Getting Rid of "Stuff" That the Kids Still Love and Use

My grandson has his own room with his "stuff" at my house. He plays with almost everything he has, but sometimes there is just way to much ! We go through his thimgs every few months & decide what to keep or get rid off. There is 2 childrens shops where they buy up front used childrens items. We take his stuff there & he earns a little money. Whatever they don't accept, we take to the Kawianas. His toys & books can go to other children & he earns money for himself. The funny part is that he dones't spend his $$ on toys, he saves it. We counted it last week & he has made $85.

Rotate those toys. I boxed up all my kids' toys and books in those large plastic bins. My kids had access to 3-4 bins at a time, the rest were stacked way back in a deep dark closet. Every couple of months we'd put away the toys they'd been playing with and bring out some of the stored bins. It was like getting new toys. Made daily clean up easier, too, with just part of their gigantic toy/book collection out on the floor at any given time.

No, but if they still play with them why not control yourself and hold on a little longer. We found building shelves and stacking bins really helped keep things under control. You could always put a stop on buying anything new for awhile...

If you just must get rid of some things why not consider a garage sale and let the kids do the work, choose what to give up and let them keep the money.

Let them choose what goes and what stays.

Get one of those big plastic totes and put it in their room or the playroom. Tell them "We don't have enough room for all this stuff, so we're going to sell some of it and use the money for this year's vacation. I want you kids to go through your toys and fill this box with what you're willing to sell."

Let them know that the more they're willing to sell, the more money will be available for whatever you're saving for...

If they'd be more interested in donating the toys to needy kids, go with that route.

Don't get too wrapped up in the process. Put the tote in there and leave the room. Let them decide. You'll be surprised by how easy it is for them to toss stuff when mom isn't in the room to see them get dramatic about it. :-)

Best,
C. Lee

I don't base decluttering on how often I use something.
I have my grandmother's Bible. It never leaves the bookshelf. I don't read it and have no plans to, nor would I even consider getting rid of it. I also have her watch. It doesn't run - hasn't in years. No jeweler in town will touch it because it's so old. So it will never run again, and I never wear it. But it will remain in my jewelry box until the day I die.

My daughter is 23 and still has the very first stuffed animal her dad bought her. She will most likely have that toy until she dies of old age, and that's fine with me.

If she actually used something on a regular basis, I made room for it. If it was something that held sentimental value but that she didn't use often, I had a Rubbermaid bin for it.

I ended up putting in some shelves and buying plastic totes. I wrote on the outside of each tote what was inside and put them up on the shelves, that way the kids have more room and stuff is more organized in their pay area.

Box up the toys you want to get rid of, and wait and see if they specifically ask for any of those items. If they do specifically ask, then let them have it, otherwise, if they are "out of sight, out of mind" let them go.

I agree with One and Done. Remove some of it, and if they ask for something, voila, keep it for now. If it goes unnoticed for a season or two-move it on out.

I put a bunch of stuff in bags in the basement to clear space before Christmas-and it's been too freezing down there to go through it, so I can't wait for spring warmth to purge. They haven't noticed a single thing was missing. All of it is pretty much going straight out to thrift once I scan for any rare sentimental stuff....

Space is space. If you need to clear out and open up some space, you take the stuff that rarely gets played with, put it in a bag when they aren't looking, and get it donated with out them seeing it. If it makes you feel better, keep it in the garage for a month and see if they miss anything out of it, you can still retrieve it. chances are they won't miss it. Ha Ha, yesterday I dropped off bags of donations. My 5 year old gets out of the car, says "mom! you aren't giving my things away are you!?" Then proceeds to pluck out some items before I could even stop her. So don't ask me. I try, but usually fail.

One thing I do is I don't get rid of anything DD uses unless I talk to her. She's 4.5 and will really get upset if a treasure is lost. Then we have "now" and "later" bins. She gets to put things in the attic "for later" and pull down some "for now". SD gave DD a ton of her old toys and so we are overrun. Some just went immediately and some DD plays with. When we pull down the "later" bin, she is asked again if she wants to play with it now or donate it. Some of her donate choices have surprised me, but if she's moved on from the toy and doesn't want it after it's been put up a while, then that tells me she doesn't need it.

