Toyland Explosion

© 2007, Pam & Tom Hughes

 

Are you suffering from a toyland explosion? Do you have toys littering the family room, the hallways, the kitchen, the garage, and the children’s rooms? And yet, do your children complain that they have nothing to play with or that they are bored?

If so, how about tackling some of the issues surrounding the over-abundance of toys? First of all, pick one room that you’ll plan on designating as the “toy room”. For the most part, try to confine the toys to this area only. Plan it carefully and provide lots of easy storage bins, baskets, and shelving for the toys. Set aside a day to clear the room out and bring back in only the most loved and used toys. Gather up any broken, damaged, outgrown or unloved toys. Throw away the broken and damaged ones and drop the remaining ones into a give-away box. Encourage your children to share with those children who have less.

Create activity centers within the playroom for floor play, reading, crafts, music, dress-up and the like. Give the toys all homes within their centers and label the bins, baskets and shelves with pictures and words. Show your children how to pick up, and then encourage them to develop a good routine for pick-up times. Make a game of it! And, in the future, as new toys come in, encourage your children to let go of older, less loved toys!

If it’s hard for your children to let go of the toys, have them select some to box up and put in a rotating system that they can exchange periodically. Label the box or boxes with the contents and a date and put it away in a storage location. If nothing gets exchanged in 3 months or so, perhaps the box can then be passed on!

Congratulations, you’ve just shed 12+ pounds of unloved and broken toys!

Keep the pounds off:

· Provide pick up baskets for each child and keep a drop box handy for “Passing it on”.

· Daily (10 minutes) – use a 3-toy rule during the day and a 10-minute pick up as part of the bedtime routine. Make a game of it to see who can find the most or how quickly you can put away 5 toys!

· Monthly (30 minutes) – review the toys and pass on any worn out or excess ones.

· Explain to other family members that you are trying to teach your children to explore their creativity and to live a simpler life. Then encourage them to give gifts of savings bonds, “special time” with them, or simple toys that support imagination and creativity.

 

“The strongest principle of growth lies in human choice.”

- George Eliot

An inexpensive rolling cart like this one can be used to hold craft supplies and rolled out to the table during craft time.

Be sure to label the drawers as you create homes for all the craft supplies.

And watch the excitement in your children’s eyes as they begin to use it!