of Star Wars guys, new and from the 70's and 80's.

 

And soooooo many books...

[Sk8ermaiden]

DH's parents saved literally every toy they ever owned. All packed away in boxes in the attic. Every book. They even have old McDonalds toys!!! The ONLY thing we wanted was the Lego. They seem astonished that 1) we did not want all that stuff and 2) we do not save the kids' stuff when they outgrow it. 

 

We will save the Lego and the American Girls. DD has my two childhood ones and one of her own. B did have a very nice solid wood push toy with chomping alligators that I am thinking it will be nice to save. 

[Lanny]

We have a few things from when DD was very small.  One of them is (I think) called a Fisher Price "Rock Roll and Ride" or something like that.  There is a 6 year old who is usually visiting in our house, 1 or 2 days a month.  He rides that thing around the house (our house has tile flooring).  

 

There are a few other things.  The Baby Monitor.  A week or 2 ago, when we were waiting for 3 packages for my wife's birthday to be delivered, she set the monitor up in "the office" where the landline phone is, so she could hear it ring where "her" office is located.

 

There is the first car seat. And the incredibly wonderful cart it fit on. We took DD to Bogota, when she was 3 months old, to get her U.S. Passport and her Consular Report of Birth Abroad.  And, when she was 6 months old, we took DD to Las Vegas, with that cart and car seat.  

 

There are probably a few other things my wife has kept.  Things for visiting children are great to have and you would be surprised, over the years, how many times the "Rock Roll and Ride" has been used, by people FAR bigger and heavier than it was designed for. The little Step 2 Desk, etc.

 

OH........   We have the Step 2 "Big Splash Center"   Probably DD will have that for her children when she is older.  At the moment, it is in the garage, and when it is extremely cold (for us, think 60 F.), some of the dogs go into it, to stay warmer.      The "Big Splash Center" is occasionally cleaned.  and pressed into use as a miniature "swimming" pool.    What a wonderful investment that was...

[Farrar]

I have a small box of very special things. That I'm saving for my future grandchildren, which I cannot believe I'm even typing that, but that's why it's sticking around.

[theelfqueen]

I have a big box of little people that I pull out for the under 6 visitors -- there's dinosaurs and Santa Claus and a Nativity set and barn animals and this that and the other -- fine for all small children.

 

My kids have GIANT RUBBERMAID TUBS filled to brimming with legos.

 

I can't seem to release the Thomas trains. My youngest child is 11. LOL but they were a HUGE part of his earlier childhood.

 

 

[Guest]

I have some things that will probably be whittled further, but here are a few things I plan to keep for as long as space is no issue:

LEGO

Wooden train set/Thomas and friends

A few of my favorite puzzles

Wooden building blocks

Some model horses/animals/fantasy creatures

American Girl Doll

 

At present, I still have a box of toy cars and a dress-up box that I like to have for visiting children to play in. There are lots of other miscellaneous things that I don't expect to keep forever, but there's no real reason to purge right now.

[Anne]

I have a European wooden train set & track from my childhood, as well as the wooden blocks from my childhood.  Both were much loved by my children. 

 

I also saved books, egos, tinkertoys (the original ones), books, a few nice puzzles the American Girls doll collection & accessories (pre-Mattel), books, and a few other nicer toys in good condition.  Oh, and did I mention books???

 

Anne
 

 

 

 

 

[Night Elf]

I've saved Lego stuff (a ton), Brio trains, and Playmobil. But I have an attic where I put it all, including favorite books.

[mom2att]

I have a lot saved. Some kids aren't really into toys, but mine were in a huge way. So I have a bin of Thomas trains and tracks for one boy, and a bin of Geotrax trains for the other. I have a bin of Matchbox cars and tracks, and a pillowcase of cars from the movie Cars. I have a bin of "movie toys" from when the Happy Meal toys were based on the latest Disney movie and were actually really decent toys to collect--most are Toy Story or Monsters, Inc. I have a bin of army guys and wooden blocks, because the blocks were used to make castles and forts for the army guys, and a big bin of Playmobil. We have bins and bins (and bins!) of Lego bricks. These (Lego) do still get played with occasionally.

 

And that's just the stuff my boys played with. My daughter has her own things she's saved--Pet Shop toys and American Girl stuff and of course Beanie Babies. She actually wishes she had kept more of the Pet Shop toys, as she and her best friend spent hours playing with them.

 

Also there are the Little People toys I've collected as reminders of MY childhood, all well-loved by my own children as well.

 

So I keep the toys that were really meaningful and got a high play value. But for my kids, that's A LOT of toys. And no, I don't live in a huge house with a lot of storage space. They are all very organized and take up a bit of our closet shelf space. I figure when my kids have kids they can divy them out, leaving some with me for playtime with Grandma :-)

 

ETA: I forgot the bin of plastic animals. And the bin of dinosaurs. I think I'm a toy hoarder . . .

Edited May 20, 2016 by mom2att

[KungFuPanda]

We kept the Thomas trains, the Little People sets, a discovery toys peg board, and books. This, and maybe a batch of homemade play dough has kept every little visitor satisfied for years. My kids are 19 and almost 16.

