Toys, Toys, Everywhere

A child's toys just seem to multiply on their own, don't they?! In our family, we have made a conscious decision over the past few years to request alternate gifts from family members here and there, just to keep the number of toys in our house to a manageable quantity. And with our family of three being on a fairly limited budget, it allows us to give our son some experiences he couldn't otherwise have.

I have noticed this trend in the past couple of years with our Kindermusik program, as well. More and more grandparents are giving the gift of Kindermusik to their grandchildren for Christmas or birthdays. Instead of handing over just another toy to be added into the already-cluttered toy room, grandparents know that Kindermusik is a gift that will be enjoyed for a very long time. . .and it will make a positive impact on that child's development in so many ways! (And as a bonus, they can enjoy the fun right along with their grandchild!) I would estimate that at least 25% of our program's students are able to come to class because their grandparent gave it as a gift--wow! You may want to consider asking for a Kindermusik gift certificate this year, yourself.

Now back to those toys that keep multiplying. . .let me tell you what has worked for us!

Several months ago I discovered a system that has really helped our family keep the clutter down while keeping the toys fresh and interesting to our 3 year old. I got four large Sterilite storage tubs and grouped all of the toys into categories, such as cars & trucks, puppets/action figures, puzzles/games, Little People accessories, large play items, etc. (My husband took my son out for the afternoon so I could do this without "help"!) Then I divied the toys up into the four tubs, making sure to put two or three puzzles and at least one bigger truck into each tub. I chose one or two large toys (like a see-saw motorcycle, a Duplo wagon, etc.) to pair with each tub, as well. (Obviously those items wouldn't fit inside.) I kept certain things together in the same tub, such as his train set, his puppet show supplies, his Little People buildings, etc., as made sense. When I finished, I numbered each tub 1-4 and kept tub #1 out. The other 3 tubs went into storage downstairs.

After a week, he started losing interest in those toys, so we put them all back into tub #1 and got tub #2 out. Ronan played with the "new" toys enthusiastically for another week. Then out came tub #3. You get the idea. We have continued to do this toy rotation for about 3 months now, and he still is excited to see his "new" old toys each time they come out. I think having less of them to wade through all at once is also helpful to him--it's much less overwhelming.

This system is also helping us purge toys from the collection regularly (since there are always more coming in, it seems!). As we pack up a tub's contents at the end of the week, we can easily tell which toys were at the bottom of the pecking order. If he's not interested in playing with something anymore, it gets a free ride into the yard sale box!

So what tips would YOU offer for toy management?