I can't remember where I initially heard this tip, but I started doing it a year ago, and it's so genious & simple I just had to share & make sure my parent buddies know:
TOY TRADE OUT!
*Do you get sick of your kids getting out every single toy, every day? What a mess!!!
*Do your kids get bored with some of their toys, so you feel a slight pressure to get them new things sometimes?
This solves all those problems.
Here's how you make it work:1. Get out a bin or two (or three)
2. Fill them with toys that your children are currently not playing with very much, while they're not looking! **If you try and do this while they're watching, they'll suddenly have an extreme interest in playing with the item they see you packing away, and squeal and cry for it like you're taking away their teddy bear**
3. Put the bins away somewhere convenient: closet, garage, basement, etc.
4. Clean and rearrange the kids' room/playroom, now that you have so much extra space (and if you want to throw them off on anything missing).
************let 4-6 months go by****************
5. On a day when they seem particularly bored around the house, pull out one of the bins, and yell something like "Christmas morning!" as you excitedly open the bin in the middle of the room for them.
6. Watch as your kids sqeal in DELIGHT, pulling out all the things they'd forgotten about, and suddenly have an enormous interest in, as though it's a brand new toy.
7. While they're playing with the 'new' toys, select other toys to rotate out to fill the bin you just emptied, and tuck it away for another 4-6 months.
8. Enjoy the money you save by never having to buy any toys for your kids- just let Grandmas & Grandpas and birthdays/Christmas take care of it for you.
I think one of my favorite parts of this, is that I don't feel pressure to give away toys to Goodwill just because we have too many. Before, I'd wonder "well, we'll have more kids someday who'd want to play with these..." and be sad to give them away. This solves that problem. I actually just keep a 'baby toy bin', now that Hunter's outgrown them.
**Last Tip: Never pack away a toy that would be too obviously gone- as in, one that they really DO play with every day. For us, this means their wooden train set, that is the highlight of most days & what kids always play with the most when they come over**
2 comments:
We did that for awhile, then they got to the age where it was immediately, "Hey, where is...?" Per this move, I went to WalMart and bought a large stack of the $1 plastic shoeboxes, and sorted all toys by type into each box (except Legos, those needed a few 18 gallon buckets, but I digress...). In our next place, we're going to have a "toy library" where only a few things can be checked out at once (per child), and all the others are neatly stacked in a cupboard. They can swap out whenever they want, but they HAVE TO EXCHANGE. I hope it works as well in practice as it does in my head.
I have bins that I have separated out the toys similar to what Jillian has said and it has made a huge difference! Caitlyne labeled all the bins and I keep them on the top of the closet then the kids can check out a bin and put the toys away before they get another one. It hasn't been a perfect system, but, it has worked much better than them dumping all their toys into one great big pile & then walking away. And now they find it much easier to put their toys away, and I find less toys all over the house! :) And it really is amazing when they haven't played with a particular bin for a while how its like Christmas around here! I like that it helps them appreciate their toys more and keeps their room in order.
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