[Momof3Boyz]

Okay I posted this on another board but I'm curious of what you with older kids think too...

The first thing I did when we started packing was pack up the kids toys, it just makes life easier not to have them all over the place when I'm trying to clean, pack and organize! I let them keep out 1 small box (each) of their favorites and everything else was packed up (normally we have about 8 toy boxes absolutely overflowing with toys!). It has been sooo so soooo nice to have just a handful of toys in the house. I'm NOT constantly picking up toys and I've been able to get into the boys room every single night and there are NO toys on the floor! It's just great lol! The boys haven't missed anything packed away.. they've not even asked for anything out of the boxes. So it gets me to thinking maybe we could just get rid of those toys... and just have their 1 small box each. With Christmas just around the corner they're going to get new stuff anyway...

But thinking long-term --
What do you think is an acceptable amount of toys?
How many toy boxes do your children have?

[Mommie2One]

We have toys that are age appropriate. I have my son go through his toys every 6 months and weed out what he has not played with, doesn't want, or has grown out of and we either sell them or give them away depending on the toy and it's condition. I don't put a limit on the toys that he has but I do require him to pick them up when he is not playing with them as well as at the end of the day everyday. We have the little bins similiar to this: Amazon.com: Whitmor 6436-1523-DS 12-Bin Organizer, Primary Colors: Home Improvement and that was the BEST investment I made. We used to have a toy BOX and it was horrible because toys would get stuck in the bottom forgotten about, etc. Anyway, he has a playroom and all toys must stay in there, not allowed in his bedroom, all must be picked up if he is not playing with them and absolutely picked up daily at the end of the day before bed. He's been required to pick his toys up on his own since he was around 2 so I've never had the problem of stepping on them, etc. As long as he plays with them, respects them, and keeps them picked up I don't care how few or many he has, but we do weed them out every 6 months to keep his playroom neat and uncluttered.

[Cyndee]

We have 4 bins for all the kids.. And when we moved we put it all in storage... And left out only a few toys... So far they don't miss them

[MelissaS]

I clean alot of it out regularly, go through it every few months. But both kids just have a couple of small baskets of toys in thier rooms & then the rest of the toys are in the downstairs playroom & down there we have 1 big storage bin of toys, 1 bin of legos and the rest is big stuff (like the play kitchen, b-ball net, table, etc)

[Mattiez]

I am not quite so strict. About once a week we go throught and do the big clean up of the kids rooms and the play room. The kids really like when it is clean but they also really like having their train tracks and car tracks set up and useable. Or they will get into a game and finish it the next day or leave a puzzle together that they have been working on for a while. We do use lots of bins and book shelves to keep things sorted.
Mattiez

[**Melanie**]

I am looking for a solution too. We have toys EVERYWHERE and it's insane. I've tried going through the toys with the kids but they see something they haven't played with in 6 months and it's new to them again. Even broken toys they love and don't want to throw away. So when they are out of the house I go through and get rid of some stuff but they still have too much. There is one toy box in the family room that is overflowing and then they have bins in their rooms. I would love to have some better organization and be able to go through all of them and get rid of a lot of it.

[Banned-momonline]

You could rotate the toys every month or so. Put the toys you have out into storage and take some out of storage. In this way, your child will feel as if he has new playthings. And with Christmas coming up, it's a good idea to go through your children's toys with them and let them choose some to give away to less fortunate kids. Take them with to hand these toys out and they'll learn that Christmas is about giving and not only receiving.

[Tiffany_KKAS]

In our house, there is a never ending battle with toys.

Our house is tiny and there's not a whoel lot of space. The two boys share a room, my daughter has her own room, and we have a small play room *former sunroom) in the back.

New rule in my house since last Christmas:
The kids keep the toys in the playroom.
The toys are to never leave the playroom unless mommy or daddy say it's okay.

Now there are exceptions, my daughter has some dolls (Barbies, Bratz, Polly's, ect) that she does not want the boys messing with so they stay in her room.
But the boys toys strictly stay in the play room.

The boys bedroom is far cleaner this way.
(my daughter is a neat/control freak anyway so it's a bit easier lol)

And another thing, sometimes when I clean in the playroom, I find toys I know have never been touched and I throw them out.

And never ONCE has one of my kids taken notice.

Kristofer and I are very strict when it comes to busying toys (junk) on a whim.
We really figure out how often the child is going to actually play with it and make a decision.

Kylie knows that if we find a Polly out of place in the house, she might be thrown out. So she's careful with them.

It may seem like it's mean, but in all honesty, our house is small and our family is large, so keeping clutter to a miniumum is a 110% must.

[LovinMyGirls]

I clean out stuff every 6 months or so.. usually the change of the seasons..I get rid of a lot of their stuff! I keep only stuff that they play with regulary, is new & is not broken. We still have too MUCH but if I don't clean it out every so often I'd never find my basement.