S/O How many toys do you think is just enough? How many is too few?

[elizabeth.scalf]

I have trouble getting rid of the variety in the open-ended play kinds of toys. For instance, I just got rid of a plastic little ice cream cone balance stack-em-up game. No brainer. But when it comes to puzzles, I love that she loves to do puzzles, so I wouldn't want to limit her to only 2 or 3. She has about 6 24-piece and a few larger. When she's in a puzzle mood I want her to be able to do as many as she wnts. I know with blocks, there's a point where it's too many, but we haven't reached that yet. If she had more than she does now, I know she'd build bigger things or play for longer.

[rileykidmama]

I can't name all of dd's toys, but they fit into her bedroom with room to spare. We only have two bedrooms, so there is no play room. The play room is E's bedroom. Books and board games are in the living room because everyone enjoys those. Her desk and school/craft supplies are also in the living room because she'd play with her toys and not do her work if the desk was in her room. Other than those things, all toys are in her room; this helps us keep her toy collection in check. Things come in, and in turn, things go out.

[TypeAMom]

I think our biggest problem has to do w/ depth of each toy category.

For pretend play:
kid-size armoire w/ dress up clothes: barely gets used, put dress up stuff in bed drawers and put armoire in attic
play kitchen with separate kid-size cabinet with hutch and an insane amount of food, cookware, dishes, etc. (more at grandparents house, too): gets used daily, might be her favorite toy, put some stuff in rotation
kid-size cabinet w/ sink w/ dolls, clothes, baby care items: used every or every other day, put cabinet, a doll and most clothes and accessories in rotation as I thought about it and most aren't used regularly
doll cradle: currently in rotation
doll seat, put in rotation
folding doll stroller: currently in rotation
doll high chair that was mine: still in attic
antique doll changing table currently in rotation b/c she kept standing on it and it's not stable
plastic drawer of stuffed animals and 1 big stuffed animal: used daily, put large one in rotation
tool kit
tool bench in basement that's rarely used b/c it's too big to put in play room
medical kit
grocery cart, donated
mail box set
little tikes table and chairs
set of tabletop slanted bins: in attic
getting another doll for X-Mas, asked sis to wait on this hand-me-down until birthday

Building toys:
wooden blocks
alphabet wooden blocks
duplos (kind of a lot)
getting lincoln logs for x-mas
bristle blocks: almost feel like she's not old enough for these yet, put these in rotation

vehicles/figures:
little people house, farm, store and zoo with accessories (recently purged a ton and think these are ready for attic storage until she's older and can decide what she wants to keep), packed up all except store for memories
9 chevron cars: currently in rotation
have 3 HUGE bins in attic with Barbie stuff for 2+ years from now
massive playmobil collection in attic for 1+ years from now
wooden dress up dolls, put in rotation
got woodkins for X-Mas, not too interested so put in rotation

Educational toys & books:
over 125 books, but 50 are for 1+ years from now
4 games, put 2 in rotation
3 sets of flash cards, put 2 sets in rotation and trashed 3rd set
sensory tub, put in rotation
wood blocks w/ numbers and corresponding # of things on them
10 puzzles
5+ educational games in attic
3+ sets of flashcards in attic
leap frog fridge phonics, put in rotation

creative play:
bin of playdough and tools (no one-use sets)
small bin of musical instruments
xylophone, put in rotation
tons of craft supplies & paint, organized
chalkboard + chalk: on fridge so not in the way

movement/outdoor toys: most stored in basement for season
sit & spin: barely used so got put in attic, not sure if I should save for later
2 tricycles
1 little tikes mini-van
1 bike for 2+ years from now
outdoor playhouse
sandbox
indoor tents with tunnels: in rotation
yoga mat, put in rotation
climbing structure
misc balls, garden tools, etc.

1 small bins of odds and ends, went through and it's now only 1/3 full
movies
huge bead maze, gave to a family member
lacing beads and cards

One sore spot is things that belonged to my sisters and I or stuff I adore, like the play kitchen stuff. She's like an only child 95% of the time so I play with her a lot and it's like I've created the play kitchen I'VE always wanted.

Also, we got most of this stuff free or very cheap by way of freecycle, craigslist, thrift stores, hand-me-downs from friends, family, my stuff from when I was a kid, etc. and it's mostly housed in our 10 x 10 playroom (use to be a rarely used dining room).

Have made progress but would LOVE suggestions on what to completely get rid of.

[madebymommy]

We are overrun with toys, even after the big purge I just did! I pleaded with my parents and in laws to not go crazy this year on gifts and to my surprise and pleasure, they didnt! Each child is getting one gift per grandparent (innotab 2s from mine, a bat cave, American girl outfits and a bike from DH's) and we did one big gift per child, a new Wii for all of us, and then coloring and writing supplies and books. I still need to purge more, there is stuff ALL over my house and it makes me crazy!

[moonlightblonde]

I'm needing to jump back into this area. Things have crept in again.

We have a bin of legos, a bin of wooden trains, two soft bodied dolls, a build a bear dog & its magnetic puppy filled with soothers, a winnie the pooh stuffed animal that was bils & he passed on, a creepy stuffed mouse that her uncle made while away working on a cruise line for 10 months, one hard plastic doll, 4-5 silk scarves, 2 wooden puzzles, a small wooden kitchen with a few wooden dishes/food items, a foam alphabet floor mat since our dining room floor is too cold otherwise, one bin of soft baby toys & teethers, a foam couch, an exersaucer & a walker. Crayons, paper, a small container of play dough toys.

