Organizing Your Children's New Toys
What to Do with Toys After Christmas and Birthday
After a big gift giving holiday such as Christmas or Birthday, children have a pile of new toys and a toy box full of old toys. Here are a couple of tips for teaching your children to keep from being overrun with toys and at the same time, stay organized.
Box of Toys in the Attic
Many parents will keep a box from one of the gifts, and use it for old toys. Allow the children to go through their toy box and pick out enough toys to fill the box. These old toys will be stored away in the attic or a closet. After several months, parents can retrieve this box of toys and have their children switch out the toys in the box with new toys. This way, there is always a box of toys in storage, and every few months, they get to play with “new” toys.
Donating Toys to Charity
Before or after a big gift giving occasion, have your children go through their old toys, and put together a box of toys that they will then donate to a local charity. This can be as simple as dropping the box off at a local Salvation Army or as complicated as finding local families in need to provide with new toys. The idea of donating toys to charity will teach your children the act of selfless giving, and reinforce the need to help those who are less fortunate. This will also prevent your home from becoming cluttered with older toys.
Store Toys that Your Kids Out Grow
Once your children begin to outgrow some of their toys, you can box up and store them for later use. If you plan on having more children, label the boxes with the proper age range for easy organization with other children. This will also provide a selection of toys for when other families come with younger children. If you are not planning on having anymore children, you can save the toys for future grandchildren. Be sure to clean the toys before putting them in storage, and store them in a way that will prevent mildew and mold buildup.
New toys do not mean that you will be throwing out old toys or being overrun with the selection of toys. Providing children a small selection of toys will help prevent them from becoming overwhelmed with choices and will help them become happier and more contented in their play. Consider storing toys or donating them to charity.
You may also be interested in budgeting tips for your holiday gift money.
Managing Kids Toys
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