Cleaning an 8 year olds bedroom!

csells021383 · January 2011

How do you get rid of toys? When my son was smaller it was easier to get rid of toys that he didn't play with anymore. But now it seems his interests are staying the same.

He has SOO much stuff! When I talked to him about getting rid of some things he no longer plays with/uses he was supposed to make a pile of things to donate, and pile of garbage he got rid of about 2 things! no joke!

How do I nicely go about getting rid of some stuff?

I don't want to be that mom that gets rid of his toys for him, but we need to "clean house" HELP! TIA

hokies94 · January 2011

csells021383:
I don't want to be that mom that gets rid of his toys for him, but we need to "clean house" HELP! TIA

Unfortunately that's the only way I can get rid of toys from my girls' room (6 and almost 8). When they're at school I'll clean out toys they haven't played with in months. I only do this once every 6 months or so and they have never asked for something I've gotten rid of. Doing this has made me realize we have bought them WAY too much stuff.

We did go through their room with them last year and they did a pretty good job of getting rid of toys they no longer play with. This took a lot longer to get done. We spent 2 or 3 weekends just sorting through stuff. It's a lot quicker for me to do it on my own when they're gone. Probably not the answer you're looking for, but it's the only way to keep their room manageable at this point.

ali-1411 · January 2011

We have a garage sale every year and he gets rid of a lot of stuff there. I've sold his stuff off Craigslist, too. And we give him the money for it.

blueshirt2003 · January 2011

At Christmas and birthday's is when we usually go through toys and figure out what he's not playing with. For us though, he has a little brother so stuff he's not playing with is kept because his little brother either is playing with it already or he will be in the near future.

Any toys that he's not playing with that I don't want to keep for our youngest I take them out and wait a bit to see if he notices. Or, I encourage him to donate it to another child (donation place) that doesn't have as many toys that'd be happy to have that toy, etc.

ccm1203 · January 2011

I was going to suggest having him gather things to donate but it looks like you already tried that route....

J&A2008 · January 2011

Toss what you can. Rotate the rest. Pack up a tub of toys and store it with his seasonal clothes. When a new season hits and you change out the clothes in his closet, swap the toys in the tub for different ones in his room.

Also, check out more shelving for his room. Legos, figure collections, etc. can be kept off the floor.

And, I'd do it while he's at school. I know you don't want to go behind his back. I went through that phase. Then when I finally did it, I didn't hear one peep. They didn't even notice.

neverblushed · January 2011

I have 2 methods of dealing with this:

1. Do It Secretly -- I will go through and pull stuff that I am sure they're never going to notice or care about and bag it up. We have a big attic, so I always move stuff to the attic before junking it entirely. There have only been 3 items in the past 10 years that my kids have asked for a toy after I moved it to the attic.

2. Do It With The Kids -- I will remind them that we need to clear out "little kid" or "junky" stuff to make room for newer, bigger kid toys. I'll ask them to participate in choosing what gets moved to the attic. I have to reassure them that the stuff's not going away -- just up to the attic. Sometimes I'm surprised at the stuff they're willing to pack away. But in the long run, this method is probably not as effective.

Either way, the stuff sits in the attic for a few years. If no one has asked for it in that time, and I feel my kids have moved beyond wanting to play with that toy (or don't even remember they ever owned that toy) then I'll take the bags to a local shelter for women and children.

Surfinbride · January 2011

J&A2008:

Toss what you can. Rotate the rest. Pack up a tub of toys and store it with his seasonal clothes. When a new season hits and you change out the clothes in his closet, swap the toys in the tub for different ones in his room.

Also, check out more shelving for his room. Legos, figure collections, etc. can be kept off the floor.

And, I'd do it while he's at school. I know you don't want to go behind his back. I went through that phase. Then when I finally did it, I didn't hear one peep. They didn't even notice.

I love the idea of rotating toys seasonally. Thanks.

jamie.renee · January 2011

My girls are 6 and 8. So far they are really good at getting rid of things. We start off with them going through their room getting rid of anything missing pieces, broken or whatever. If that isn't enough then they pick out 2 things each to get rid of that they don't play with. If it becomes a fight then I pick out what we get rid of. They usually end up with a whole box of things to donate or toss. We mainly do it before their birthdays and Christmas or when we move (military so it if often).

babyaustin725 · January 2011

My son is five. Every Saturday morning, I go through his room and clean it. Although he picks it up on his own, his room has bins and stuff, and I go through it once a week to make sure everything is in it's appropriate bin. At this time, I get rid of one toy. If it's junk, I toss it. If it's a nice item, we will donate it.

Also, sometimes a consequence for bad behavior will be to get rid of a toy. He gets to choose it.

Wahoo · January 2011

We donate a lot of items, and my dd is REALLY good at giving away things she doesn't use so that needy kids can have some really cool toys to play with. When we donate to charity, I let her come with me. Usually the ladies there are really nice and tell her how nice she is to give away so many great things (etc.). Or, when we just do a drop off (and they don't have time for her) we'll look at the toy shelves and rate her toys vs. what is out there (often, hers are in really good shape b/c she has so many things she doesn't weart them out!).

We have also given things to a townwide garage sale (again, for charity). She likes to deliver there, too.

She has also given old dress-up clothes to her former daycare / preschool. So then she gets fawned over by her preschool teachers.

My son is just the type you can ask him "do you still play with this, or is it for babies?" and he'll tell me, so no problems there.

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