To ask what you do if your child has too many toys

[Wuddlingheights]

I realise this is the ultimate first world problem and looks like a stealth boast, so apologies.

My 6 year old is an only child and first (although not only) grandchild and niece.

People are very generous with buying her gifts, although DH and I rarely buy her gifts unless it’s a special occasion.

The end result is, basically, far too many toys. Cupboards and cupboards worth. She’s the kind of child who loves everything from a Kinder Egg toy to a bike, so is by no means ungrateful. This makes the issue worse and it’s hard to throw things away because she truly loves everything.

It’s complete bloody madness though. It’s spilling out into two rooms and, as she’s at school, it’s not like she has time to play with it.

We periodically clear out and give to charity, but many things are unused as she hasn’t had a chance to play with them.

I’m interested to know if anyone has any strategies to at least ensure things get played with once in a while. I could cry at the sight of piles of toys and games that are untouched from one Christmas to the next because they get put in a cupboard and forgotten.

I’ve genuinely thought of starting some kind of toy library with my neighbours so at least things get used.

Also interested in ways to ask people not to overload her with toys at birthdays/Christmas, without being the mother who deprives my child of gifts.

Ask people to limit it to one present only for christmas and birthdays, or ask for money towards a big item or season ticket rather than presents.
We did this with my DD and she doesn't have ridiculous amounts of toys.

For those you do already have, toy library is a good idea. Anything in excellent condition could be sold via facebook/ebay and the money put towards a day out. Toys can be donated to charities who help homeless or struggling families, childrens hospitals or just charity shops.

When mine were younger I used to rotate toys, I'd pack some away in boxes in the loft then change them round every few months, it was like xmas all over again, they loved it!

I also have a box of gifts for their friends birthdays that I add to when I see a bargain or if the kids get a duplicate present then I put it in the box and give them the money I would have spent on their friends present IYSWIM. Helpful for me when they have a party invite as there's usually something in the box we can wrap.

I'm a pre-school practitioner, if I had time I used to set the toys up a little bit like we set up pre-school...for example I would make a role play corner and add all the toys they might need to play shops, in another area I'd put some puzzles on a little table or bricks out with some dinosaurs on the mat! It looked attractive to them and got them into actually playing with their toys and I got to have a cuppa in peace.

I found with my children, if it was all packed away neatly in the cupboard then they wouldn't really touch it, they wouldn't necessarily remember what they had, out of sight out of mind, setting it out nicely to play with seemed to work.

If you are into Lego then there is no reason to avoid the Friends sets as suggested earlier. There are many pieces and colours found in the Friends sets that are very collectable for Lego fans.

When DD was small we regulartook toys away when we found she was bored with them. Some we re-introduced while taking others out, so a rotating scheme can work well.

If it was a gift like her 5th birthday where she ended up with tons of small craft sets (she hates crafting) I put a selection away and sold them. The money I used towards a day out.

We are lucky with grandparents, they normally ask and we either ask for a family oft like tickets or annual passes or DD wishes for something small and they always buy her books.

depend what kind of toys. Craft toys could be used up on certain days if time is set aside for doing so. dolls could be filtered down to favourites. Or do the for every insert number of items you part with you can have 1 to replace them. This works for collectable toys like lols or shopkin type things.

When I want to do a toy clean out I play the 'what do you want to keep' game. I hold up 2 toys and ask my DD which one she wants to keep and she knows the other goes in the get rid of pile.

It is so much easier when you focus on what they are keeping when they make the decision rather than what is going. I always try to pair up the one I know she will want to keep with the ones I want to get rid of... usually works a treat

Like Silver1977 I used to group types of toys, so dressing up stuff together, play kitchen which doubled as cafe, etc

This makes sorting out duplicates & unpopular stuff really easy. Playdates more straight forward ,& welcoming.
You can also spot the 'gaps' and work out whether the moment is passed.
You only need one of most stuff eg. Don't buy or keep six games like Jenga, keep one for one you play a pile them up thing.

My parents kept all our toys which turned up on mass on the birth of first child. I was n't particularly impressed. They looked tired, some of the 30year old fisher price had plastic fatigue. And I wanted the kids to make their own memories.
I would have been far more touched to have been given a photo book showing my brother & I playing with them.

I don't have grandchildren yet but I have 2 great nieces and one great nephew who are younger. Their parents were being swamped by toys so for the past few years at birthday and Christmas I give them money and something small and consumable for the kids to open. The eldest gets lip gloss and the younger get bubble bath or something similar. Their parents are chuffed and I know they bank the money for the kids and the little ones get something to open from Auntie Hyrana, win win

I sympathise, op. I have this issue with my 5 year old'son stuff.