Toys, Toys, and More Toys!

We have a ton too, and I rotate them each week so that he has "new" toys to play with. I would not get rid of them, definitely use them for the next baby. If you don't want to rotate them, I would pack them up in the attic and bring them down for the next baby.

With the economy being what it is, I'ed say if the toys are in good condition, box them up and put them in storage. Sort them according to age so you'll know when to open what.
If they're in only fair condition, contact a local day care or donote them to the Salvation Army and take the tax deduction.

If you have way too many toys, I would keep some for the new baby and give some away to a child less fortunate.

Pick out the most fun toys in your older sons collection. Store them and donate the rest. Our daughter was very fortunate to have tons of relatives who loved giving her toys. As she would get new toys, we would get rid of the old toys. We would pass them along to neighbors, donate them to to shelters or to the Rainbow room. I taught her to keep her "many pieced toys" in storage boxes and game pieces in their original boxes with zip lock bags for pieces, dice and paper instructions.

Her huge barbie collection was stored in a plastic 3 drawer storage on rollers. The little shoes, purses etc she kept organized in a 60 drawer storage box purchased from the hardware store(usually screws, nails and washers are stored in this)that we mounted to her bedroom wall.

Crayons, colored pencils, erasers,markers were stored in a tool box. Paints, brushes, plastic ice trays (to separate paints when painting) painters aprons stored in a different tool box.

Many times, there were toys she only played with a few times. Once it collected dust, I would suggest she get rid of it. There were times when I had to go in and take out toys she said she was going to play with but still did not touch.I just did this when she was not around. She never seemed to miss them.

You should sell them at JBF and make some $$$$. Check out the website at www.sanangelo.jbfsale.com It is awesome!!!

S.

I haven't read all the responses so I have no idea if someone has suggested this already, but here goes -

My daughter and I go through her toy room/bed room before birthdays and Christmas. We use that time to clean out and find toys that we don't play with any more and things that don't have all the pieces or are broken. We dispose of the broken but we find toys that we can "give to other children" who may not have what we have. Sometimes she thinks of specific children and sometimes we donate to Goodwill, Medina Children's Home and the Fairweather Family Lodge (all in San Antonio).

We have also kept some toys for her little brother to play with in the future. You would be amazed at how much new stuff you end of getting for the second one! We have even kept some she just absolutely loved.

It has been so fun over the years to spend this time with her trying to decide who and where and what to give. I have completely enjoyed cultivating a giving heart. She is now so fun to watch as we clean out and decide what to do with things. She is now 7 and she is really quite helpful.

Good luck!

Hi, J.!

My son is 3, about to be 4, and lemme tell you what I've done the past two Christmases...

You see, his birthday is in February, so we get a lot of toys all at once. Now this requires a bit of build up, so a recommend starting a week before with the news.

I tell my son one of two things, and you can decide what works for you, both have worked for me. Either, "Santa needs your old toys so he can fix them up new and give them to boys that are younger than you, and the more you give him the more new stuff he'll give you next Christmas," or, tell him "there are little boys out there who lost everything they have when the hurricane hit Galveston, and they need toys, even old ones, because they have nothing."

I used the first explanation last year and the second this year.

Reminding him every few days that soon the two of you will be going through his stuff helps to prepare him for it.

Then when you're ready, get a big box, more than one probably. And you go through his stuff, one by one, and say, is this a baby toy?", do you still play with this?", and let him throw anything, ANYTHING, he's willing to part with in the box. You can go through it later yourself and take out things like shoes, or really sentimental items. But bear in mind, it's only stuff, and even if he just got it for Christmas, consider his willingness to part with it so soon.

Hopefully you will be surprised with his eagerness to rid himself of lots of stuff. That or he'll freak out and realize he's got lots of great stuff and doesn't want to part with anything. Go slowly. Don't nag.

This serves two purposes, teaching them giving and purging, and creating space in the room.

My son just grabs stuff and chunks it in these boxes, "Oh, that's a baby toy, I don't want it anymore."

