Toy clear out!

Shomk80

After a not very successful toy clear out we are left with boxes of bits and bobs that don't go with anything! These are the bits that drive me mad as what do you do with them?

I was thinking of getting rid of all the random bits and keeping only 'sets' of toys. Has anyone else done this? Do they need the variety or only what they really play with? Am I being mean ha ha?!

My daughter is 5 and not too bothered about toys, my son is 2 and has his favourites.

Thanks

kingfisherblue

We used to have far too many toys - I'm sure many parents can understand my despair! I had a few big clear outs, and used to keep one small box of 'spares'. These were things like jigsaw pieces, or cards from Orchard Toys games. As my clear out progressed, I could often find the box for the missing piece.

I still have some games (not toys, as my boys are older). I keep a small dish with spares in, and in the same dish are things like dice and counters.

I wish that all those years ago, I had the imagination that some people on Pinterest have. One of my favourites from there is a Lego table, made from two sets of plastic drawers and with a length of wood connecting them. It would have been so much easier to keep track of all the bits of Lego that we had. Nowadays, I use an old larder fridge (not plugged in) as a storage cupboard for games.

barbiedoll

When my kid was small, one of our favourite "wet weekend" pastimes was to sort out his toy boxes. It was a thankless task, as soon as I found a teeny tiny plastic bit of tat, he would immediately grab it and stash it away for playtime later! I had a mound of random Lego heads and/or hats, tiny lightsabers, McDonalds toys which were always part of an incomplete set, numerous collector cards (Pokemon, football, etc) and various arms, legs and clothing from action figures.

I had to stealthily dump things when he wasn't looking, and although it gave me a sense of satisfaction when all of the trains and cars were in one box, all action figures in another, I knew I was fighting a losing battle.

He's now 18 and he still has a couple of boxes of toys under his bed. I had a clear-out at the weekend and he moaned at me for dumping his WWE wrestling belts...not that he ever intends to wear them, he just wants to keep them for the "memories".
I got him to take a picture of them on his phone, then I threw the lot out!

Good luck with your clear-out OP, but I think toys are like cobwebs...as fast as you get rid of them, new ones appear by magic!