The Great Toy Purge

Now that the holidays have come and gone my house looks like Fisher Price threw up in it. We are up to our eyeballs in new (and old) toys. During this time of year, with my son’s birthday being in October, I do my best to purge our toys and old clothing and donate before both events hit. If you haven’t been so lucky to purge before, why not purge after??? Just because the holiday season is over doesn’t mean that all those organizations that collected toys in the first place are no longer in need. Now more than ever my house needs a good toy purge.

So once you get all these new goodies, how do you decide what stays and what goes? My rule of thumb: has it been touched in the last few months? If not, it can probably go. Chances are if it hasn’t been played with lately it’s one that isn’t a favorite, per say, and wouldn’t be missed if it was gotten rid of. My other rule of thumb: does it have sentimental meaning? Chances are most of the toys your kids have don’t. Every so often there is a toy that just can’t be gotten rid of. However, not typically the case.

Keep a few things in mind when getting rid of old toys, are you done having children?; will other younger siblings be able to benefit from keep the toy around? We are done having children so all our ‘baby’ toys are mostly on to finding new homes. My children are 19 months apart in age so most things my son is outgrowing my daughter will only be interested in for a few more months before she’s ready to move on also. Keep in mind when getting rid of toys, just because kids are in need doesn’t mean they want broken and dirty toys. Make sure that your toys are in well working condition and make sure to give them a scrub down before you turn them over.

If you’re not ready to turn over the toys to a new family consider giving them a good rotation. Take some of the new toys and put them most played with areas. Put some of the well loved toys into a different area of the house. That will give the new toys the full time play time and then when those toys have lost their sparkle you’ll be able to rotate again and then the old favorites will be new favorites again. It’s a nice way to keep the toys feeling new and fresh without having to buy new toys every few months.

Regardless of how you will handle the influx of new toys, we hope you had a Merry Christmas and enjoyed your holidays!