Updated

One thing I do is I don't get rid of anything DD uses unless I talk to her. She's 4.5 and will really get upset if a treasure is lost. Then we have "now" and "later" bins. She gets to put things in the attic "for later" and pull down some "for now". SD gave DD a ton of her old toys and so we are overrun. Some just went immediately and some DD plays with. When we pull down the "later" bin, she is asked again if she wants to play with it now or donate it. Some of her donate choices have surprised me, but if she's moved on from the toy and doesn't want it after it's been put up a while, then that tells me she doesn't need it.

I keep the stuff that they use at least on a weekly basis. If they use it less often and I don't see much value in keeping it, I put it in a box and put it away for awhile. If a couple of months go by without them asking for it, I donate it. If they do ask for it, I talk to them about whether it's worth keeping or not. I don't like to get rid of things they still like to play with though, since having it around makes them happy and keeps them out of my hair. :D

I've had different friends who pack away half of the toys in bins, and change out toys every month or 3 months. Then when you switch it's like Christmas all over again. You'll find again with each switch out certain things that just aren't played with and can take them away while they're not looking.

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets

Pack some up & move it out of sight (attic, etc.)
If they haven't missed it by summer? Buh-bye!

Definitely get rid of the items they no longer use. We are "spring" cleaning now and there are just some things they won't use. I'd ask you kids first what they could part with and go from there. Otherwise, keep an eye open for what they say they play with but don't and then donate it. When I asked my daughter what she did and didn't play with..She grabbed a whole bunch of things she likes and I put the rest in a bag to sort out later on my own. This process can be overwhelming to kids especially since many toys have lots of pieces. In my case my daughter was overwhelmed. Glad I made her part of the process. Was so much easier.

Actually, my husband always complains the kids have too much stuff. We have a very small living area for 7 people so I try to pare down but it is hard. teh thing is, most of the stuff is either large or lots of pieces making it seem more than it is. When I am able to actually organize everything an get things together, he always says "great, the stuff is gone". No it is not. I got rid of nothing.

Though I will be going through soon to get rid of things like you have. You might look into other storage options. Stuffed animals take up a lot of room and a friend put hooks around her daughters room so each has a hook. Very cute and out of the way. Easy to reach when her son and daughter want to play with them. I plan to do that when we (one day) buy a home with enough room.

I don't get rid of stuff my DD still plays with. I just don't think it's fair - she has gotten most toys as presents at one point or another and as long as she plays with them I just don't see a good argument for getting rid of them.

That said, all of her toys have a place. Most are in plastic boxes with lids either on a shelf, under the table in her closet or under her bed. Their is no way kids can learn to keep their rooms tidy without having a place for everything.

So I would invest in some more storage bins, sort everything into a bin and dispose when they no longer play with it.
Clothes I get rid of when they are stained, torn or too small.
Good luck.

Unless you shop a lot, why do you have to get rid of stuff every three months? If your kids are still playing with them and you know that they are, why would you get rid of them? If you must get rid of some stuff let the children decide what they want to keep and what they want to donate.

I wouldn't buy any more toys until they were willing to offer up an old toy to replace it with.

I would let my girls keep a toy box full of stuff. If they had over flow, say from a birthday party or Xmas, they would have to take they stuff that didn't fit into the storage shed. If they wanted to swap out toys they could. Every one in a while I would make a trip out there and they would bring what they wanted to put out there. They would get so excited about bringing inan old toy that they hadn't played with in a while and had forgotten about. It was funny to me.

I think purging toys that often is a bit much. Clothes maybe because they grown out of them.

If they can't keep the toys put away, then you can confiscate them and put them in the donation box. That would keep them put away when not in play.

There are lots and lots of children in your community that don't have anything to play with. Maybe you could have the conversation with them that explains just that. They might be willing to share.