How We Cut Down on Toys Throughout the Year

We definitely went overboard the first Christmas we had with our daughter. She was only four months old, but I am pretty sure we bought her every age-appropriate toy that Toys-R-Us had for her. We were trying to make her first Christmas special, but realized a few days after Christmas that we may have went a little too far. She also received a lot of gifts from family, too. We were quickly running out of room for everything.

The next year, she received a lot of gifts for her birthday in August. Then, four months later, we are getting more toys for Christmas. Toys stay piled up in the living room, and we just do not have enough storage for everything. That is when my husband and I came up with a solution to our problem. We told our family that if they wanted to get our daughter anything throughout the year that they would have two options: clothes or money. We decided to limit the toys to only Christmas. Yes, you read that right. Not even for birthdays; which is easy since we do not have birthday parties. You can read about that here.

Simple and great solution, right? Of course, it was not well-received by some family. Grandparents love spoiling their grand-kids, and the family loves buying gifts for the little ones. However, we had valid reasons that they could not argue with.

Less Returns

Our daughter received several of the same toys on her first Christmas. We gather them up to return to Walmart, but then find out that some of the toys were from stores that were almost an hour away from us. That makes those toys a little more difficult to return, so I would try to sell or donate them. While it is no big deal to take toys back to Walmart that is right down the road, I think all parents would agree that is so much better when you do not have to return anything at all.

No Guilt

I always felt guilty for selling or donating the duplicate toys. Someone spent their money and time picking this toy out for my daughter and I was having to get rid of it. It was not just for the duplicate toys, either. She received so many big toys between her birthday and Christmas last year and we had nowhere to put them. A lot of the toys were the same type, several toys that she could push, ones that play music, and things that she could sit on and rock. I would have to choose what stays and what goes. I normally would get rid of the oldest toy and let her keep the newer ones. By asking family for money or clothes, and leaving toys for only once a year, she will be able to play with the toys all year and really enjoy them.

Get Your Money’s Worth

Our daughter got a toy that played music that she could push around on her birthday. Four months later, she received a newer version of basically the same toy. So, I got rid of the old one and kept the new one. That means that she only got to play with the first toy for four months. If someone is going to spend the money on a bigger toy for my daughter, I want them to get their money’s worth. I am sure they expect her to play with it for longer than four months when they spend their money. I would also love for her to be able to play with toys for longer than four months. Like I said above, when toys are limited to once a year, that means she can spend all year playing with them.

Age-Appropriate Toys

I have quickly discovered that they put age limits on toys for a reason. We received several toys with small parts that we would have to put up because they could be choking hazards. We have several toys right now that do not have all the parts with them because they are put up. She is not able to enjoy her toy the way it is meant to be enjoyed, because the toy is too mature for her age. I have Ziploc bags full of small parts that go to toys, and honestly, I do not know which ones they even go with now. She also has some toys that were recommended for an older age that had no small parts, but she has managed to break somehow because she is too young to understand how you are supposed to play with them.

Quality Play Time

I read an article that talked about how too many toys can overwhelm a child and actually hinder their development. There were a lot of valid points in the article and I encourage you to read it here. So, I decided to put this theory to the test one day. I picked up all of the toys out of the living room except two stuffed animals, a ball, and a book. My daughter was so excited to just be able to run through the living room without falling over toys. She would run and giggle from one end of the room to the other. She eventually started kicking her ball and even played with her stuffed animals as if they were talking to each other. That is something I had never seen her do before. She did not miss her other toys and really seemed to be enjoying the toys that she had on a different level than she had before.

More Room

Fewer toys mean more room. I do not know about you, but I actually feel stressed, overwhelmed, and defeated when I see toys piled up somewhere without having a place for them all to go. As I began clearing out some toys and finding a place for everything to go, I noticed that I felt better. It is amazing how something so simple can actually affect you. I really think it is better for my mental health. If it affects me that way, I wonder how it affects my daughter? It may not even phase her, but what if it does? Sure she still pulls her toys out of their designated areas and piles them up throughout the day, but it is nothing like it was before.

These are just a few of our reasons for deciding to limit toys to Christmas only. We have just recently made these changes and our family is already benefiting from the decision. This does not mean that she will get no toys throughout the year. As her parents, we will be the ones buying and deciding when she gets a toy.

Be sure to subscribe to see how we’re trying to keep our families from going overboard on Christmas. Also, I am hoping to try a toy rotation in the next couple of weeks and plan to post the results soon after. Does anyone else try to cut down on toys throughout the year? How do you do it?