At the beginning of December we got rid of a solid one third of his belongings, that's books, clothes, and toys, and all were donated.

Important also, I think, is to take him along to do the donating. Find somewhere he can walk into and see that other people are giving, a shelter, a food bank, the salvation army, the Women's Center thrift store, and lots of places will give you a tax deduction for donations.

Your next baby will get plenty of his own stuff. Aside from old stuffed animals and homemade baby blankets, I let my son get rid of most anything he wants to. Because it's his stuff. And if we don't do this every winter, by the time he's 7 he'll need two rooms.

Then when we're done, I let him organize his room with what's left in it. I get lots of big baskets or bins or boxes that have lids and we pick what goes in where, categorize it a bit, and them figure out where in the room to put them. Set up centers for different activities. That way when clean up time comes (and to be honest, it doesn't come every day, whoops) he knows where things go because he decided where they go. So when I say, "put all your trucks away," he can run around his room, pick them up and throw them in the big plastic laundry basket in his closet.

Sorry to get off subject and wow, this got really long really fast. :) Good luck, hope this helps.

C.

I would save the good ones that are still in good shape and can store easily.

The toys which are beat up and possibly not in the best shape for the next kid. I would donate.

I am in the same situation. My son is only 17 mos & we are expecting our 2nd child in June. I'm going through his toys & saving some of the more special ones for the next baby & donating the rest. Next year I'm going to do this before Christmas. The way I look at it is that the new baby will get his/ her own toys as gifts from family, etc, so I don't really need to save too many. So, I say keep some of the special ones & donate the rest.
Congratulations on your new baby!!

shelters for women with children.

I alway take out the toys that they haven't played with for a while and the new ones that they not in to so much and put them a way for 1 mo or 2 then put out a few and put other back in storage. some times less toys means more playing.and less mess.

I have lived a on budget for several years and if our old toys are in good condition I take them to the resale shop and get cash or a store credit. The store credit percentage is usually more than the cash percentage and comes in handy for clothes or whatever may be needed. If it is a toy that was a great one to have, I'll hold on to it for the younger one to grow into it, or pass it on to a friend with an age appropriate little one. Without fail though, at every birthday and Christmas I clean out the toys and give away or resale, otherwise it becomes too much and my kids might get a sense of entitlement that they ought, not have!

Your topic title resounds with me and my house of three boys (14, 9, and 6 years old)!

One Christmas, my youngest received two similar gifts (both were magnetic draw and swipe boards). I let him open and play with one and put the other in the closet. Later, about four months later, when he lost the magnetic pen, I threw that one away and he had the joy of opening the box almost like getting a present in the middle of the year.

Still, we also have a room full of toys (it is supposed to be a bedroom!). My husband and I planned to empty the room of toys, tell the boys to pick out those (few) toys they want to keep, then donate the toys which look gently used and throw away the broken ones or those with missing pieces. It would have been nice for the boys to identify those toys to be donated and have that "helpful" feeling of getting toys to someone who wouldn't otherwise have a toy for the holidays.

Interestingly enough I have found that the "holder" of toys tends to be me. I'm the hoarder and I need to practice letting go.

Good luck! and hope you and yours are having a nice holiday season!

Hi J.! I have the same problem sometimes. I have twin boys who are 8 yrs old and talk about a ton of toys. I asked my mom that question a few years ago since I grew up with 4 siblings. She said that everytime we received a new toy, we would have to get rid of an old toy. I had a hard time keeping up with doing it that way, but that's one suggestion. Here's another suggestion... What I have for my boys are two big bins, and when both get full, I tell the boys to pick which one they want to keep. The other I dump in a bag and take to a local charity for other kids. The boys weren't okay with this at first, but I explained there are other kids out there that don't have toys. I explain to them there are people not as fortunate as we are even though their mom's and dad's are trying to make ends meet. My boys really enjoy helping with getting the toys together knowing it will make another child happy, and you don't feel guilty getting rid of them either. I hope this helps.-C.

