5 simple tips to get your kids on board with decluttering and following simple systems around the house
Today, I’m going to challenge you to embrace a new mindset around toys. It’s time to focus on being more intentional about what you allow into your home in the first place!
How to Declutter Toys
1. Choose quality over quantity
Toys can be such a blessing to our little ones. When toys are chosen with intentionality they can provide endless hours of fun and creative play. On the other hand, when random toys just seem to keep coming into our homes and begin to take over every room in the house, we can begin to feel overwhelmed in a pretty short period of time.
Research shows that having LESS toys in your home allows your child to be more creative, establish better social skills, develop longer attention spans and show greater care to the things they have. When you only welcome toys that will serve a specific purpose into your home, you will find that the latest fads won’t have the same hold on you, and you may even begin to consider welcoming experiences over things at your child’s next birthday or over the Christmas season.
2. Determine the space(s) in your home where toys will be stored
In our home, we make sure our kids feel welcome in ALL areas, so you will find several “kid zones”. But, when embracing the “less is more” mentality, clean up is a breeze and our house remains tidy most of the time.
- Bedrooms: Keep toys to a minimum or ensure that toys have a bin to live in that creates a streamlined and clutter free environment. Less clutter will result in a peaceful space for sleeping and relaxing and more of a focus on books and reading.
- Family Friendly Space: Include some toys in your family room, basement, or bonus room but make sure that they have a place to be stored so clean up is quick and simple.
- Playroom: If you have the space to commit to a playroom, feature and display good quality toys that encourage creative play. Consider creating zones and include bins with toys sorted by category, a play kitchen to encourage imaginative play, or a picture ledge to display favourite books and encourage reading.
3. Complete the simplify process: sort and edit
Dr. Denaye Barahona, a clinical social worker who has a Ph. D in child development, has written an entire article explaining how having too many toys can cause decision fatigue in children resulting in apathy, recklessness & impulsivity and even lack of care toward their toys. You can read about more of the affects that too many toys has on children in the article HERE. Having LESS choices for your children when they are deciding what to play with is a good thing! Having fewer choices promotes positive play experiences and reduces overwhelm in our children. With that in mind, here is how I suggest you tackle the task of decluttering toys in your home:
- Choose 1 space in your home to declutter. Gather all of the toys in this space and sort them into categories: blocks, stuffed animals, wooden toys, balls, puzzles… etc.
- Edit each category:
- KEEP only the best quality items that promote creative play, learn through play experiences or are your child’s favourite toys.
- DONATE items that are still in good shape but that your child no longer plays with. If you have multiples of a toy, consider donating some or if they have served their time (for instance, if they are no longer age appropriate).
- SELL items that are in excellent shape and still have value.
- DISCARD toys that are broken, or are missing pieces and no longer have monetary value.
4. Create functional systems to store toys
When everything has its place, toys will no longer end up taking over all of the floor space in your home! Here are some great systems you can put into place to contain toys in a bedroom, shared family space or playroom:
- Purchase an IKEA storage system with bins to categorize and keep toys out of sight
- Picture ledges are a great way to display favourite books
- Trays can be utilized to safely display lego creations and keep them in tact
- Choose a few favourite or special toys to put on display on open shelving
- Use a large basket to store stuffed animals
- If you have built in storage, consider displaying a few favourite books or toys on open shelving and sort all like items into bins
5. Get your kids involved in the process of simplifying
I know there is a time and a place to put the kids to bed and go to town decluttering your child’s toys while they sleep, but there is also value in involving your children in the decluttering process. When we explain that we want to keep our favourite toys that we play with often and release the toys that another child can love, children really seem to get on board with the idea!
Toddler: Put 2 bins in front of your toddler and ask them to choose: “Keep or Give Away”. Say these words together as your child places their toys in one of the two bins. Of course, at this age, you can make the final decisions!
Preschooler: “I mostly don’t really play with my doll house so I am choosing to give it away.” Claire – 4 years old
Grade Schooler: “Usually I will release things that I don’t play with at all. I think about people who don’t have toys, and release the ones I never play with so they can play with them.” Ava – 8 years old
Pre-teen: Let your child know that they can choose what to keep, but it should be favourite items, things that bring them joy and necessary items. The things they choose to keep need to have a place to live or be displayed!
Teen: Encourage them to do a monthly edit of their items and remind them that if you are able to sell items they are releasing they can put the money toward an experience or item they are saving up for!
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If you put some or all of these toy decluttering tips into practice you will begin to experience a more peaceful, tidy home and happier, more content kids!
Do you have any go to tricks that keep your toys under control that weren’t mentioned in this post? I’d love to hear all about it in the comments section!
You may also like: How to Create a Simple Decluttering Routine
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If you use any of my suggestions in your home, I’d love to see your progress! Please share your decluttering projects with the OWK community by using the hashtag: #owkdeclutteredhome
This is really helpful, thank you! We have a six-year-old, four-year-old, and 19-month-old and live in a fairly small home. Toys/knick-knacks/random-things-they-find-to-play-with are TAKING OVER! I appreciate your insight and encouragement about how less is more, and the strategies about involving your kids.
My oldest can get particularly attached to things…I’ve found that having a ‘halfway’ bin that’s tucked away for old crafts and toys can be helpful…if they don’t ask for them within a few months, I typically feel okay getting rid of them. On the other hand, if they do happen to ask for that random toy or craft, I can still pull it out of that bin and don’t make them upset that it’s gone forever (made that mistake a few times..!).
It’s SO TRUE what you said about being intentional regarding what comes into your home in the first place. It’s crazy how in our culture it is so much easier to GET stuff than to GET RID of it, particularly when kids become older. Thanks again for the encouragement.
Hi Alexis!
You are SO welcome, I am overjoyed that you found this post so helpful and encouraging!
I love the ‘halfway bin’ idea – it is such a good way to give yourself some grace and ensure the right decisions were made with decluttering!
Cheering you on in your organization journey!