What is your toy purge strategy?

[acmom]

We are in need of a major toy purge, especially before new toys come at Christmas! My kids are 2 and 4 and I feel like all of a sudden there are a lot of unused toddler toys hanging around that could easily go, plus some other junk that we have accumulated that we don't need!

Trying to decide what my best approach is for this as my kids are finally at an age that they can somewhat participate and will definitely notice. DD who is 4 has talked about donating some things and has even picked some stuff out to out aside, but I am afraid if we do the whole process together, it will take forever!

How do you do it in your house? Whole family participates or you just go through and purge/reorganize? And what is your criteria for keeping/donating/tossing?

[redhookmom]

I do the preholiday purge all by myself. I empty the kids rooms, living room, family room of their toys and then only put back what they play with or I know they will play with in the future. I bag up the rest and leave it in the garage for a couple of weeks just in case there is an item they miss. So far, the have not missed anything and appreciate the clutter free areas to play.

[brittone2]

We do a little bit of both...I use my judgment and sometimes purge items not frequently played with, and they rarely notice. They do often come up with a good # to purge when we work together, and they are definitely more eager if I spin it as 1) this will help make it easier to clean up the playroom or the child's bedroom (they seem to get that too many toys=overwhelming cleanup job) and 2) it is good to make room for new things before they start rolling into the house.

Sometimes they want to purge something I am not ready to get rid of (like DS1 is happy to do that, when I might want the item for DS2!). We also rotate some toys out of play, which helps.

We do a big purge in the fall every year and then smaller ones more frequently.

[sidmand]

I usually do it myself because I figure what they don't know is missing, they'll never miss. I have tried to get them to help (they are 4 and 7 now) but usually the 7 year old purges all of the 4 yo's toys and vice versa! It's working slightly better now, but...

I definitely do it around this time every year and once in awhile other times. We have WAY too much stuff and I know that. And I know I feed that! I put aside stuff I think I can sell (eBay, Craigslist, etc.) that are either very similar to things they have (i.e., Tegu and Magnatiles), that they have outgrown and I don't expect anyone else in the family to use, or that they never took to.

If there are things that just don't get played with now but I think (or hope) will at some point, I just put them away for now and plan to revisit in 6 months or a year whether they'll be sold, purged, or kept.

Most of the toys I put on Freecycle. Very few are either in horrible shape and I just toss or I sell.

[edurnemk]

DS is almost 5 and still has second thoughts about what he chose to donate, and changes his mind constantly, begging to have his stuff back. Even worse, if I have him sort with me he'll find a toy he hasn't played with in a year and doesn't even remember yet whine about how he still uses it and wants it and won't give it away. But I want him to learn to let go, and share and help the less fortunate, so I do it in 2 phases:

Phase 1: I sort through all his toys, purge and organize on my own while he's at school. I put all toys selected for donation in a box where he can't find it, and later take it to Good Will when he's not around. If I'm unsure about a certain toy(s), I'll put it in a bin on the top shelf of the closet, if after 2-3 months he hasn't asked about it (because he probably doesn't even remember he has it), I donate it.

Phase: I leave a couple of seldom used toys for him, so later I have him sort and select a given number of toys to donate, he can pick those. I give him a specific number (i.e. you have to donate 5 cars) and I tell him it's the only way Santa is bringing anything because otherwise he'll know there's no room for new toys. I also explain how it will be easier to clean up his room so I'll nag him less.

His bday is 3 weeks after Xmas, and he and DD are the only g-kids on both sides, so saying he gets spoiled this time of year would be an understatement. I get so overwhelmed this time of year thinking of the loads of cr@p he'll be getting (especially from the IL's) I go into mega-purge mode.

[belovedgandp]

I do a phase 1 where the kids pick a few things themselves. Most years they are amazingly brutal and I do very little after that.

Then on my own a do a rearrange. Just moving what we have in the house around makes it seems different. Different toys go to the closet/basement for big toy rotation and I just mix up baskets/storage/location in the family room and play room. I can get rid of a few more in that process if I need to. When I'm moving I'm thinking about the gifts that are coming in for Christmas and it also gives the stuff they have new life.

[karstmama]

i do it myself. so far the only thing he's ever asked for again was a dvd about numbers.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I do the vast majority solo. Sometimes I get them to help but over the years I've decided it's easier alone.

[hillview]

I do it solo. I send DH out with the kids. I get rid of everything that is missing parts. I get rid of anything that isn't played with or that i find annoying. THings on the edge I put in the basement (just went down there -- LOADS of stuff from my last purge are there -- need to get rid of them, kids have not missed them at all).