We have a unique situation because my parents gave us most of the toys we have and expect us (in no uncertain terms) to use them for our next child too. We are waiting to adopt again, and they said that when they retire soon, they won't be able to buy as much for the next child and really want us to keep everything.

So, I've been able to get rid of a few broken things.

Other than that, we've used the rotation idea that others have mentioned. That works best when you have room, and we're lacking room, but oh well...

Also, this year my daughter got a few things that weren't duplicates but were very similar to each other. I have secretly stashed some away in my closet. If she doesn't seem to notice after a month or so, I'll either donate them or use them as birthday presents for her friends (they're unopened).

Let me tell you, I can't wait until after we have our next child so I can start taking everything too young for the kids to the resale shop!

I agree that you should find a box that you can comfortably store and fill it with toys and clothes that you want to keep and donate the rest. You new baby will have the best toy that your youngest didn't have, an older brother. Not to mention the fact that everyone wants to buy for a new child, he will have new gifts too.
Congrats on your new addition.

I clean out the kids toy boxes twice a year because they no longer play with certain toys. I donate the toys to needy children also check with your local police precinct and some keep toys and new stuffed animals for kids when taken from an abusive home or parents in a bad accident and a nice toy or stuffed animal gives them some comfort during that time.

My children are grown now, but I remember those days of way too many toys. What I did was divide them into equal piles and bag them up and put them away. When the kids got tired of playing with one set of toys, I brought out another set and bagged the ones they were bored with. They thought they got new toys ... lol Have a wonderful time with your children while they are growing cuz one day you turn around and they are gone. Take care ... D.

I had the same problem. I kept some of the toys and put them away and then rotate them. Some of them I donated, which was really cool because I explained to my son that some kids in the world don't have any toys and he helped me to decide which ones we would donate and then delivered them. My son was so excited to make somebody else happy. Hope that helps

Young children outgrow there toys so fast and every time you turn around there is an updated version. I save the toys that are more pricey but easy to store as for the rest i give away or donate to my son's day care. My son has his own playroom but i dont want it overloaded with toys that he has outgrown or just does not have any intrest in. I work full time and a single parent so i dont have the time or storage for the rotating toys around every few months.
Good Luck!!

Whem my kids were young I rotated what was in their toy boxes. I would bag up some of their toys in large plastic bags and put them in storge. At the end of 3 months I replaced the toys in their toys boxes with the toys from storage. When I took them out of storage the other toys were put into storage. This way my kids always had something "new" to play with. I never had to hear about them being bored.

if you have room to store the old toys, do that and rotate toys.
Put old toys in a box or storage container and keep the new ones out.
If the old toys are still in good shape I would keep them for the new baby, if not get rid of them.

What I did when my kids were small and I had this problem was on similar toys I'd take some to grandparents houses then they'd have something there to play with without having to grab up stuff every visit. I also put stuff away like in the attic then when they got bored with their toys I'd put those up and get the others down. Things they really didn't care for I'd return them, garage sell them or give them to someone else who seemed to like that particular toy. ps the kids seem to get confused when they have too much to choose from so the bagging up toys and rotating works really well.

One thing my daughter does is to rotate the toys. she lives in a climate with a basement and toys go down and are recycled as the kids get bored with whatever is out.
She is a teacher so when the boys were little, the toys are organized into bins and each toy (and its thousands of pieces) had to be put back before another could come out.
I am sure that some toys are necessary and find that the poor kids that I work with do not care for their toys nor do their moms value them. Despite the many that I give them, they can never find the pieces, don't know how to use them. The moms are focused on having the TV on and the floor cleaned. An engaged adult is the best thing you can give a kid. Toys are nice, but not essential except as a bridge to engage the child. Books, crayons, paint and paper are essentials.

