Decluttering Kids' Toys When There's Kid Stuff Everywhere

Has your home gotten out of control with kids’ toys? If that’s the case, you’re not alone. At least 20% of the emails and responses I get from people are related to decluttering kids’ toys. There’s kids’ stuff everywhere!

We’re going to dive into the actions to completely fix this issue for you. First, I want to talk about the reality which is very different than the way we perceive things to be. We tend to perceive a happy kid to be the kid who has ‘all the things’.

You might think, I want to succeed so that I can give my kids the things I couldn’t have. This is a typical desire for many parents. We have this mentality that giving our kids more will make them happier or better adjusted.

Of course, it’s great to put your kids in a successful situation and to give them opportunities. But this doesn’t correlate at all to belongings and toys. In fact, an overabundance of toys can actually detract from some of the positive growth that you want to see in your children.

It’s not necessarily a motherly instinct to want to hold things back from your kids. That’s why it’s important that you understand the benefits and reasons why you would want to do this.

There are certain things that we do that aren’t necessarily natural or easy for their benefit.

I say all of this because if you go into decluttering the kid’s toys with the right mindset the results are going to be massive.

Have A Conversation That They Can Relate To.

Everything starts with a conversation. I always say that this gets everyone on the same page, like magic. This is especially necessary when you’re decluttering kids’ toys that don’t technically belong to you.

Of course, this totally depends on the age of your child. As a rule of thumb, if they can’t form sentences yet then there’s no need for a conversation. If they’re old enough to be independent (around 8), you should still have a conversation but they’ll probably be doing the decluttering on their own.

In any case, the conversation should be something that your kid can not only understand but relate to.

For example, when my daughters were little I would explain that they don’t play with a certain toy anymore but that some little girl or boy who doesn’t have anything would love this toy and the toy would be much happier for it.

The 80/20 Rule Applies To Everything.

I believe the 80/20 rule applies to pretty much everything in life. Chances are your kid is only playing with 20% of their toys 80% of the time. That means if you laid out 100 of their toys you could probably point to 20 or fewer that your kid typically plays with.

Trust me, it’s never equal. It’s not like they pick up a new toy each day to make sure that the playtime stays equal among all of the toys. So, as you go through the toys ask yourself “is this an 80% toy or a 20% toy”?

Throw It All On The Floor First.

There is absolutely no thought required for this section. Take every single toy from every room, closet, toy box, bookshelf, and throw them all in a pile on the floor. This is a good time to get rid of any boxes or structures that aren’t holding up and clean the ones that are.

There are going to be some obvious trash or donation items so be sure to have a bag handy for each of those groups. Don’t worry yet about where they’re going to go; that’ll only slow you down. Just toss and chunk until you get down to the finalists.

Rely On Spatial Constraints.

Organization (and decluttering) is made so simple when you just rely on spatial constraints. Spatial constraints are just pre-designated “homes” for categories of belongings and they rely on firm boundaries.

I go into more detail about spatial constraints in this ‘10-point checklist for managing clutter in your home‘.

Firm boundaries are key. Cloth bags, closets, and tabletops don’t have firm boundaries and because of that clutter tends to stretch and overflow. For my kids, we have one large toy box with a lid. It’s the simplest storage solution you could dream of and it works!

I only have to have 1 rule: they can keep whatever fits in the toybox with the lid closed. Done. I recommend you do the same. Make sure you have a dedicated spatial constraint and let your kid know that they can keep whatever fits.

This will take the weight off of your shoulders (if they’re old enough to make decisions like that). Now the child is choosing what to keep and what to let go of, based on the space provided. The less you interact the more peaceful this process will be.

What About Valuable Things?

I know the concerns that come up when you read that last sentence about letting them choose while you stay out of it. What if they choose wrong? It’s true, little kids don’t always have the best judgment or value-meter.

If there are things that are truly sentimental or of value that you’ll be wanting them to hold onto then you should pull those out first. Things like heirloom pieces or necessities. You can read more about ‘How To Handle Sentimental Clutter (or Emotional Clutter)‘.

But in general, you might find that kids don’t always gravitate to the pricier objects (even if they had once begged for them). That’s why I always say don’t over-sophisticate when it comes to toddler toys– they tend to prefer it that way anyway.

The truth is that you might have more trouble letting go of some of the toys than they do. You might really wish they were more interested in the expensive robot pet than the cheap stuffed animal. Brace yourself in advance for these decisions.

Honestly, if your child isn’t playing with it then it would be worth more to you if you sold it on OfferUp rather than sitting at the bottom of their toy box. I have become pretty tight with OfferUp over the years.

When it comes to kids’ toys value isn’t everything. In fact, their value-meter works on a whole different conversion system than ours. They don’t understand the sophistication that goes into making some of these electronic toys. To them, a raggedy stuffed animal with one eye might be worth way more.

To Your New Toy-Light Haven.

I would say “toy-free haven” but, let’s be real, there will still be some toys. However, after these incredibly simple tweaks, the toys will be 80% less than they were before.

Also, you’ll notice that the drag-and-drop toy phenomenon (where your kid drags something out of the toy box just to drop it randomly on the floor) stops. There just won’t be as much random excess for them to be frivolous with.