S/O: So if they play/behave better w/ less stuff...

[Aubrey]

How do you lessen your stuff? I look around all the time, & all I see are good toys.

 

Ds has a train set, cars, legos, k'nex. Dh recently got him a couple of Transformers (I don't understand this & am told that it's a guy thing). Ds also has a couple of dinosaur-type things. My point is, they're all educational/creative-ish type stuff. Good for him, kwim?

 

Same w/ dd. Play kitchen, dress-ups, My Little Pony (ok, that one might be a stretch for educational, but they're her faves, lol), dolls, etc.

 

I think the stuffed animals stand alone. In fact, they have their own world, Imagination Land, w/ its own language, both written & verbal, its own laws, culture, etc.

 

There are the baby toys, the blocks, games, puzzles--everything the Little Engine that Could worked so hard to carry over the mnt, lol--so how do you do it? How do you cut back on *good* stuff? Esp w/ grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.?

 

I've thought about rotating the stuff, but that ends up being more work for me. And then I wonder--is it really all that much stuff, or does it just look like a lot *here*?

[Mari]

We definitely rotate our toys over here. I found that with less stuff, my children learn to play independently and more creatively. They are also less distracted when reading or working on lessons. We generally rotate most toys every three months but they get to keep their absolute favorite toy.

 

We also weeded out early many of the baby toys when my kids were younger. They didn't miss them and were generally more attracted to older toys anyway. Also, like your children, my kids love playing with kitchen stuff and small cars and trains. It's easy to rotate those without them even noticing.

[Aubrey]

It's easy to rotate those without them even noticing.

 

Good point about the baby toys--maybe it's time to weed. W/ 2 babies at the same time, I figured this was prime baby toy time. Maybe it is & that just doesn't mean much. :lol:

 

Rotating...my biggest problem is actually finding a place to store the "not it" items. And then, of course, following through w/ bringing them back out later. :001_huh:

[Mari]

Rotating...my biggest problem is actually finding a place to store the "not it" items. And then, of course, following through w/ bringing them back out later. :001_huh:

 

We're big on rotating our mattresses and getting new toothbrushes every 3 months so those are usually our reminder to rotate.

[Rosie_0801]

I'm just about to go through ddnearly2's toys too. It occurred to me today that the stuff strewn around the house consists of crockery, dh's dice and stuff out of the pantry. She doesn't actually play with any of her toys. There's a few I'll put away because she'll probably like them later, but I think most are going to go. There doesn't seem much reason to keep a large collection of toys piled nicely in the toy box if they are never fished out.

 

Rosie

[Lovedtodeath]

My kids will not play with anything if it is in a toy box. We have to have them out or they will ignore them. So we keep some in a toy box and others on the shelf and rotate whenever I do a thorough cleaning of the play room.

[iteachmine]

I know what you mean about the good toys, and that they are educational etc., but I will share a quick little story...

 

For Christmas 4dd received a Caring Corners (Mrs. Goodbea) dollhouse. On the website, box and tv, the company encourages the children to fill the dollhouse box with gently used toys and take it to the Goodwill to receive a certificate.

 

Now, I am like you, every toy purchased had an educational, creative goal in mind. My husband really followed through with the encouragement of filling up the box, and you would not believe what happened.

 

4dd started filling up the box with things that I did not want her to give away. Hey, I payed good money for those wooden stringing beads, wooden puzzles etc. (you get my point) As my mouth dropped, and I questioned my dd to make sure she new what she was doing, my husband gave me the "look" to let go.:lol:

 

Long story short, she felt good about giving some things away. We took the box to Goodwill and she did receive a certificate that she is very proud of. She has not missed, or asked for any of the things that she gave away..

 

Our classroom has enjoyed the space we now have and dd is looking forward to filling another box after next Christmas.:D

 

I am thankful for my husband's focus, because it is obvious that I had an emotional attachment to some of dd's things. :rolleyes:

 

I hope this helps.

[Melinda in VT]

We definitely rotate our toys over here. I found that with less stuff, my children learn to play independently and more creatively. They are also less distracted when reading or working on lessons. We generally rotate most toys every three months but they get to keep their absolute favorite toy.