Raising 4 kids with the theory that if I bought every toy under the sun (which I think I did) my kids would be smarter backfired when I took them to Africa and they were the happiest with sticks, stones, mud and puppies (and the rooster from next door) in the back yard. I was amazed at the money I had probably wasted buying all the latest toys and how happy they were to create their own toys, much as the world's poorer children do. In retrospect, I would get rid of half the toys to make room for the stretch of the imagination that will come at not giving the kids so many toys. Give them to charity or a shelter and start that tradition with your son so that your child can see that your family acts to help and lives for the sake of others. I hear that families across the world are going out to work in the tradition of Americans to make more money to buy more things and the children are getting the message that to have things is the main point. But, the parents are not home and are missing the growth of their children and some of them are growing up selfish and rude, with no thought of another person, only myself. So, I would request you simplify the life of your son and put some of the toys away or give them away and focus on your relationship with your son so that he will not feel lack of love when your almost total attention is the care of your newborn a little later. This time with him will not come back again and our purpose as stay at home moms is to give them loving memories that our children never forget to know that they are loved and valued. Peace to you and your family in 2009 !

Get storage containers and put toys in them according to age. Also, if there are just too many toys now box some up and only leave a few out. In a month or two take those toys you boxed and bring them back out and box up the other ones. This way it like new toys again and you do not have to pick up so many toys everyday.

Hi J....Sort thru the one's you wish to keep and donate the rest. I did this with my 2 kids and kept the baby/toddler toys from the oldest that the youngest could play with also. You'll probably discover as they get older, the toy collection will continue growing, so to keep it under control, you may want to purge on a regular basis. As mine got older, and I still do this with my youngest, I'll let them choose which toys to keep and which to donate. Another good rule..if they buy/get a new toy, an "old" one has to go.

Morning J.;

Do not give them away or throw them away! Toys are like
recycling units to children! Today they are not interested
in a certain toy, then all of a sudden tomorrow it is his
favorite toy again!
We had two boys and the youngest really enjoyed the toys the oldest had!
Just hug them and love them!
B. C.

My name is J., I have 2 girls and they are 7 (Zanna) and 9 (Justice) I am a ARMY with that movers every 2 1/2 to 3 years and I know all aboout the TOYS TOYS TOYS because I have to see then everytime we unpack. Anyway when I had Zanna I had passed all of Justices stuff off to a friend so lat me just say..... KEEP IT because now days it is way to much money to just pass off when you know you are going to have another one, so I say just pack it up till you need it. I know the number 2 child sometimes feel like all they get is hand me down but as a baby they never know so save that money when you can.
Hope this help,
J. Ingram
LIVE LIFE
LOVE MUCH
LAUGH ALOT

If you have the room to store some toys, do so. Put the toys that may be a bit too advanced for your son up until he is ready for them. Otherwise, sort thru the toys and keep the best, and donate the others to a local children's charity or daycare.

Thats funny, i just cleaned out toys today.... I have three children oldest 11 and youngest 2yrs old. I threw things out today; I also have another on the way and can't see myself holding on to any more toys. A lot of the toys that my youngest is currently playing w/ belong to the two older ones. So I've gotten good use of the older toys. Anywhoo, w/ the new toys they've received for christmas I'm set for a while. Throwing them out sounds like a plan to me...

Hi J.,
I have 3 girls that are now teenagers...I can remember when Christmas rolled around every year and the toys arrived..my advice is to go through all of the "old" toys and decide which ones are worth keeping, and store them in a Rubbermaid tote if you have storage space to do so. If not, find a charity / women & childrens shelter or a church nursery that may need the toys. There are always those toys that the kids want to keep forever...my 16 year old still has a well-worn teddy bear that her Pre-K teacher gave her when she had surgery! I just keep washing it. :-)Good luck with your toy organizing! Happy New Year!
~K

Hi J.-

Our 1 year old has all of the toys from his 6 year old brother and 4 year old sister. He turned 1 in November so at this point he has celebrated 2 Christmases and 1 birthday. For all 3 occasions rather than buying new toys for him, my husband and I have put the money we would have spent into his savings account. He doesn't know the difference and has a good start to his college fund. He still received plenty of new toys from grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. If you have the space, keep the toys. Or if you know another mom in your neighborhood who could use the toys while your son is too young and then return them when your's is ready for them that works out well too.

