Cleaning Out Kids’ Toys – Tips and New Assignment

 

Organizing kid items can take some time, so try not to get discouraged if you’re not completing tasks as quickly as you’d hoped.

Remember – your declutter schedule may be different from what I suggest – that’s okay! Just make progress.

Tips for Cleaning out Toys

1) Think about play time vs. clean-up time.

If your children spend 15 minutes playing with something and it makes for an hour’s worth of cleanup, the toy is probably more work than it’s worth. Get rid of it.

2) If it’s broken, get rid of it.

Free yourself from the dozens of things you’ll fix “soon.” Just throw it into the trash. Let it go.

3) If it has missing pieces, use your best judgement.

You could designate a “missing pieces” box for now, and see if you come across the pieces while you’re decluttering your house. If you don’t find the pieces within the next month or so, get rid of the toy.

4) If your kids play only with a toy once every-other month, get rid of it.

Only keep toys that they love and use often.

5) If they probably won’t miss it, donate it.

Sometimes a child enjoys and uses many toys often, so just asking how often they use it isn’t enough if they have a lot of toys. The better question is, “Will my child really even miss this if it happens to disappear?”

(NOTE: Go here to see a photo of what happens when we keep every toy the girls play with.)

6) Have limits, or containers.

When the bookshelf is full, it’s full. Don’t cram books – get rid of some instead. Likewise, when the toy box is full, it’s full. Don’t let them keep stuff beside the toy box. Instead, get rid of the things that aren’t the top favorites so everything can fit neatly into the designated space.

7) Use zip-top bags for organization.

This is not the prettiest storage method, but it’s cheap and efficient. You can put legos into gallon size bags. Cars into another. Divide art supplies into yet another bag.

Real life example: we have an art shelf. On that shelf is an art supply basket. Inside that basket is a bag for crayons, another bag for colored pencils, another bag for stencils and stickers, another for scissors, and so on. This way, my kids can grab supplies quickly on their own as well as put them back easily.

8 ) Be okay with knowing that you may make a mistake.

You may accidentally get rid of something your children would have liked to keep. Don’t let that paralyze you.

In all the dozens and dozens of van-loads full of items we’ve donated over the past several years, there have only been three items in those bags that my children have missed.

Here’s how I handled those situations:

I chose to give myself grace and realize that it’s okay to not do everything perfectly.

I reminded my girls that we’d thrown two of those items away because most of the pieces were missing. They understand that keeping things clutter-free allows them to now have toys with little pieces that aren’t getting lost all over the place.

The other item came from the dollar tree and was no big loss. They figured out how to create their own version with supplies we had on hand.

If you accidentally throw out a special toy, please be respectful of your children’s feelings as you tell them something like, “I’m sorry that I accidentally got rid of something you enjoyed. I did my absolute best in trying to organize your space for you to give you a fresh start.”

While being respectful, also remind your kids that, “When the room was a mess, we couldn’t even find most of your toys. So, if I hadn’t gotten rid of things, we still wouldn’t know where it is so you wouldn’t be able to play with it anyways!”

What the Kids Think

I’ve asked both of my children what they think about me getting rid of so much of their stuff.

One child told me she’s glad I go through their things twice a year because if I never decluttered, the schoolroom would probably be packed to the ceiling with toys and books!

And my precious little pack-rat who had adamantly told me that she was going to keep all of her stuff, even the broken things, showed a change of heart when she declared, “Thank you, mommy, for giving us a nice clean room to play in! It’s so beautiful in here!”

Next week, I’ll have a Q&A about organizing special mementos and school papers.

{Linking up at All Kinds of Things.}