 

We also weeded out early many of the baby toys when my kids were younger. They didn't miss them and were generally more attracted to older toys anyway. Also, like your children, my kids love playing with kitchen stuff and small cars and trains. It's easy to rotate those without them even noticing.

 

Sorry to hijack your thread, Aubrey, but I need a Toy Rotation for Dummies class.:lol:

 

Mari, when you rotate, do you rotate all of a category (all the cars, all the kitchen stuff, all the dress-up stuff) so it is either all in or out? Or do you divide the cars, kitchen stuff, dress-up stuff, etc., into groups and have half of it out at a time?

 

You'd think after four kids I would figure this out.:001_huh:

[Harriet Vane]

We do it based on an arbitrary amount of storage space. Each kid has toy storage in their room. When their toys exceed the bounds of that storage, things have to go. Period. We do also comb through things twice a year just on general principle.

[in Training in Texas]

This is a current issue for me as well, as all of my kids toys seem to get "mixed up" as soon as I sort them.

 

So here's our plan (we're in the middle of this now and I'll let you know how it goes);

We have plastic bins and a wooden cabinet that fits 12 of these bins. I'm not so concerned about whether a toy is educational - most of my daughter's toys are horses and ponies that provide endless hours of wonderful imaginative play.

So she can have as many of that toy (polly pockets...) as will fit in the shoebox size bin, that's it. There will be no other toys in her room or closet except for the dollhouse, barn, and dressup box. The rest of the bins will be in a storage closet and she can request to exchange bins whenever she wants. I might remember to suggest certain rotating or exchanging.

And for the sake of good habits I'll be doing "teacher checks" to be sure all bins are away and the correct things are in each bin before the kids can have lunch ( so mean, I know), dinner, and anything like TV or games.

 

I have regularly sorted through their toys and gotten rid of "outgrown toys" and my motivation is that we have a twice yearly consignment sale here in which toys always always sell and I make good money.

 

Suggestion for rotation: you could do it when you switch seasonal clothes, or use one of those index card systems that remind you of daily, weekly, monthly, and seasonal tasks.

[amyable]

I've had to convince myself that there really is such a thing as "too much of a good thing." Especiallly in our 1200sf house with 7 people and tiny closets. It is OK to give away good things! In fact, I think it's noble to give away good things and not just our "junk."

 

Imagine it from an adult standpoint. You could have just enough of the best, most flattering, well made designer clothes in your closet. Picking out what to wear every day is a breeze and makes you feel good about yourself as you put on the clothes that make you look great. Now imagine that same average sized closet stuffed to the brim with those clothes. They're all great, wonderful, flattering clothes. But you are frustrated every time you go to your closet to pick something out. What to wear?? Ugh, there's so much, you don't know what to pick. You just grab something but wonder if any of the other 1000 outfits would be better. And you haven't even picked shoes yet! :001_huh: Not only that, doing the laundry and trying to shove it all back in the closet afterwards are stressful. Which scenario would you rather live with? I think I'd rather have the mostly empty closet with just enough perfect outfits, although the other closet had the same "perfect" clothes, just too many.

 

I think sometimes our kids feel the same way looking at shelves of toys, or baskets of the same type (i.e. 300 matchbox cars instead of 20).

 

At least that's what I keep telling myself as I give away like new toys that my parents think we "need" but that simply add to an already stressed out household. :tongue_smilie:

[amyable]

As for *how* I actually do it, we do a combination of fitting what we have to the size storage we own, and picking the __# of favorite things. For example, with 5 kids I thought having 5 stuffed animals each would still lead to (more than) enough total to play with (their one special "lovey" didn't count) and they would fit in the little hammock installed in dd's room. So we piled them all in the middle of the room, and I let each child in age order (youngest first) choose their absolute favorite. We did this five times for each child, and any toy left at the end we told them would be given to children that had no special toys of their own (we played up how happy it would make them, etc).

