7 ways to declutter kids toys (without being the mean Mum) – Mummascribbles

I don’t know about you, but we have so many toys. Like so many toys. I am generally a hoarder of everything and really struggle to part with things, but in particular I struggle to let go of the kids clothes and the kids toys. Even when it is clearly evident that we don’t need them or we don’t use them, I always have that ‘just in case’ at the back of my head. And that little voice stops me from getting rid of stuff.

With toys, it’s equally hard because there is a four year age gap between my boys and so something that Zach doesn’t love anymore will probably come into its own again when Oscar gets to the same age. And I often look at things with such a fondness that I can’t bear to part from it.

I have however, often thought of just having a massive declutter when the kids aren’t around (which in fairness is never, but you know, I could get them out of the house for a couple of hours on the weekend to have a good go), but then I just have this feeling that they would suddenly ask for a specific toy and it wouldn’t be available. And I don’t think that’s particularly fair. I remember a particular time when my Mum got rid of Jenny the Donkey. She was my absolute favourite ride on toy. I remember being pushed around on her and I remember just sitting on her. It was probably an early sign of my love of horse riding. I was devastated to know that she had donated her (and many other toys) to the playschool that she used to work at (remember when playschools were a thing?) and I have never let her live it down.

It’s like when she got rid of a load of my books from childhood. I was particularly broken over the unexpected departure of Each Peach Pear Plum and Peace At Last. She replaced them for me one Christmas when I was about twenty! But they now sit happily on the bookshelves in the boys’ room and they love reading them! In fact, Zach knows Each Peach Pear Plum off by heart – just like I always have!

Anyways, back on course and back to the art of decluttering kids toys and how best to do this. Here are a few ideas that I thought I would share with you!

The rotation method

Ok so this isn’t exactly the permanent removal of toys (although it does create a pre-packing away clear out opportunity), but the rotation method brings the idea of having a few select toys available at once, to be rotated at a period of your choosing. I find that it is very much the case that when I ask the kids what they want to play with, they generally don’t know because there is so much to choose from. So I do think that this would help us and them, to have a clearer idea of what is available to them. There is a great post which explains exactly how to do the toy rotation method here.

Get rid of the little bits alone

You know all that stuff that accumulates? The little cars that seem to multiply overnight and the plastic stuff that comes with toy advent calendars and party bags. I don’t know about you, but we have one particular box in our Kallax unit which basically houses ALL of this stuff. I don’t know why we have so many cars but there are hundreds of the things (OK that might be a bit of an exaggeration but it feels like hundreds!), so every now and then I have a little secret sort through and chuck out anything that looks like toot, anything that has wheels falling off, anything that they don’t even realise is in there. I have done it in front of Zach before and he didn’t actually put up too much of a fight, but it is easier to do alone because in reality, as long as you leave them like ten cars, they won’t ever realise the rest of them have gone.

Save the bigger toy decisions for them

Owing to the whole Jenny fiasco that I mentioned above, I wouldn’t get rid of any of their bigger toys without them deciding whether it was ok to get rid of. Just before Christmas I had gotten completely fed up of the wooden rocket that was taking up space in the front room and that was never, ever played with. And so I decided that I wanted it gone. I sat down with Zach and spoke to him about how he never played with it and was it OK if we passed it onto someone, and after a bit of thought, he agreed. I took some photos, popped it up on a local Facebook page, and the next day a lady came round to pick it up and she was going to give it to her son for Christmas, because he was obsessed with all things rockets and space. When I told Zach that little story, he was so pleased that he had agreed to give it away and loved that it was going to get far more use somewhere else.

I did also ask him if we could take another rather large toy to the charity shop. One that he plays with once every few months. But he wasn’t ready to give that one away. I do ask him every couple of months whether we can though. I am sure one day he will say yes!

Move toys to the loft and see if they realise the have gone

So this is a sneaky one, but it does give them a chance to realise that something has disappeared and allow them time to decide they still want it. The idea is to put any toys you think they don’t play with up to the loft, and then after a period of time that you think is appropriate for them to have not played with them – get rid! I mean, if they don’t realise that a certain toy hasn’t disappeared then they clearly didn’t remember that it was there in the first place!

Give them a choice of two

With this option you are giving them the choice – allowing them to make the decision about what they want and what they don’t want. Gather together a bunch of toys and pick out two at a time, asking them what one they wish to keep and what one can go. If you do it with a bit of clever pre-planning, then you can probably guess which one they would choose. Equally, make sure you don’t pit two popular toys against each other because that will just create issues for all.

Let them have a sort through, with clear instructions

If you were to just tell them to go and have a sort through of their toys, they wouldn’t know where to start. Giving them a pile of toys and suggesting that they find three things that they no longer play with and can therefore get rid of, brings the control down to them. It isn’t you being mean by just getting rid, and it gives them a bit of thought process behind the whole decluttering thing.

So there are my seven ways to declutter kids toys from your home and get them involved at the same time. At some point in the near future I am going to attempt to put this into action and have a sort through the gazillion toys that are crowding up our house.

Have you had a successful declutter with kids or are you a get rid while they are not there kinda person and hope they never realise? I’d love to know!

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