Managing Toy Clutter

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Managing Toy Clutter

Every birthday, holiday and special occasion brings more and more toys into your home. Soon finding place to store them all becomes a problem, especially if you have more than once child. So how do you keep it in check and still enjoy giving them new things? You have to balance "out with the old and in with the new".

Why not set aside different times of year that you go through all of the toys and decide what needs to be given away? This can be a month or so before birthdays and holidays where they get presents. Or if you wait until after they get new things, they might be more willing to part with the older toys. It is important to talk to the children about it beforehand, if they are old enough to understand. Let them help decide which toys they might want to give up.

As the children go through their toys, let the younger siblings see if there is anything they'd like to keep from their older brothers or sisters, but if they do they have to give up something from their toys. Try to keep it even with how much the kids are getting rid of, as you don't want them to feel like they are sacrificing more than the others. Use this sorting opportunity to throw away the toys that have lost pieces or are broken beyond repair as well. Then you can decide to do with the extra toys that are not going to be passed down.

You can encourage them to share their blessings by donating some nicer toys and games they've outgrown. There are many charities that take gently used books, toys and games, including hospitals and shelters. This is a great way of not only reducing the clutter in your home, but also helping someone less fortunate.

If the weather is nice, you could organize a family yard sale. Have the kids chose the toys that are in good enough shape to sell and help sell them during the sale. They can keep the money for any of their things they sell. It will teach them a good lesson about money and how to handle it as well.

One last thing to keep in mind, especially with the younger children, is to give them time to adjust to the idea of giving things away. Young children can often be generous with their things, but then later realize they gave away a "favorite" toy. Let them practice for a few days, or even weeks. Put the things away in a box where they can't get them. If they realize they don't miss the toys, then they should be ok with going ahead and getting rid of them.