 

Often I just go through it myself. I do a lot of things the children don't agree with (make them take vitamins, taste vegetables, go to bed :lol:) and I consider giving a way a toy they actually play with part of that. We try to stress at other times that "things" we have aren't simply ours to horde, but gifts from God that should be shared if we have more than enough and others have none. We know that birthdays/Christmas/yard sale season ;) are coming up and it will soon be replenished.

 

I try not to beat myself up about the money or the waste. I'm a work in progress. I wish others understood and complied with my feelings on a simple life, though!

[ChristusG]

Our playroom is like a mini-Toys R Us. With several aunts, three sets of grandparents, two sets of great grandparents, and us....my kids have a lot of toys. People love to buy for them. I go through periodically and get rid of the "junk" ones or the ones that just do not get played with.

 

Aside from that, we organize. And I have found that it works better that way and things actually get played with. My kids are almost 5 and almost 2. The two year old has never really thought of herself as a baby and has always played with the same toys as my older daughter. So I was pretty quick about packing up the baby toys and putting them in bags/boxes up in the toy closet and out of the way. I probably did that when she was about 15 months. And I got rid of the baby toys that were not played with very often.

 

And all of the remaining toys are in boxes. There are seperate boxes of varying sizes for dress up clothes, My Little Ponies, Littlest Pet Shop, Little People, small animal figures, Mr Potato Head, Playmobil, Mega Blocks, small stuffed animals, GeoTrax, Dora/Diego stuff, dinosaur figures, Hot Wheels/trains, Barbies, dollhouse accessories, baby doll clothes, and dishes/play food. These either go into the toy closet or on the shelf. When the kids want to play with one, they ask. I make sure they have cleaned up other toys and then they get to play with the new box of toys that they have chosen. This works VERY well. When these things used to be thrown everywhere, nothing really got played with. Now they shuffle between boxes almost daily and most things get played with.

 

There's also a bin for baby dolls with their strollers and shopping carts parked near them. And there's a seperate bin for stuffed animals. They can play with these things any time without having to ask to get them out. Same with books. We have board books in a bin in the playroom's reading/TV area. And then there are regular books in a cabinet in the playroom.

 

I really believe that organization is the key to kids playing better with their toys. For us, we cannot really tell family memebers not to buy for the kids.....that would be rude. But we can handle how we organize it all. The playroom has a lot of stuff in it.....there's even a playhouse and train table in there. But amazingly, we have it organized where everything is pretty accessible. Now we do have one toybox, stuck in the toy closet with odds and ends in it. Things that the kids do not play with often, but I dont want to get rid of just yet. But overall, I dont really like toy boxes for the inaccessability.

[Shenan]

Here's an article to give you some food for thought.

 

Old-Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19212514

 

 

For the boys, I kept (their to big to play with little kids stuff now) their cars, and little soldier men. They enjoyed doing more 'guy' stuff. Working with tools, making forts in the woods, playing soldiers with handmade toy guns and or bow and arrow, etc.

 

For the girls, I keep their dolls and doll clothing, their dress up clothes, and their Little Pet Shop toys. They love playing princess. Now... our oldest child liked cars more than dolls so I kept the cars instead of the dress up clothes for her.

 

The kids recieve TONS of toys at Christmas from well-meaning/loving relatives but most of them, within a month or so, end up in the trash or Goodwill pile. Especially that stupid hour glass shaped blonde doll. :tongue_smilie: The kids play better and more creatively with an empty box than any 'toy' on the market. Scale it down and you will notice how they play more with a few certain toys than so many choices. I try to keep it to 3 themes per boy/girl. Dolls, dress up clothes, and Little Pet shop. Or G.I. Joe's, cars, and play guns and/or play tools.

 

I keep the K'Nex, Lego's, puzzles, and board games in a small trunk case in the school room. These are rotated out every few months and are played with only on family nights. This makes it extra special for them and something to look forward to. The kids and I also love to put puzzles together while watching movies in the winter time.

 

HTH

[Melinda in VT]

We have 7 plastic toy bins that fit on a shelf. Each bin has a lid stored elsewhere. We have 3 more of these bins stored in a closet. One bin for toddler toys, one for lego, one for ponies exc. They are all identical. When I need to swap toys I just swap out the bins from the closet to the shelf. The bins are clear so I don't need to label them.

