Total toy overhaul needed

[goldpendant]

We have 2 DC, DS 5.5, DD, 3.5

We've amassed a huge amount of toys and plastic rubbish over the years. When our house is tidy it's manageable, but today I can't move in DS bedroom or the playroom for all the toys strewn about.

I'm looking at said toys as I attempt a clear out, much of it is tat, missing a pair/piece, broken etc. I kind of hide these things away thinking one day I'll find all the pieces and put them in a bag or box, but I never have a long enough run of time before they are brought out and all over the place again.

I thought I'd been good at keeping on top of it and frequently fill bags for charity yet it seems to keep growing (party bags/comics/gifts from in laws etc don't help).

We have plenty of good toy storage. It's mainly DS stuff that's out of control. I think I need a mega cull/clear out but I don't want to ditch stuff he might come back to (eg Brio). He really does only play with one thing for any prolonged amount of time and that's his diecast planes.... (playmobil/sets etc are lost on him). He does like Lego/duplo, but I don't want to deprive him of all the other crap for when he has play dates.

Has anyone done this? How did it go? Any tips?

I should add, I think I need to do this for DS as much as myself. He gets frustrated when he can't find stuff and is quite a methodical boy (likes to tidy his room but finds it overwhelming - which I completely understand)!

We did it over one weekend with DS1. It made a big difference. He played with his toys more because we left the ones he was really into. Also when DS2 came along I didn’t buy anything that wasn’t essential in terms of toys. Just be ruthless.

DS will find a reason to keep it all. Eg, I want the mike the knight set for when little Johnny comes over (this hasn't happened in months).

Do I do it for him in one fell swoop? My little by little method simply is t working because I run out of time and more crap arrives (looking at you junk models from school)

Do it when he’s not at home. Anything he hasn’t played with for a while, anything broken, missing pieces, duplicates, etc goes. We have one toy cupboard and I’m ruthless. Dc play so much better as they can actually find their things and focus on one thing at a time.
I worried about friends coming round but it’s never been a problem, they always find something and a lot of the time they don’t tend to play with toys anyway. They’ll dance or dress up or use a few soft toys for role play games or play in the garden etc.

I know it seems like a waste but I look at it that come Christmas or birthday if there is anything that they really really miss there’s always relatives asking what to buy them so they can get another. It’s only happened once in 6 years. If you’ve passed any usable toys on anyway then it’s not like they’re ending up in the bin.

Tidy up time is also brilliant when you cut right back, everything has a place and it’s so quick. I tend to keep party bag toys for a day (the amount of time it takes for them to forget they exist) then bin them. Good luck!

Ok, tomorrow morning when he's at school, it's happening!

Anything I can help him do to get used to the idea of his things having a place? He knows where the fancy dress box is but everything else gets thrown in one big box.....

What do you have for toy storage?

We have ikea trofast and it is brilliant. You can the label the trays so they know what goes in what.

Have you got space in an out of the way cupboard or garage to make a toy library? So stuff can be swapped in and out with only a certain amount accessible at any one time?

We've got trofast in the playroom, and two great little trading company bins in his room, plus a generic toy box and generic fancy dress box.

Do a purge tomorrow (items he doesn't care about) then one item a day going forward. He won't notice, or if he does just say "well it must be here somewhere. Maybe if you have a tidy..." Then look the other way when he slopes off to do something else instead.

I use these with storage boxes that fit inside for DD’s toys- a box for Lego, another for play doh etc. Means she knows where certain toys are and doesn’t have to empty everything

Maybe he needs some trofast in his room? Can help with tidying up easily.

I have four low Trofast units in the playroom. Most of the boxes have Playmobil (oh so much!), Lego, cars, soldiers, magnetix. On the surfaces of these are the bigger items like Playmobil police station, Western fort.
Only ever allowed one small box of tat.
I rehome toys he's grown out of when he's at school.

Ok DS room done, playroom to go. One bag in the skip and two to the charity shop! Definitely needs some training in where things live though....

Well done! Did you find it therapeutic?! He’ll find it easier to tidy when there’s less stuff. We have different boxes/shelves for each type of toy, lego, games, dolls, puzzles etc. You could go a step further and keep some toys away so only the bare minimum out then rotate them. We have 1 junk drawer in the toy cupboard where all the small bits that don’t belong to anything go.

We have plastic drawers and each is assigned something eg treasure drawer (the odd bits), cars, trains, lego, duplo etc And I always sort when at school.