Minimizing Toys

Once upon a time, I didn’t know how to minimize toys, and I didn’t even realize minimizing toys was an option. We had just two kids at the time and the toys were overwhelming. We were also living in a small house, and eventually the toys started to become a source of anxiety because they were taking over every small square inch!

Toy Troubles

There were big huge toys, little toys, and every size in between. Since the majority of toys were ones family members kept purchasing we tried putting the kibosh on things by requesting family members start focusing on making memories instead of supplying a steady stream of toys for the kids. That didn’t work.

Eventually we noticed how the kids would go to the toy area (or area’s depending on how many rooms the toys had taken over), strew out their entire collection of 599 plus toys, and 15 minutes later walk away saying they were “bored”. If you are a parent, you know what I’m talking about. And then when you tell them to pick up the toys they just drug out, the kid/kids are instantly overwhelmed and it’s meltdown city.

How to Minimize Toys

Minimizing toys really couldn’t be easier. There’s a simple trick I discovered along the years that made it super duper easy. Here’s how I did it.

One day, sometime after we had our fourth child and were still squeezing in a tiny home, and after years of toys owning the house, I had finally had it and I came up with a plan.

I went to the toy area’s and put around 75% of the toys in a bin and put them in the storage shed. Every couple months I would rotate them.

Eventually I could tell what toys were just clutter to the kids and what toys were truly valuable to them and kept their attention for more then two minutes. That’s when I got rid of the excess.

Toys To Keep

Around the time all this was taking place I did a little research on the best toys for kids development and kept only those toys. Here’s what we keep-and what seems to entertain them the very most (talk about a win-win)!

• Legos
• building blocks, plastic and wooden
• Hot Wheels
• Gear making set
• Train set
• anything good for their imagination-like their toy dinosaur collection
• art supplies

Teaching Kids The Joy of Purging

Eventually we reached the point where there was very little that our kids were willing to let go of because we are down to the bare “necessities” since (above). At first there were huge trash bags full of toys they decided to donate!

If you are thinking that it doesn’t sound like I have enough toys to keep the kids occupied, let me tell you a story-by the way, this always happens to us after we purge!

One winter the boys rooms were a colossal disaster. Every time I would tell them to clean their room, they would go in, spend 20 minutes in there (most that time was spent whining), and come out saying they were done. I would go check and it was still awful. Clothes and toys piled under the bed, paper trash everywhere, clothes piled in the corners and along the walls, blankets taking over. The girls room was better, but not much.

So we did what we do when it starts getting bad. We de-cluttered. When we do this I always ask my kids to think about things they no longer want and if there are things they want to donate for a little boy or girl that doesn’t have any toys.

Once we were done the boys were so happy with how their room looked and felt that they started playing in there again-for hours! One day I counted around 3 hours-they went in and didn’t come out! For day’s they would do this and they kept thanking me for making their room so nice!

My kids have gotten to the point that they will often minimize on their own initiative because they love the feeling of purging and having more space to play!

A Trick I’ve Learned

Another trick I’ve learned….don’t make all the toys accessible to your kids all the time. I only keep two or at most three sets of toys accessible to them. Then once a week or so I rotate them. I put the ones down low up high and take a couple up high and put them down low where they can get them. And of course if they want one up high they have to ask me and I will rotate for them upon request.  This keeps them from scattering every set at the same time and making a mess that will overwhelm them to tears to clean up.

Getting the toy situation under control can take some time, especially if you haven’t done it before. If you are just starting I would take it in phases and try the rotating toy bin trick. I would also go back to the room over the course of a few weeks to re-evaluate.

I hope you have enjoyed this post and found it helpful! Leave a comment below and tell me what you thought! Be sure to check out my other MINIMIZING posts HERE!

By the way, did you know that I now have an Etsy shop with the most effective chore chart system our family has ever found for only $12.00? Having an effective chore chart does wonders for keeping a home with kids running smoothly. In our chore chart system I have a morning chore card reminding kids to clean their room, make their bed, and put their dirty laundry in the hamper, I even assign a day a month for kids to minimize and de-clutter their bedrooms! You can read my post about our system HERE and you can buy the downloadable printable system HERE.

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This post was originally published 3/01/2018