[J-rap]

I've saved a few of their favorites (favorite stuffed animal, doll, etc.), which eventually I'll box up with other special things from their childhood (a special outfit, etc.) and give to them.

 

I'll save a few other things (Duplos, etc.) for grandchildren someday.  

 

Some I may try and sell on eBay, if I ever get around to it!  And the rest I'll just bring to a thrift shop.

 

 

Edited May 21, 2016 by J-rap

[lllll]

I would have loved to have saved ALL of it.  We had some really nice toys.  But with moving all the time and living in smaller houses, it just wasn't possible.  Each child kept whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted it.  But that was mostly smaller stuff. 

[Guest]

No. I am not sentimental. DH's mom saved ALL of his toys and 15 years after being married, she still manages to find toys in her attic and give them to us when we visit. They then come home, covered in dust, and no one plays with them. Honestly, Legos are the worst. My dh was a huge lego fan and we have bins from him, plus new bins. We have so.many.stinkin.legos. Sorry, I am just a little cranky because I've been cleaning out DD's room all day. Ugh.

 

DH did finally agree I can list some of his toys on ebay since no one plays with them.

Edited May 21, 2016 by Guest

[Ali in OR]

Things I'm saving:

Fisher Price Little People--mostly just people, but also the Noah's ark. Never had house, farm, etc.

Calico Critters--just the critters. We once had the play park but gave it to my niece. All critters fit in small rubbermaid container.

Legos--I still have mine; of course I'm saving all the kids' additional sets (most of Harry Potter, house set, medieval village and castle)

American Girl--7 dolls and lots of clothes. Still have a horse or two but may not save those forever.

 

[Garga]

Keep:

 

Lego

Bionicles

Thomas the Tank Engine trains and track

Playmobil

Wooden blocks

 

The Lego and Bionicles are still actively played with by my ds13, so those aren't stored away yet.

Edited May 21, 2016 by Garga

[shanvan]

Quite a few books, legos, a couple of American girl dolls, 2 Madame Alexander 'pussycat' dolls Dd named Maria and Martha and tried to take with her everywhere.  Also quite a few stuffed animals.  A dinosaur collection and quite a few horse and animal figures.  We will be going through a lot of these again this summer.

[Cinder]

We're saving just the Thomas train set and Lincoln logs. We also have a wooden marble run but I'm not sure it has the same value to us. Maybe it does--we've had it over 15 years. We gave the wooden blocks to our niece when she had her own child since they were hers (as a child) to begin with.

[Spryte]

I'm trying not to over save.

 

We have an enormous Lego collection. We will not save all of it. Just won't happen. It's huge.

 

Maybe some Playmobil, maybe some AG dolls.

 

A few of the deeply loved toys, but for the most part - I'm all for letting them go.

[Corraleno]

Brio/Thomas train set, all the lego, a few stuffed animals, and one baby doll.

 

[Tsuga]

A wooden top, a teddy bear, a blankie for each. Each has an American Girl doll from grandma that I suspect will sit on their shelves for awhile after they stop playing with them.

 

The top was mainly for me. I asked the guy how much they were and he gave it to me. It was overseas. It's really cool. 

[bettyandbob]

We have

Wooden train set

Brio wooden construction set

American Girl dolls and accessories (I know dd18 occasionally changes their clothes and rearranges the shelf they are on)

Bitty Baby and accessories

Madeline doll and friends (sold for only a few years, but played with a ton here)

Thousands of legos (still being played with. I'm not sure these can be permanently stored. They are used too frequently)

[KatieJ]

We were already grandparents when our youngest two were teens, so the big Rubbermaid bins just stayed in their closet. Our 12 grands now play with Legos, wooden puzzles, tinker toys, etc that belonged to their parents.

I did not save much from our oldest two girls, but they do have some of their dolls and Care Bears.

[Laurie4b]

We have Lego, Playmobil, their "dress up" stuff, Thomas the Tank Engine trains, and their books. Saving for the grandkids! (My guys are all grown!) 

[marbel]

We saved Legos, Playmobil, and some of the special trains but not the wooden tracks - I figure the tracks will likely be replaceable if needed, and they took up too much space.  A few other special favorites.    We save more books than toys.

[madteaparty]

I can't even keep them in good order for them, never mind for posterity. My entire net worth would be Legos otherwise...I see you destroyed hogwarts castle...

[Lolly]

A selection of Legos (not all of them!), wooden train tracks/set, the good wooden blocks, a metal pedal tractor, a Playmobile castle, and the electric train and track that dh just cannot seem to let to (it was never played with much).

[Lady Florida.]

I saved a few stuffed animals but I don't know why. Ds is unlikely to want any of them when he moves out.

 

Ds himself is saving his HUGE collection of Legos and his Thomas trains and tracks in the hope that he'll someday have a child who will enjoy them.

[Dmmetler]

We kept Little People and a few other little kid toys/books. I also kept the AG dolls/stuff. Lego is still a part of our lives. I've joked that DD's college savings are in Legos-round about junior year, she gets to start going through, sorting and rebuilding sets, and selling them on Ebay :). She's been into legos since she was about 3, and as the only grandchild on both sides, it's been really easy for relatives to just buy her lego sets, so she has a lot.