Good Luck,
K.

I have a 3 year old and a 7 month old. We put lots of the baby toys away when my daughter started to outgrow them and now we have gotten them back out. I will say that I'm glad we didn't get rid of them altogether. Toys are so expensive, so to ditch them only to buy more younger age toys later would have cost a fortune. We didn't get much for our 7 month old for Christmas this year because we had so many toys already from when my daughter was little. He just didn't need anything. If you have the space, I would say to store some of them. If you are completely overrun, I would sort through them, keep the ones you want and give the rest to a charity of some sort (like maybe a Women's shelter??). You could also sell them on ebay or craigs list if you were so inclined. Best of luck!

Funny you mention that. When my girls were younger (15 and 11 now), I would do a "weed-out" 2x a year. It was a sort of major organizing and getting rid of everything they ended up not playing with. The most fun one was just before Christmas, because the main goal was to make room for the toys my mother and I would be getting them for Christmas. I would tackle the room one part at a time, sorting things into keep and get rid of. In the pile to leave, I would sort it by trash (broken toys, pieces of games long gone, and happy meal toys) and by items to be given away. I would let them pick where they would be donated. Some ideas would be: a women's shelter, daycare, church nursery/child care, or even the police dept. (teddy bears and such) for the officers to give to children when the need arises (such as a domestic violence situation or a wreck)
There were only a select few items I would keep as pass-downs or keepsakes. When it all comes down to it, its just things. I would try to remember that when I got too sentimental about too many "things".
God Bless you and Happy New Year.

When I need to go through toys, I have a friend come over and help me. (I tend to let go of more when she is there). I donate the toys to Purple Heart. I also do it when my kids are not home. Only once did my kids ask for something that had been given away. I just redirected until they didn't mention it. The friend that helps me is one of those awesome moms who has her kids get rid of toys every time they get a new one (before Christmas, she has the kids count what's on their list and get rid of that many toys) That way, there's never an abundance. I'm not quite there. If it were me, I would try to get rid of lots, as your new baby will get lots. (Keep the electronic leap frog stuff, so you don't have to buy new)

I bought one of those huge plastic bins and stored ours for our second child. I sold some on Craig's List to pay for nursery "stuff" and donated the noisy ones I couldn't stand. Lastly, when my son and daughter stop playing with certain things, I'll put those toys in that original plastic bin and rotate the toys. When they have been gone for a month or two and you pull them back out, they are like new again to the little ones.

Take control of this now while your kids are young! 3 yrs ago, I put on my daughter'd bday card invite no gifts since she had/has way too many toys!! I could not stand the waste of playing with them a few weeks and then they just got thrown in the closet and ruined since there was not enough room to store them. My kids could not find anything to play with when they wanted to because it was stacked up so much-even on shelves!
Unless you want your home to be taken over by toys-notify parents/grandparents/etc. that you think your child needs to learn the value of items and they can't when they have soo many! Watch them play with the box more than the paper and you will see how easily they are entertained with simplicity!! Encourage them to get coupons to shows/plays/favorite food-all these are called intangible (can't see them)
I now have a granddaughter and my daughternlaw's living room is packed with stuff and she won't be 2 until this April!! For Christmas and birthday, I give her something really small (McDonald's size toy) and deposit money into her savings account!
The only way you can save toys for the next one is in the box w/o the other one playing with it. Remember also that your new child does deserve to have some brand new toys also and not all hand me downs! Alot of these electronic toys don't store well anyway.
Sorry for the long post but trying to save you time cleaning/stress and just can't stand how children feel so entitled now to have so many material possessions (and the newest).
Congrats on the new arrival.

I would give them to a family you know who would appreciate them or give them to a good charity. If you are someone who will give your kids toys on birthdays, etc. then you will have plenty. I would only save things like blocks or legos - things that all kids like and aren't too cheap and that you probably won't get again. But, all the other trendy toys should go.