How do you decide which toys to get rid of?

lilles · November 2012

We have a LOT of toys courtesy of very generous grandparents. With Christmas coming I would like to donate some of them to make room for the new toys. The problem is that I don't know which ones to get rid of. I have two girls 2.5 and 4 and the play with all the stuff we have. I also get attached to things, thinking so and so gave them to them (95% of their toys were gifts from family). Help me get rid of stuff!

74dragonfly · November 2012

If they like the toys I'd hide some and rotate them in and out.

jlw2505 · November 2012

In my house, we also have a ton of toys that they have gotten as gifts or as hand me downs. At the ages of your kids, we had our living room as a play room more or less and I would keep the new stuff upstairs and the older stuff went into the basement which is basically a play room but back then, we went down there with them. Out of the toys that were in the basement, I would first get rid of toys that they have aged out of and then I would watch them for a few weeks to see what got played with. I would move the toys that they never played with out of sight and if after a few more weeks, they never asked for it - it was gone. Now that my kids are older (4 1/2 and 6 years) we do it a little differently as the living room has way less toys. We keep most of the dress up stuff upstairs since they are very into it and I have a storage bench so its easy to hid. I need to go through that and get rid of stuff they have outgrown or is in really bad shape. They keep stuffed animals in their rooms and each have a toy box full - I have yet to get rid of any of those! Board games and puzzles are kept upstairs where we have a table for just that type of stuff and I get rid of those as they age past them. For the rest of the toys, they are all in the basement and I do the same basic thing. I will ask them what they play with or watch them if I am down there with them. As they have things that they no longer play with or have simply aged past, I get rid of it. I tend to do toy purges at least 2x a year - right around now since I know we will get lots of new stuff and then sometime in late spring/early summer as they have March and June birthdays.

KathrynMD · November 2012

We have so much stuff - its not that hard. I kind try to think of it as I have limited room for toys - so if DD wants new toys, she's got to get rid of some of them. I haven't done a good toy purge, but I'm going to try this fall.

brightning · November 2012

I get rid of things that are very similar, that don't get as much use, or that I don't like. I generally get rid of things at the same time as a big toy reorganization, so DD is less likely to notice something is missing.

mrsschwags · November 2012

Why not get them involved? Ask them to pick out some toys that they will be able to give to kids who don't have any toys. That way they pick the toys that you give away and learn about helping others at the same time. Also, you won't be left wondering if the toys you gave away were the wrong ones or if they'll ask about them. And, if they do ask about the toys, you can just remind them the toys went to kids who didn't have any toys.

I've also heard (if you do Santa in your house) of some kids who put toys in a big bag under the tree and that Santa will take the toys to the less fortunate people and will "trade" them for their new toys that he brings.

lvnlife3184 · November 2012

do they spend much time at their grandparents houses? ask the grandparents if they'd like to take a couple of toys each to keep at their house for when the kids are visiting.

kpips20 · November 2012

I have DS help decide. And with Christmas coming, we've already started to talk about what toys we'll be giving to Santa for the boys and girls who don't have any. I usually try to limit it to just a few at a time though, usually under 10 (depending on size etc)

christinak22 · November 2012

mrsschwags:
Why not get them involved? Ask them to pick out some toys that they will be able to give to kids who don't have any toys. That way they pick the toys that you give away and learn about helping others at the same time. Also, you won't be left wondering if the toys you gave away were the wrong ones or if they'll ask about them. And, if they do ask about the toys, you can just remind them the toys went to kids who didn't have any toys.
I've also heard (if you do Santa in your house) of some kids who put toys in a big bag under the tree and that Santa will take the toys to the less fortunate people and will "trade" them for their new toys that he brings.

This is what I would do, too.

jnksmom · November 2012

christinak22:
mrsschwags:
Why not get them involved? Ask them to pick out some toys that they will be able to give to kids who don't have any toys. That way they pick the toys that you give away and learn about helping others at the same time. Also, you won't be left wondering if the toys you gave away were the wrong ones or if they'll ask about them. And, if they do ask about the toys, you can just remind them the toys went to kids who didn't have any toys.
I've also heard (if you do Santa in your house) of some kids who put toys in a big bag under the tree and that Santa will take the toys to the less fortunate people and will "trade" them for their new toys that he brings.
This is what I would do, too.

I get my kids involved also. They get to pick what toys they want to get rid of.

Randa&Jerm · November 2012

Tell each one of them that they need to pick X amount of toys that they would like to give to someone who does't have toys. I have had great success with this.

If its something that I know that they will miss later or only part of a set or something, I will hold back or mention it to them before it goes in the give away box, but for the most part I will let them choose.

Want a personalized experience?

How do you decide which toys to get rid of?

Re: How do you decide which toys to get rid of?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards