To think this is enough toys for a 2 year old?

[teddybeartown]

Had my social worker around and she asked to see my 2 year old's bedroom.
She looked around asked if his toys were in the cupboards but she was surprised when I said that no, they were all displayed where she could see.

I really thought it was more than enough for him. What do you think? Is it enough? Are they age appropriate? Does he need more? If so, what?

Thank you

• Wooden train set
• 3x small lego duplo sets
• Lego/activity table
• Toniebox with 6 tonies
• Books
• Mega bloks building bag
• Rocking caterpillar
• Toy kitchen and a few pretend food (vegetable bag from Ikea, wooden pizza, a few bits and bops and frying pan/wok) - (albeit since then the toy kitchen broke so I had to bin it)
• A few plastic farm animals
• A few small and medium (2/3 I think) plastic cars + one remote controlled car
• one play dough dinosaur set
• Play pretend tool box
• basic plastic shape sorter
• two basic whack a mole type toy (not the fancy electronic one), a wooden one and a plastic one
• wooden fishing toy
• egg shape sorter
• stacking cups
• 3 x puzzles
• scooter
• balance bike
• small tent with tunnel and ball pit
• wooden building blocks
• cuddly toys
• one buzz light year action figure
• one basket ball
• a colour sorting board game
• Art and craft supplies (different types of paper, paint, paintbrushes, felt pen, crayons, black board with chalk, white board with magnets and washable markers, paper plates, googly eyes and pompom kit)

Sorry, silly me, I just got what you meant. They saw the artwork! that's a sweet idea!!

It’s less than we had but DD is the only grandchild in the family on both sides so rather overindulged with toys and our house has resembled a branch of Smyths since she was born.

Too many is a PITA speaking from
experience, especially as she went to nursery 4 days a week so was never here to play with the sodding things!

I’d say it sounds fine, especially with Christmas coming up. I’m sorry you have had to go through this though. Toys should be the least of their worries you’d think!

It sounds like loads to me! More books are always good, I like the 10 for a tenner deal that The Works does to stock up.

That's loads, the first few things on your list would be enough.

The less toys and clutter children have the more creative they will be.

I personally don’t think it sounds like very much. Certainly not enough books. One ball seems low. A couple of puzzles is low, as is the number of cars. Added to your list, my 2 year old has
ballpit
play tent
play carpet (Ikea one with roads etc)
abacus
lots of building blocks
skittle set
hobby horse
ride on car
space hopper animal
parking garage
fire station
box of musical instruments
pull along telephone
wheel barrow
hoover
shopping trolley
soft toys
dolls

and that’s just what I can see from where I’m sitting. We do toy rotation etc so it’s not untidy, and he can choose what to play with.

That's loads (slightly confused by those suggesting it's not and intrigued to know what they would add and where they would store it all).

What a bizarre comment to make. Are you sure she wasn't passive-aggressively suggesting that they should be in cupboards i.e. the house is untidy/cluttered?

Please ignore those saying you should buy more toys. It's completely unnecessary, he has more than enough, you honestly don't need to add to it. The comment from the social worker was also unnecessary.

Sorry if I missed it on your list, but toy cars? Both my boys were mad about hot wheels from about that age

I think it's also worth adding that not all 2 year old are massively into toys. We have a similar amount but he generally only plays with his Toot Toot Driver cars and track.

He would much prefer to be out and about so we tend to focus our time (and money) on that instead of buying more toys.

My grandson has loads of toys and yet plays with the same old 5 piece puzzle or toy dinosaurs. Sometimes too many toys can be overwhelming.

That's plenty. It's also a good range of imaginative play/small world, fine and gross motor skills. He's got plenty of things for creative, immersive play. Kids don't need masses of plastic toys. You certainly don't need to rush out and buy a load imminently. Just acquire them over time.

Sounds to me like you’ve given your son a lovely selection - there is always more to buy which is not necessarily a good thing! And it’s fun to try out other toys at playgroups or play dates

It’s a lot.
Don't be like me, we had so many toys, my husbands idea of helping to tidy up, was to throw them all out in the bin.
I spent so much on them, which would have been better spent saving money for them, for when they got older.

OP you don't need to know the exact number of anything or buy more except when you think he needs it/you want to.

Just ensure that his stuff is not just all neatly in his bedroom.

So some of his artwork up in other rooms then a few of his books and a couple of his toys in the living room. Plus his ball, shoes and coat(s) in the hall.

Then he looks like he lives in the home.

I think you may have had the problem of being too neat and tidy for the SW.

Your husband is a fool.

Some of DDs toys, books and fancy dress outfits were given to her. Anything she grows out of that isn't broken is then passed on or to a charity shop.

This is crazy! That sounds like a lovely amount of toys. Less is more in my opinion. Children go through two phases when they are given a new toy...1. they figure out what it does and 2. They figure out what they can do with it
With open ended toys the possibilities are endless. Just thinking about all the things a cardboard box can be! Surely it's about how children engage with toys that matters. Buying quality open ended toys is far better than heaps of plastic crap. My DD has around 15-20 books that we read over and over, but we go to the library every week and borrow 10 at a time. We have read so many stories together. I really don't understand the logic of more stuff = better parenting.

What an odd comment. Sounds about the same amount my 2yo boy has- and we keep saying about how much he has and we need to try to not get much more for xmas! All he actually plays with is his train set anyway, despite me trying to vary it up!

It's probably because so many houses look like dumping grounds with toys everywhere. I don't believe living in a chaotic toy pit is good for children.

Sounds like plenty to me. Probably more than DD had, we live in a small flat so didn't have lots of big things and no garden toys as no garden. Kids often like the repetition of the same books over and over, so you don't necessarily need loads. Plus you can go to the library.

We did used to go to a toy library though when DD was little. There was one in the local library and one in the children's centre, although not sure how much they exist now.

Excellent variety there- you have all the areas of development covered. If you have space, to store the farm animals away and rotate with zoo animals, dinosaurs, dolls house or other small world is a nice way to introduce variety without clutter/overwhelming your child. Same with jigsaws and games, art and craft etc. and sometimes a few (3/4) animals isn't enough, and they like a field, farmer and tractor to really make the farm scene engaging.

I love the expression "chaotic toy pit", I'll reuse it as that's exactly what our living room looks like 😂

And I agree, we have way more than OP but don't use a lot of it.

It's madness. No wonder we end up with such a consumerist society. He's got loads! Why do people think children need so much?

Ridiculous comment. Children are more creative with just a few open ended toys. And you have some closed ended toys/puzzles too. Books you can get from the library. You don't need to be drowning in junk.

That's more than enough!

How happy and loved your son is is not reflected by the quantity of toys he has!!

If anything more toys reflects someone that is trying to buy happiness rather than spend the day making memories and involving them in day to day life.

Please don't let the social worker get to you, or listen to those telling you that you need to buy more things for your son. One ball is perfect. More does not equal better. You're providing a safe, loving home for your son, with a lovely amount of toys. I hope the social worker situation resolves itself quickly for you as imagine it would make any one of us second guess our set up, but keep doing what is right for you family x