 

Do you remember where you bought the bins and shelf? We have bins with no lids that came with our toy rack, and I'd rather have ones with lids.

[Shenan]

I was checking to make sure my original link worked and stumbled on this article...

 

It too is more food for thought when it comes to toys.

 

Creative Play Makes for Kids in Control

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=76838288

 

Even some of the Q and A's were thought provoking...

 

HTH

[Mari]

Sorry to hijack your thread, Aubrey, but I need a Toy Rotation for Dummies class.:lol:

 

Mari, when you rotate, do you rotate all of a category (all the cars, all the kitchen stuff, all the dress-up stuff) so it is either all in or out? Or do you divide the cars, kitchen stuff, dress-up stuff, etc., into groups and have half of it out at a time?

 

You'd think after four kids I would figure this out.:001_huh:

 

 

We do both. They always play with cars, trains, and kitchen stuff so those things we divide in half and swap them out in rotation. Dress up stuff stays out for the most part but we don't have a whole lot there. Our rule is those have to fit in her bottom dresser drawer. If it doesn't fit we don't keep it. Dolls and stuffed animals have to fit on a single shelf and whatever doesn't is either given away or rotated. After a few rotations you pretty much know what they enjoy playing with and what could possibly be donated. But we're also ruthless about not buying any toys either except for birthdays and Christmas, when we only buy ONE toy. We are trying to teach our kids to be happy with what they have. Our families know this so they usually always buy something small or ask us in advance. We also try not to buy kids meals that come with toys. Those little critters multiply when you're not careful.

[Aubrey]

My kids will not play with anything if it is in a toy box. We have to have them out or they will ignore them. So we keep some in a toy box and others on the shelf and rotate whenever I do a thorough cleaning of the play room.

 

Ha! I just went to throw something in our toy box last night, & it was EMPTY!!!:001_huh:

[Aubrey]

...it is obvious that I had an emotional attachment to some of dd's things. :rolleyes:

 

:leaving:

[Aubrey]

...the shoebox size ...

 

Suggestion for rotation: you could do it when you switch seasonal clothes, or use one of those index card systems that remind you of daily, weekly, monthly, and seasonal tasks.

 

If only their toys would fit in shoebox size bins! Race tracks for hot wheels are too big, no matter how you cull. Dressups would never fit. GeoTrax are too big. Eek!

 

As far as switching seasonal clothes, we're in Tx. There are no guarantees on the weather, so switching clothes is sort-of an ongoing task. Maybe that's why it's so awful? But I can't imagine lumping toy rotation in w/ it.

 

Anyway, *where* do y'all store your not-it toys?

[Aubrey]

Imagine it from an adult standpoint. You could have just enough of the best, most flattering, well made designer clothes in your closet. Picking out what to wear every day is a breeze and makes you feel good about yourself as you put on the clothes that make you look great. Now imagine that same average sized closet stuffed to the brim with those clothes. They're all great, wonderful, flattering clothes. But you are frustrated every time you go to your closet to pick something out. What to wear?? Ugh, there's so much, you don't know what to pick. You just grab something but wonder if any of the other 1000 outfits would be better. And you haven't even picked shoes yet! :001_huh: Not only that, doing the laundry and trying to shove it all back in the closet afterwards are stressful. Which scenario would you rather live with? I think I'd rather have the mostly empty closet with just enough perfect outfits, although the other closet had the same "perfect" clothes, just too many.

 

I get what you're saying, & I've been thinking that as this thread progresses, BUT I think if my closet were overflowing w/ FLATTERING clothes...I'd find a way to make more space. Can anyone say chifferobe? :lol:

[Lovedtodeath]

Ha! I just went to throw something in our toy box last night, & it was EMPTY!!!:001_huh:

 

Which goes to show that it is not being used properly. :)

[Lovedtodeath]

Anyway, *where* do y'all store your not-it toys?

We have a bonus (finished attic) room with boxes and shelves along one wall. We also turned the downstairs master bedroom into the playroom. It has an attached bath and a walk in closet. We took out the clothes racks and installed shelves.

