what to do with stuffed animal overload

CantWait2Be

anyone know off hand of a charity that take stuffed animal donations?  Or have any other suggestions of what to do with the overload we have?  People just keep buying them for dd and we just have too many, of many sizes.  How do you decide how many and which ones to keep?  What do you do when you get a large accumulation?  I don't want to just throw them away. 

jerseysunrays

My guy is only 16 months old, but we fight the problem head on. When asked, we've let our family and friends know that we'd really prefer books or art supplies over plastic toys and stuffed animals.  He's got 3 or four that have been gifts and his stuffed cat lovely (and the spare). This summer, while we were at tag sales, people tried to give more to him- I politely declined.

The animal shelters around here take stuffed animals for their shelter dogs to play with. 

As for choosing which ones to keep vs save, is it something your LO can help decide? If not, maybe choose one or two from people who were really special (great grandparents, grandparents, etc) and a few that your LO really enjoys and call it good. I'm sure this is probably easier said than done.

jettagurl

We have a frog laundry hamper that we store them in.  

Check with your local State Police Post or city/county department...they usually take donations to give to children that involved on their runs 

brightning

I just went through all of DD's stuffed animals because of the same problem.

I kept only the ones she plays with. That means that even the nice or cute ones that MIL sent when DD was born, the ones that I think she might like when she's older (like the Dumbo one, because so far she's never seen Dumbo) all got pitched.

I donated them to a Vietnam vets charity. Their pamphlet says that any items that they can't use are sold in bulk lots either to other charities or to be turned into insulation, so I figured stuffed animals will work.

JOEBunny

My DD's preschool takes them if they are in good condition.  They wash them once a week, so they don't last all that long, so they go through a lot.

emilykristene2006

The Children's Hospital here takes them. And the Shriner's.

Ilumine

We donated the stuffed ones (none with beads) to a local animal shelter.  Dogs love stuffed toys and they are so much cuter in the kennels when they have a lovey.