When it comes to toys, I fully embrace the less is more philosophy.
A couple of months ago a friend of mine stopped by my house with her husband in tow. Funny thing about my friends’ husbands, in the world I live in husbands are sort of like unicorns, you believe they exist, yet you never really see them.
All of my friends are SAHM or WAHM, and all of the husbands work at offices away from the house. So while I might know all the details of my friends’ spouses, their hobbies, their likes and dislikes, maybe even their choice of underwear (yes I have had this conversation, more than once, and I can only think it came up because of a shopping expedition), I would be hard pressed to pick any of them out of a line up.
So when my friend stopped over, her husband had not been to my house in over 4 years. he was interested to see all the work that we had done to the house in the intervening time. And after walking around, he said, “But where are all of your toys?”
I had laughed and he said, “No. I am being serious. Where are all of your toys?”
The truth is we don’t have a lot of toys. I despise toys that “do” things and offer no opportunity for open ended play. This includes most toddler toys that require batteries. Therefore there is not a ton of colorful plastic stuff lying around my house.
So what do we have?
Wooden blocks, lots of them. You can not fully use your imagination and build with a 30 block set. 300 blocks? that can build anything your imagination desires. And they stack neatly on the lower shelf of a bookcase.
Lincoln Logs and Tinker Toys. Same thing, lots of them. These don’t get as much play as other building toys that we have. I store these in a huge rubbermaid bin and pull them out once in awhile. The allure of a “new” toy occupies them for a few days to a week, before I pack it back up and put it away again. Not every toy has to be readily available at all times.
K’nex (great for older children who like to follow directions and build complicated things) I recommend buying a large set that comes with an instruction book to build many different things from a single set. Much like the Tinker Toys and Lincoln Logs these are not sitting out in the open waiting to be scattered or have valuable pieces lost. I bring them out when requested.
Brio Builder. This is a hands down favorite with my preschool and young elementary school aged children. Unfortunately you cannot buy them in the US any longer. Why? I have no idea. You can still but them on ebay sometimes or make an impromptu trip to Europe and pick some up. No?
Legos. I don’t even need to mention these do I?
But the thing with all of our toys is that they can all be stored neatly and efficiently in baskets and bins. Those baskets and bins can be placed on bookshelves. Everything has a place, and that place is not lining the walls of my family room, or scattered on my floor. You’d be surprised how much better children can play when there are less choices and less clutter surrounding them.
What do your kids get for holidays & birthdays? Because we don’t even get our kids presents. They receive so many things from grandparents & aunts & uncles, we just never felt like we should add to the pile. Do you tell gift-givers what to give them? We have 3 large rubbermaid bins and many smaller ones filled to the rim scattered around the house full of batteries-required, shiny-plastic things.
Comment by Jenn — October 18, 2007 @ 12:15 pm
I tell grandparents and such to buy savings bonds.. But to a five year old child a savings bond is not as alluring as a shiny new toy. I have trouble with friends and relatives buying obnoxious toys that serve no purpose. I think family and friends are looking for that huge hug and the adoration that comes with giving the child the brightest coolest new toy.
Help?
So basically what Jenn said!
Comment by DW — October 18, 2007 @ 12:22 pm
I have the same problem with extended family buying the battery operated everything. It is so frustrating! My sister understands my ideas and buys things for the boys that encourage imagination and I love her for it. My husbands side, however, um to put it politely thinks I am nuts.
Every.Single. Toy. The boys have ever received from them makes noise and/or lights up along with the noise. I would sell them all in garage sales but my husband is of the mindset that if someone gave it to them, then they can have it. Never mind that it doesn’t help them build their imaginations. Ugh.
Comment by Midsummer Night — October 18, 2007 @ 1:04 pm
Ditto the others – we have countless bins of shiny plastic toys, almost every single one filled from birthdays & holidays from well-meaning family and friends.
Even a few enormous obnoxious ride-on thingys that are lining the walls that were given to my youngest for his birthday a few weeks ago – ugh.
We’ll be moving soon and I’m hoping to come up with a system of less is more as you’ve done. Of course, Christmas is right after we move, so I’ve got to get a system in place to manage this. Any advice would be appreciated.
Comment by ChristieNY — October 18, 2007 @ 1:09 pm
Yes! Yes! Yes! I’ll add to the voices clamouring for an answer to the Christmas/birthday present dilemma. Help us, Chris. Please. Help us.
Comment by mel — October 18, 2007 @ 1:15 pm
Do they have other toys in their bedrooms? That’s where most of our kids’ toys are-in the closets to minimize mess. Then we have two bins for toys down stairs in the living room.
Comment by Crisanne — October 18, 2007 @ 7:12 pm
One thing our family does is donate most unwanted/un-needed gifts to a shelter or toys-for-tots. It also serves to teach our son about those less fortunate children who might not otherwise have toys. We’re very lucky, because both sets of grandparents ask for a Christmas or B-Day list, so we generally ask them for the types of books and toys we’d prefer.
Comment by Alison — October 23, 2007 @ 1:09 am
Grandparents have been paying for swimming lessons, or doing gift certificates to the children’s museum or a place called Wild Air (has the big blow up slides etc). Even gc to Chuckee Cheese or McDonalds. We don’t take the kids out to eat very often because we just had #4 and it cost us at least $30 or more depending on where we go. One grandparent has even done a day at a waterpark in a hotel.
Comment by Chris — November 5, 2007 @ 5:08 pm
I agree! Rotate the toys!!! We do that, and with 5 children it helps tremendously! Plus, there IS less to clean up and more organized play. When all the toys are out all of the time, they get so bored and so overwhelmed, that I am sure to hear the never ending “i’m bored” whine. When we rotate the toys, is like Christmas each time we gfet a new one out! They play so nice and quietly when we do this. One other thing i do a lot, is turn the TV/movies off. All day. No biggie, they do not miss it. We have enough noise in our house already, no need to add more. Sometimes, we will put on a littel music, but soft music, because rock and roll gets them all geared up! LOL
And LOVE the Gift cert ideas! We recomend this to all relatives as well.
Comment by heatherrabbit — November 28, 2007 @ 11:19 am
I dont usually comment, but after reading through so much info I had to say thanks
Comment by Outdoor — March 16, 2009 @ 5:07 pm