too many toys

[Emmy]

Ok, after reading my roundup from Mumsnet, Im off to clear out my kids toys. Apparently children have too many toys and can't concentrate on one thing, which kind of confirms a lot of my suspicions. Not sure what husband will say as we have 8 boxes in the loft to sort for boot sales etc! Just interested to know what other Mumsnet members think about this. My son has a roomful of stuff he never plays with, its about to be reduced dramatically! Or am I cruel?

[Viv]

Emmy, I agree with you and following an idea from the nursery my daughter attends we store all her toys in a number of large storage boxes and rotate them every few weeks (or when I get round to it!)so she only has a few to play with at any one time, but when she seems to be reaching boredom threshold with them, we simply put them away and bring out another lot. I guess we are lucky and have the space to store these things and it may not work for everyone, but we find it does for us. The key thing is that when the toys are rotated there is real sustained interest in them as they havn't been seen for a good while.

[Kmg]

Our house is like a toy shop - my sons were the first children of their generation, so have oodles of doting uncles and grandparents, and hence oodles of bright bits of plastic, which I periodically clear out and send to charity shops. I did find the reports of the research convincing, but I find that keeping toys well ordered in boxes/crates, and encouraging tidying away makes a massive difference. My boys will get out a particular toy, or set of play materials and play with them, and then put them all away (with encouragement) and get something else out. They have amazing concentration spans, and will persevere with things like jigsaws for a long time, and are not distracted, despite the massive quantity of toys in the house. They (and I) find it hard when visiting a friend if there are endless toys scatttered all over the floor, a game with no dice, incomplete jigsaws, and a shape sorter with no shapes ...

I do agree that the main emphasis should be on reading, singing, make-believe, and physical, out-door play (did it say that? I think so!), and we do loads of this. I love throwing things out, and I think deep down I would love to have a clear-out and just keep the real basics, and the old-favourites such as lego, duplo, jigsaws, a trainset and a few cars - but I couldn't possibly do such a thing to the relatives who have bought all this stuff!

[Emmy]

Kmg thats just what I have done this afternoon, I feel great but I cant get into my room for bin liners, big sale and charity shop sort out on sunday!
The thing is my eldest doesn't play with toys much- he does anything arty, so I dont mind a houseful of felt tips, he also likes lego and jigsaws and books. So Ive taken all the toys that just sit gathering dust.Less tidying for me too!

[Emmam]

I wish relatives would take more notice of what kind of things our son likes and things I suggest. For Christmas he had loads of great big plastic lorries and fire engines which he hardly looks at - they take up an enormous amount of space in his toy box but its too soon to get rid of them! The things he turns to time and time again are his books, his small die-cast, plastic cars and lorries and his crayons. What is it about relatives and enormous chunks of plastic?

Still, its his birthday next month which is an ideal opportunity to make some room again, so I'll dig out all the stuff he doesn't use and disappear it. Grandma has suggested getting him an easel for his birthday which sounds OK - but again, why do relatives have to think so `big' when it comes to pressies? My mum brought him a sit and ride train with a trailer last year - its huge!!

[Marina]

We've been really Stalinist about this and make it clear that present ideas have to be run past us first. We use the justification that as they all live miles apart they might duplicate by mistake. We still have some unsolicited nightmares but these arrived courtesy of the first birthday party...
You could try circulating mail-order catalogues, marked up if necessary. My parents live miles from a decent toyshop and are really grateful.
Not all big toys are bad. Our son has that ride-on bee on castors (Urchin, Dawsons etc) which is quite large but vinyl and wood, and he plays with it every day even if only to offer it some rice cake. But at the moment what he likes best is to read books with us, colouring in and stickers, duplo, and simple noisy toys like bells and maracas. That's apart from hitting the washing machine with a spoon and walking about with his Galt Playnest on his head, of course.
We can't give away our plastic horrors for similar reasons but keep them in a box under the cot.

[Tigermoth]

Agree with all this. I too try to 'think small'with my son's toys. If you want a cheap, non-bright-plastic way of storing toys, wooden wine crates make great toy boxes. Because of splinters not good for very young children. Ask your local off-licence - they often throw them away. You can also pile them up to make bookcases.

[Fionn]

On the subject of clearing out toys, has anyone any suggestions for good homes for unwanted toys? I'd rather not give them to a charity shop or NCT sale as they'll be bought by comparatively well-off people like me! I'd like them to go to a children's home or women's refuge or somewhere equally deserving. My local council can't help. Any ideas?

[Tillysmummy]

It's Capital Radio's Help a London Child week this week - they will probably take donations of toys I would think ?

[Dixie]

Our local hospital is often crying out for toys in the childrens ward.....maybe you could see if your one would like them too?

[SueDonim]

You Health Visitor might know of someone who could use them, or social services or your local women's refuge. HTH

[Rhubarb]

We take ours to the Salvation Army, they dish them out to families who cannot afford to buy their own, so we know they are not going to be sold in a shop to less desperate people like ourselves! I'm sure Alder Hey children's hospital would like them too, if you can get them there. My nephew was in there recently for heart surgery and they do seem short of toys for visitors with children.

[susanmt]

We take used toys and good used clothes direct to our local womens refuge, who are always happy to get donations.

[Marina]

Try your council's Early Years Unit (they all have one, I am pretty sure). They will know of local nurseries and hopefully a Toy Library who would make excellent use of your gift.

[tufty]

Hospitals are always grateful, but even more so are Gp surgeries and dentists! I don't know what yours is like but ours would certainly benefit from such a wonderful donation....

[sis]

I have given toys to ds's childminder in the past and found that he then plays with them like they were new toys but I will definately try and give them to a women's refuge next time. thanks for the idea.

[jinna]

My son also has too many toys. I try and store some toys away leaving him with a limited few - this helps him focus more and he seems to play with them more. when i see him becoming bored with them I then rotate and bring out his other toys.