My youngest loves little, tiny toys. Polly Pockets, Littlest Pet Shop, kids meal toys, Barbie accessories, etc.
This is what her drawer looked like this morning before she went to school. There is no after picture because it doesn't look much better with half of it gone.
I'm a neat freak and want everything grouped together in nice, neat containers, unfortunately, my youngest is not. She is my messy child. My borderline hoarder. She collects paper, jewelry, toys of all sizes, shapes and conditions (broken and not), rocks, well almost anything really.
So here is how I help keep the toys to a minimum.
One In One Out
For every toy that comes home they need to choose one from their current toys to give away.
Avoid the Toys
When given an option, we choose not to get the toy that comes with some kids meals. They are usually low quality and my kids never play with them for more than 5 minutes. We prefer the meals that comes with books or games.
Purge
Every few months go through the toys and get rid of anything broken, missing pieces, or that the kids don't care for anymore. I usually do this when my youngest is at school, but I only get rid of toys I haven't seem anyone play with in a long time, if at all. My older two kids do this on their own.
Give to Charity
When all my kids were little we would get duplicate toys from the kids' meals. I would save the extras (unopened) and send them into school to be used in a prize box. Doctors and dentist offices sometimes give away small gifts to kids who needed a shot or who had really good dental report.
No comments:
Post a Comment