With a garbage in hand and donation boxes ready, I started a fun playlist and got to work in our living room which houses the majority of the toys. First off, I like to pull out the toys from the storage ottoman and off the cube shelf to assess what we have. Immediately, I toss away McDonald’s toys or Dollar Store toys we’ve collected and anything broken or missing pieces.
Next, I assess which toys the kids have outgrown. My youngest is 3.5 yrs now and is growing out of the Little People stage. My oldest is 6 and he had a monster truck phase almost a year ago now. I asked him if we could part with some of his collection and he was totally game for having another child enjoy his monster trucks. We decided to sell them and he could use the money to go towards something new. If you choose to, and have the time, by all means make a sell pile as well! Once Upon a Child is another option to bring your toys to as well for re sale.
I’ve included my son in the toy purge process since he was four about. He is usually quite understanding when there’s a toy he hasn’t played with in a long time, that’s it time to get rid of it. This time around he wanted to keep nerf guns and bey blades that are stored in his room. My daughter is still a little young to understand so I just watch what she plays with for a week or two to help decide what’s worth keeping. Recently, she was really into Peppa Pig but right now has shifted to Spirit from Netflix. Since Peppa pig is still fairly new but hasn’t been played with in the last week, it’s up on the chopping block. If come after Christmas, Peppa pig hasn’t been played with in a weekly basis, then it will be time to let it go.
After, I’ve sorted through the grown out of toys, I evaluate which toys I see the kids play with a lot. Our play kitchen and play food get played with often so that’s a keeper for sure! My daughter has a few dolls she loves and some she never goes for. The ones that aren’t loved go in the donate pile. My son enjoys his LEGO right now and my daughter loves her DUPLO so those stay too! We had an abundance of hot wheels and LOL Dolls, so I went through those and kept the favourites.
One of the hardest things I find to get rid of is toys you wish your kids would play with, but they just don’t. For us it was the raved about magna tiles, they were a hit for a month then maybe were played with once every 3 months. So I parted with those a while back as well as wooden building blocks. My kiddos just never went for them, even though they are a great open ended toy.
Some other timeless items we decided to keep are some wooden train tracks, Melissa and Doug Doll house and barn, dress up clothes, age appropriate games and a marble run. Anything sentimental or very much loved and played with is a must keep. We also always have a couple colouring books, markers, paints and play dough on hand. With the changing holidays we tend to do crafts as well.
Recently, I have implemented the rule that if you take a toy out, you must put it away before taking another toy out. This is helping keep our home and living room tidy and relaxing.
Now, that you’ve gone through the kids toys check out my blog post about Toy Storage Solutions here:
https://honestprairiemomma.blogspot.com/2019/11/toy-storage-solutions.html?m=1
Here are a few great questions in the form of images that have helped me to purge the toy clutter:
No comments:
Post a Comment