In this post, I cover how to start the decluttering process with the current number of toys in your home. I also will cover how to successfully toy rotate as well as how to keep family members involved in the process without tears. The end goal is to reduce excess clutter and to simplify your kid’s playing environment.

I am a mother of three young kids. As we all know where there are children, toys will not follow far behind. To be clear, I love toys. I am not a toy hater by any means. My children have toys. They are not drowning in too many toys though. and With three kids under three, I call that a win in my book! Cheers to living with less and still thriving. #yesmama

Having too much stuff is a recipe for ensuring more unnecessary stress in your life. There are multiple studies done on the negative effects clutter can have on your life as well as your mental health. 

Just because I have young children I did not feel the need to have to take on every latest and greatest toy known to man. Our living room still is normal (not overrun with baby toys and matchbox cars) hello boy mom over here. Toy clutter does less for our family and creates more chaos than it does help their developmental abilities. 

WHY FEWER TOYS ARE BETTER

According to a study having less toys expands a child’s attention span which equates to a better learning environment through play. We all know that kids learn through play, so this was a huge motivator to me to reduce the toys.

I am the same way. If I am surrounded by a lot of noise, mess, or chaos when I am trying to work the last thing I want to do is sit down and be efficient and productive. Same with kids. Many people assume that new toys constantly coming into a home create more learning and less boredom within the home. It can have the opposite effect. A lot of toys may be a recipe for unwanted toys at the end of the day.

HOW TO GET STARTED DECLUTTERING KIDS TOYS

Decluttering toys may feel like a daunting task to tackle but I will give you a few practical tips to successfully reducing the clutter and create more imaginative play and use more open-ended toys with a longer life span. It is a simple process that will be nothing but a good thing for everyone involved.

Tip #1: Prepare to purge

Getting your mind right (and potentially your older children too) if they are helping out is vital to success. If you are worn out, tired, or in a funk, for the day it is best to just start when you are feeling fresher. Next, grab your boxes and label them:

• Donate
• Sell
• Give away to friends/family
• Move for the rotate
• Trash

When you are labeling the boxes or bags know where they will be going. Which friends and family will you drop off the old toys to? Which donation center will you use? What platform will you sell items on?

Tip #2: Take a mental note of the inventory

Before I do any toy declutter session I always scan our living areas for toys that are still in good shape. I also try and evaluate the unloved toys of the bunch that is just not getting love anymore. These simple mental notes can happen as your children are playing. These easy steps will ensure your success on your declutter day! I am doing mini-mental notes of inventory regularly to maintain.

How To Declutter Toys

The physical act of placing the toy in the box is the easiest part of the entire journey! It is the small questions you have to ask yourself along the way that can complicate things at times.

Questions To Ask When Looking At A Single Item

• Is this a duplicate toy?
• Is it broken?
• Is it missing pieces?
• Do the kids love it?
• Do they play with it?

Once you evaluate the simple questions to depict an item’s true value in your home the process should go quickly. There are other hurdles you have to go through when it comes to decluttering the kids’ toys quickly, and some of these hurdles can threaten to stop you together.

SHOULD I INVOLVE MY KIDS OR NOT? 

This will depend on how old your children are as well as their personalities. There is not a right or wrong answer here. I can only speak from personal experience and that is decluttering with my kids present as well as when they are asleep. Sometimes the cheap happy meal toys or the dollar store toys will cause more arguments than they are worth, so I toss them when my kids are not looking. They never ask for them later on.

I like to be careful with certain items, however, a toy collection for example. If there is one piece of the collection missing (example: Rubble goes missing in our stuffed animal Paw Patrol collection) my son will notice instantly. Even if Rubble never gets any love.

The easiest way to start decluttering the toys is to just declutter with kids present and have the simple conversation that it is a good idea to get rid of certain toys to make space for more playing. This always works with my kids. Otherwise, I think it is a good idea to involve them as early as you can in the process to make it easier in the future. After all the toy box is their territory!

Listen to my podcast interview with declutter expert Katy Wells!

LAY THE CHILDREN’S TOYS OUT ON THE FLOOR

To get the process started getting all of the toys out and put them all over the floor. I like to let the kids play as I am doing this. I quickly see what never gets any love and attention and work from there. Once all of the toys are strewn out all over the floor it makes taking inventory simple.

I get my bags out and get to work. First I like to set aside the specific toys I will use in the toy rotation. These are toys I do not necessarily want to get rid of but also my kids are not using them currently. So away they go for a few weeks. The building blocks, Magna Tiles, and wooden trains are usually always in rotation.

Once the toy rotation items are out of sight I move to donation toys. Which toys will I be gifting away to friends or donation centers? I put these in the right bag. Lastly, anything broken toys or toys that have missing parts simply go into the trash or recycling bin if applicable.

Once I have all of the items I want to keep in our home I look at my storage options. Are they the right fit for the toys that are left? I almost immediately organize toys and get everything back in easy to play with order.

TACKLE THE BOOKS AND STUFFED ANIMALS LAST

I have no problem tossing close-ended toys that light up and spin around leaving no room for my kids to create. I do have a hard time getting rid of books.

We love reading books. Check out the lists of our favorite books here and here. Once you are finished with the toys donate books to your local library that your kids do not enjoy anymore or have outgrown. Easy peasy.

EVERYTHING HAS A PLACE

Once you are all done with your declutter session it’s time to put everything back into its place. All of your hard work will be tied up into a shiny finished product (until the kids come and play again).

It is a good way to getting the project wrapped up and get some satisfaction. Because if you are anything like me, decluttering gives you somewhat of a high! I love seeing the before and afters.

At the end of the day having empathy toward your kids and their interests is also key to navigating the rough waters of decluttering when it feels tough.

Remembering that the toys you are potentially getting rid of are their possessions, not yours is another lesson I have had a hard time wrapping my mind around but slowly am getting better at it!

RESOURCES FOR DECLUTTERING RESPONSIBLY

Now that you have gone through and successfully purged your kid’s toys, what do you do with them? Broken toys? Missing pieces? Gently loved stuffed animals?

Here are some helpful resources for responsibility discarding or fixing:

For Toys

Check out the Facebook marketplace and tap into your local buy-nothing groups! Donating toys to these groups is simple, and people will usually pick them up for you at your home!

It makes the process easy. I also loved to sell toys on Facebook Marketplace (back when I had Facebook). Another great option is to donate to a local children’s home with kids who have very little. The choices go far beyond dropping them off at Goodwill.

I also love the idea of hosting a toy swap with friends and your local community. My fellow podcast host Stefanie Seferian and former podcast guest wrote a great post about it here. There is always such magic of getting new toys that are friends that will leave your kids entertained for hours, days, and weeks on end.

For Stuffed Animals

Local animal shelters are always very welcoming of getting stuffed animals for the pets to love. They are also welcomed at police or fire stations to give to children in emergencies. The website is here.

For Books

I always love to utilize local free little libraries. They are so cute, and we have them all over our city. I own and run one myself! I love when new books are donated. It truly makes a difference. 

HOW TO MAINTAIN THE DECLUTTERED TOYS

When keeping the toy clutter down I like to follow a few simple rules:

1. One in one out (the best we can)
2. Continuously declutter as necessary
3. Be mindful of consuming habits