 

Honestly though, most of our storage is used up by DHs toys.:tongue_smilie:I just get two sets of toys out from the storage bins at a time. DD always has her barbies out in her barbie house in her room and DS always has some play cars and balls in a basket in the LR. We have a play kitchen set that they share in the kitchen.

[Scuff]

Oops! This post mad eme realize that I accidently donated Mr Potato Head and all his family! I wasn't sure what we were going to do with it and I forgot to take it out of the donation box! Oh well. Less is better, right? Guess that decision is made lol

[Aubrey]

We also turned the downstairs master bedroom into the playroom. It has an attached bath...

 

We're going to do this at the new house. The attached bath is only a 1/2, but that way everybody will have access to both. (Dh tends to use the one that's closer, & I don't like the dc to use ours, lol.)

 

But ours will be a hs room instead of a play room. And the closets are...cute. :lol:

[amyable]

We're going to do this at the new house.

 

We're also planning on moving, and I'm of two totally different minds on all of it. One side of me says I should get rid of next to everything because I'm not going to want to pack/deal with it all during/after moves. The other side of me says we'll have more room in the next house (that's why we're moving!) and I should keep it all, because it won't seem like "too much" in a house that actually has enough room for 7 people and their stuff. :tongue_smilie:

[LNC]

For me it happened naturally as they got older. Once they learned to read, school became their play. For example, as we are studying the French and Indian War - they are reading every library book they can find on Indians for their free time. They are cutting up and painting a pile of scrap fabric and old clothes (too worn out with holes etc. for Goodwill or a charity) and making lots of Indian outfits from the More than Moccasins book.

 

They play outside for hours in the late afternoon with another homeschool family from our church. There are always 10 or more kids in our backyard. Lots of imaginative and active games going on out there!

 

They have nature guides they use in our backyard and garden. They have access to art curriculum books & the "good" art supplies. When the weather is terrible they will play with Playmobil upstairs. But, it is 20 degrees and they are bundled up outside now and will be until dinner!

 

See how free time looks so different - the school stuff becomes the play stuff!

[Mari]

If only their toys would fit in shoebox size bins! Race tracks for hot wheels are too big, no matter how you cull. Dressups would never fit. GeoTrax are too big. Eek!

 

Anyway, *where* do y'all store your not-it toys?

 

Well, see, there's something you could rotate. Switch out the race tracks for the geotracks each rotation. It'll be like Christmas all over again.

 

We have two big rubbermaid bins that fit in each child's closet. Whatever not-it toys can't fit in those are donated. It's harsh, but so far no revolts and it's kept us sane and tidy. We are just determined that our kids don't need all that big and bulky stuff. Also, we had to be realistic about maintaining our house for the good of the ENTIRE family, not just the children. I refuse to give up an entire room in the house just for them to clutter up with their toys. I'll have a craft room before that happens, by golly! :)

[Aubrey]

We are just determined that our kids don't need all that big and bulky stuff. Also, we had to be realistic about maintaining our house for the good of the ENTIRE family, not just the children. I refuse to give up an entire room in the house just for them to clutter up with their toys. I'll have a craft room before that happens, by golly! :)

 

Could you do peace talks w/ my dh? :lol:

[Moni]

How do you lessen your stuff? I look around all the time, & all I see are good toys.

 

You get rid of "good toys." ;)

 

:seeya:

[The Governess]

Maybe when you move, you can separate the toys into two different sets of boxes. One set that includes their favorite toys and toys that are at the top of the list for creative play/educational play. The other set will be the rest of the toys. Only unpack the first set, and see if they even miss the others. :D

 

Or, with your older kids, maybe you could give them each a big box or two and say that they can bring to the new house whatever toys they can fit in their boxes. They will pick their favorites and if there's stuff left out that you really don't want to get rid of, you can pack another box with those things.

 

Keep the other boxes in the garage for a few months and if nothing seems to be majorly missed, donate them *without* even opening them. If you open them, you'll probably want to keep their contents. :001_smile:

 

Good luck!