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It happens to everyone who has children. One day you look around to realize that the toys have overtaken your house. As you step on a minuscule piece of Strawberry Shortcake's Berry Café Playset, you can't even remember the last time your daughter played with the set. You wonder how this little plastic piece ended up embedded in your foot, when the other 150 pieces have long been MIA.
You dread the next birthday or Christmas, when the mess of toys and their thousands of pieces that inevitably get lost and distributed around the house will compound and grow like some kind of mutant beast.
It's time to take action. It's time to purge the toy collection.
BEFORE YOU BEGIN
One thing you'll need to decide beforehand is whether or not your child is going to help you with this project.
Purging toys can be a valuable lesson for kids. They learn about letting go of things they don't really need or want. They also learn about keeping a tidy room and having a specific place to put each toy or book. If you will be donating some of the toys, it's a great way to train them in giving to others in need. Allowing your children to help you with this project can be a rewarding experience for your both.
It can also be a total nightmare. If your child's nature is on the emotionally nostalgic side, it may too difficult to get her to part with her things, even if she hasn't touched them in 2 years. If your child is too young to understand sharing or giving to others, it may be a better idea to handle the project when he is not around, and chances are he will never notice anything missing.
Whether or not your child participates in the purging process is your call, and should be based on your own knowledge of your child's emotional nature, maturity and the likelihood that you will finish the purging project only to find that everything in the "discard" pile has mysteriously migrated back into the "keep" pile.
THE SPACE
This project typically takes a good chunk of time and space, so be prepared. Attempting to tackle it for a few minutes here or there is rarely effective. More than likely, you will need to carve out a few hours during which you can have a room to yourself with as few distractions as possible. If your children are not participating in the project, try to have them out of the house. It will not help your progress to have them running through the room rearranging all your piles.
Once your have determined the space in which you will be working (typically the child's room or playroom, or wherever the majority of toys are stored), begin by carrying an empty laundry basket throughout the house and filling it with all toys that have made their way into other rooms. When you have gathered all the toys in the outlying rooms, deposit those toys somewhere in the room where you will be conducting your purge. A pile off to the side is fine, as long as you leave enough floor space for the four sifting piles. You may need to make several trips with your laundry basket to transfer all the scattered toys to the working room.
THE SIFTING PILES
This part of the project is essentially like sorting laundry. In the room in which you will be working, create four separate spaces: The Pieces Pile, The Keep Pile, The Pass On Pile, and The Donate Pile.
A large trash bag can serve as a receptacle for the Keep, Discard, and Pass On piles, as long as you can remember which one is which. Do not attempt to eliminate The Keep Pile by leaving the toys you intend to retain in their current location.
The Pieces Pile
This pile is a temporary place to keep play sets that have pieces. You may think that all the slides from that ViewMaster are long gone, but you'll be surprised at the pieces and parts you uncover as you sift through the mountain of toys. You may have some complete sets that you had given up hope on ever putting back together.
Put loose pieces in a sealable bag, and when you have a complete set (or have located all the pieces that you can), move the set to one of the destination piles.
The Keep Pile
Obviously, this pile is for the toys and books that you intend to keep in your house. If it's something your child plays with regularly or asks about when it's not in front of him, it should probably stay in this pile.
The Discard Pile
This is the trash pile. It's the pile of toys that would have no more value to anyone else than they do to you.
Discerning which items should go to the Discard Pile as opposed to the Donate Pile can sometimes be challenging. Here are a few guidelines:
Worn or broken items should be tossed. Most places that take donations try to sell the items they receive. If you're looking at a toy that you would never buy off a shelf at a resale store, chances are it belongs in the discard pile. Don't donate a bunch of junk. It will just get thrown away and waste the time of overworked employees and volunteers.
If the toy is missing most of its pieces, it probably belongs in the discard pile.
Stuffed animals are very difficult to clean and can look worn after just one washing. Unless Winnie the Pooh has not been played with and still looks brand new, he belongs in the discard pile.
Personalized or monogrammed toys usually need to be thrown away, because the chances of someone finding it who has the same name as your child are pretty slim.
The Pass On Pile
So what do you do with those items that can be passed on to other children? There are many options, and the right one depends a lot on the condition of the toy.
Second-hand shops will pay you a small amount of money for items they think they can resell. This is a great option for toys and books that are in "like new" condition. They must be clean and show little to no signs of wear. Before you take a toy to a resale shop, ask yourself if you would be willing to buy that toy off a shelf. If you have every piece to Diego's Talking Rescue Center, but Diego has teeth marks from that time the dog got a hold of him, the set is not a candidate for resale.
Donating items you are unable to sell is a great idea, but be aware that the requirements for donating items to charity can be nearly as stringent as those for offering items for resale. Many nonprofit organizations are looking for toys and books that they can resell at a very low price. If it doesn't qualify as "resalable," it can get thrown away. Check with your intended charity beforehand on what condition they want their donations to be in. Again, if it's trash, don't donate it. If you would never pay money for it, don't donate it. If you do donate it, please make sure that it has been thoroughly cleaned and is in working condition.
The exception would be a hospital, doctor's office, or women's shelter, where toys are for free use and don't have to be in perfect condition. The Diego set mentioned above would be a good candidate for this type of donation because the set is in perfect working condition but shows minor evidence of wear and tear.
If you are donating to a nonprofit organization, be sure to keep an inventory of the things you give. This will help you arrive at a fair market value for receipt and tax purposes, and also come in handy if you ever get audited.
Hand-me-downs are another form of donation. Friends and family with younger children are often glad to receive the gently used items your children have outgrown. Just be sure you check with the receiving party first to make sure they're interested before you start dropping things off on their doorstep.
Garage Sales are great for leftovers and items that you're really on the fence about throwing in The Discard Pile. You might as well try to offer them in a garage sale because you never know what people will buy. Just don't expect to get more than about 10% of the original price of the toy.
If you don't have the time or opportunity to host your own garage sale, see if you can get in on the action with some friends or neighbors who are having one. To increase your traffic, check with your HOA to see if there's a set date for neighborhood-wide garage sales.
Another really easy way to get rid of things at a garage sale is to put a FREE sign on a bin and fill it with anything you don't want to be bothered with discarding. It's amazing what people will take when it's free.
GETTING TOYS TO THEIR DESTINATION
After you're through sifting, bag and move the piles immediately. Don not leave them laying around for your children to find and start exploring, unless you want to have to start all over again.
The Discard Pile goes to dump. The Pass On pile should be removed from sight if you can't take it to its destination immediately. It won't attract much attention sitting in the back of your car or your bedroom closet. The items in The Keep Pile can now be put back into place, which should be easier now that you have more room and all the sets with pieces have been consolidated.
After you have transferred all the toys to their final destination, pat yourself on the back for a job well done. You may now enjoy the serenity of a less-cluttered room... at least until the next birthday or holiday rolls around.
Amy is a mother to two energetic children who constantly keep her on her toes. She can be found at http://goaskyourdad.com, where she writes about family, life and whatever else tickles her fancy.
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