How many toys is too many?

chewy62

:rolleyes: Hi all! Just wondering if all the parents out there have problems with the amount of toys they have.
I have a 2YO and 4YO, both boys, and they seem to have accumulated so many toys from presents at Xmas etc. and I'm sure they never play with half of them. All I seem to do is tidy them up, and ther are so many tiny bits to them, it cracks me up!
Is it a good idea to just have a few toys and give some to charity or E-bay some?
I E-bayed some toys before, but wasn't too successful, maybe it depends what they are.:rolleyes:
Am also cross at myself for buying so many toys for them as this would have saved me money and space!!

Nicki

Can you store and rotate them? This means they will get played with more and enjoyed more. Also consider clever storage to make life less stressful - put toys with lots of little bits in clear plastic zipper bags so they don't get lost.

As lo gets older, get rid of his toys, but its worth keeping 4 year old's as lo will grow into them. In future maybe think about joining a toy library, so you can borrow new toys for a few weeks at a time, and give back when child is bored, rather than buying lots of new ones.

alwaysonthego_2

Same here my dh always complains there are too many toys. The toys that are too babyish have got rid of to charity/car boot, the others I rotate each week so they play with different toys and don't get bored of them.

taggiesgirl

Hiya
Yep am in exactly the same situation! I have 2 boys 7 and 3! we have toys coming out of our ears:rotfl:
I was thinking of ebaying some but kinda think this might be better nearer xmas
We sold a few at bootfairs but apart from that have not managed to clear any, hey i cant even give them away to my sis 2 yr boy!:rotfl:
I had a girl 8 months ago and vowed to get rid of some 'boy' toys but i then find myself thinking well girls can like bob/thomas etc!!:rotfl: find myself going round in circles!

If you find the answer let me know!:T

aukinfo

This is a difficult one. I agree there is no point in having toys that are never used, and you are better off selling them. But like second hand children's clothes they dont really have any value. They are probably better appreciated by somebody you know.

But I think that toys, even if played with for a short time, are worth it and !!! a lot of value to a child's development. I dont think you can spoil a developing child with too many toys. It really helps them learn.

I do think however that a lot of the toys on the market a very repetitve and do not offer a lot of learning potential - I personally think VTech are grossly overrated, I bought my little girl a 'play cube' from Boots and it has given her hours of manual dexterity entertainment. Much better than nurdsery rhyme after nursery rhyme and flashing lights. dont understand them mysef half the time...

rich

nearlyrich

I used to have this problem when my two were small, tiny house, lots of doting aunts and uncles buying toys all the time, I had some stacking crates which slid into a purpose built unit in the bedroom and the rule was all toys had to be tided away before bed. I think there are too many when they are all over the place and you haven't enough room to store them.

morlandbanks

Store and rotate! It's the only way. We put certain bigger bits (sometimes the play kitchen, sometimes the drum kit, etc) up in the loft, then when it comes down again they feel like they've got new toys!
We haven't really bought them loads, but they get so many from others at birthdays and Christmas. I do regularly sort through and give some to charity. Local hospital wards, toy libraries and playgroups appreciate toys in good order. I generally take books that are too young to the Drs surgery because we always enjoy the books when we're in the waiting room.
Go through and sort out for doubles. No child needs two garages or more than one toy box full of little cars. And how many jigsaw puzzles will they actually play with? Be brutal!
The children are actually really good at letting things go when I explain they're for children that don't have toys or for 'poorly children'. Though the odd toy has found it's way back out of the charity box because it's suddenly their favourite toy again!

chewy62

Thanks everyone! We do keep loads of toys in the attic and bring them down, but generally they go up there and stay up there as we forget about them!
I get annoyed when all the parts of a set aren't together, like the Balamory island I bought, and the little people are so small, we haven't seen Spencer for months!
I try and do a dinosaur box, an animal box, car box etc., but there are probably about 120 toy cars and same of tiny dinosaurs, surely that's too many!?
Hubby doesn't agree with me and says I shouldn't get rid of anything but I disagree, but how do you work out which ones to keep?

thriftlady_2

I think you should cull toys on a regular basis It's much easier when they're little (kids not toys). First step is to select toys that you don't think are being played with. Next bag them up with a label on and the date. Put them in the roof or somewhere and if they haven't been asked for after 6 months give them to Oxfam or similar.

Janepig

Soft toys get my goat the most - my two are only 3 and 1 but they've got hundreds. Family members are aware of this yet still give them more as presents. Zero eductionational value and apart from the two in DS's cot and the four in bed with DD, they never get looked at.

Jxx

littlechezza

I've realised that my children have too much and at the end of the day it is down to the parents, my 6 year had a tv at the age of 3 and my daughter is now 2 and I wouldn't dare buy her one next year because I have learnt my lesson, we have also started to ask people to buy smaller presents and give money as well, the money my 2 year old gets goes in her bank account and we are encouraging our son to save his in his money bank, he wants a nintendo DS for crimbo and we have said if he saves the money for a game for it (I think they are £30) then Father Christmas may see that he is being good and get him the Nintendo, this way I'm hoping they know the value of money and don't end up like their mum and dad.