How do you deal with toys...

emiliemetcalf

With Christmas coming, and the inevitable barrage of new toys, how do you put away toys that aren't played with much or are too young for your child?

Tess never plays with the FP Laugh and Learn home anymore, but freaks out every time I try to put it away.  Same thing with her weebles and a few other small things. 

mrsoc

I would be open to suggestions as well .  We put toys away in E's toy box that he has not played with in a long time and he goes and gets them.  I figure with A so close behind, we will leave them out until he is done and then donate/garage sale them, but actually having them disappear...I am not sure how.  

MelissaSue81

We have a finished room in our basement that we keep saying were going to convert to a playroom but it doesn't happen.. so I toss things down there.. then sometimes MIL will bring something up and let her play with it and I either put it back or put something else down there. I haven't been able to retire the L&L house though.. she still plays with it and I think nat will like it really soon too.

cm2007

If she hasn't played with a toy in awhile and she has outgrown it, I take it downstairs when she is sleeping and pack it away.  As long as she doesn't see me do it, she doesn't seem to mind.  Some toys I do take upstairs to her room and add them to her toy box.  We kinda rotate the toys from upstairs and the living room.  Well Abby rotates them most of the time.

dle927

I do the same as cm2007 does...when Claire is sleeping or not around I pack up the stuff she hasn't played with.  Sometimes I put it right in the basement or her closet.  If she doesn't ask for it for a couple of weeks I figure it's safe to toss or will rotate it back in when I feel like she's more interested. 

ArcticFox

I just put stuff away when the kids aren't there.  You could also say stuff needs to be washed/cleaned/fixed. I can easily tell my 2 year old that something is broken and put it away.  I hate doing garage sales, so I take tons of stuff to the consignment shop or do Craigs for the bigger items.

sunnygirl05

My sitter takes old toys from us.  I also try to stuff some in our toy box but that's usually already full.

Read2Me

Every six months or so I have Eva go through her toys and make "keep" and "give away" piles.  We've been doing it since she was about 2 and she's gotten really good of letting go of toys she doesn't play with much.  We did it a few weeks ago and filled 3 bags to give to my sister's day care center.  I think it's important that she has a say in what stays and what goes (but I do make suggestions).

Two*True

Read2Me:

Every six months or so I have Eva go through her toys and make "keep" and "give away" piles.  We've been doing it since she was about 2 and she's gotten really good of letting go of toys she doesn't play with much.  We did it a few weeks ago and filled 3 bags to give to my sister's day care center.  I think it's important that she has a say in what stays and what goes (but I do make suggestions).

Love this!  I go through DD's toys almost every time I have to switch out her clothes to the next size.  Most of the time she watches me, which means she'll pull a toy or two out of the box, but we haven't had any meltdowns.  I have one box that is stored for any future children we may have and then another box that gets donated.