Oh gosh giant list. I have trouble with sentimental things.

[texanromaniac]

For my Bug, I am getting rid of anything that doesn't fit into seven particular categories and into certain amounts of space.

These are my categories...

1. Wooden train set. He has a simple figure eight set with an engine, caboose, and two cars. His Granny also gave him a very small Thomas set with a round set of track and a Thomas engine. We also gave him a small Thomas set from us with an oval set of track and three engines. It will be rounded out with enough track to connect what he's got together to fit onto the top of his train table with no extra pieces, since the connectors on a couple of the pieces have broken since last year when he got his train sets. The train table was a Craigslist find for $20 that was his b-day present in 2011 from Grandma and Grandpa...he wants us to paint it to match his room when he moves into a "big boy" room the end of next month. All his train stuff except the roundhouse breaks down to fit in ONE of the two drawers in the train table.

2. Wooden building blocks. He's got about 20 pieces of blocks from an IKEA set and a small set of 100 blocks from us that we gave him last Christmas. That will complete that category and all blocks fit in ONE of the two drawers in the train table.

3. Duplo blocks. He has not even a full little plastic tub of these. As long as they stay contained in their tub on the closet shelf except during playtime then he could even have a few more, but the tub full is it. Same will go with regular Legos once he switches over to them in a couple years.

4. Pretend play. This includes dress-up clothes (some of which he already has and the rest we will get off Freecycle as we can...no buying of stuff)...as well as a few play dishes and pans. The dishes and pans don't even fill a little basket and the dress-up clothes don't take up even one drawer of his three drawer toy organizer. He also has a small wooden workbench that holds a real toolbox full of play tools on the bottom shelf of it, with a toy drill, toy saw, and hard hat too.

5. Stuffies. This category is more than full, but I'm not sure where/how to weed it down. He absolutely HAS to have his dog Dobbie, his little tiger Cooper, and two puppies to sleep...and he is rather attached to Buzzbee his Zoobie bee, Ruffy his Pillow Pet dog, Scruffy the floppy dog that used to be mine, and the Buzz and Woody that he got passed down from his Uncle A. I can't get rid of the dog that was DH's fave either without causing a scene. He also has a stuffed Darth Vader, a stuffed ambulance from when he was in the hospital, and THREE more little stuffed doggies!!

6. Animal figures. These are those small plastic animals you can find in bins at Michael's, Jo-Ann's, Target, and ToysRUs for a couple dollars each (and which I only buy at Michael's or Jo-Ann's with a 40%-50% off coupon). Wild animals and farm animals both. We will cap it at a plastic shoebox full...but he's only got four animals right now, so that's an easy gift suggestion to tell people that doesn't take up much space OR cost a lot.

7. Matchbox/Hotwheels. Grandma and Grandpa gave Bug a small plastic car organizer and a couple cars for Christmas 2011. He only has it about half full at the moment, but we will set the cap at the organizer being full.

Now I know this may seem even too much for many of ya'll...especially when I mention the two Dollar Tree hula hoops, the sand and water table, and the hand-me-down scooter outside...the craft cabinet in the kitchen (with puzzles, crayons, paint, etc)...and the not-currently working (but he still plays with it a LOT) ride on truck in the garage...but it seems a CRAZY lot more minimal than ANYBODY I am regularly around!! I am sure the other mommies feel so sad for my little Bug and feel he's rather toy deprived...but he really is a quite happy little dude who doesn't seem to act like he's missing out on too much by having fewer toys!!

I do still need to go through his books and decide what are keepers. I'm a little more inclined to hang onto books though....and those go on a shelf in my room.

[solarbabies]

I'll have to take a pic of all the toys we own. I am getting there...I am [] this close to having a perfect amount I think.

ETA: Back with pics

Kitchen and doll house. Inside the kitchen is a bunch of felt food and dishes. There is now some plastic food (came with the shopping cart she got for Christmas) that may or may not stay. Doll house was built by dh and decorated by me for dd for Christmas. All the dolls and family fit inside the black bins with lots of space to spare. Built to fit the bins on purpose. The cash register was a Christmas present that came with the shopping cart.


The bulk of the toys.
top green is wood blocks
bottom green is plastic animals
top red is little people cars, people, accessories, and animals.
bottom red is all things with wheels.
top blue is wooden trains and tracks (neither really enjoy these yet)
bottom blue is random toys...no more are allowed than what fit in this bin!


This is what bothers me...an entire toy box full of those huge legos. DD rarely plays with them but ds isn't really able to yet. So I hate to get rid of them when he might love them. Then the horse and the push ball popper

Top shelf is paper books that ds will eat so they are out of reach
below that is a bunch of leap frog things sil gave us that the kids don't use yet. Next is brown bin full of dress up stuff, pink bin full of board books. Next is our stuffed animal collection and dd's undies.

On top of the short shelf is books that are going (so just ignore them haha) then a blanket for dd's big girl bed that she isn't in yet, the wicker basket has sposies in it.

Their clothes are below

And the doll playpen hold the baby dolls and stuff for them. And the stroller.

The little people barn, airplane and bus not pictured. They also have a ride on toy. There are some outside toys as well (trike, 2 slides, swingset, bubbles, sand box toys, pool toys) This is for 2 kids ages 2.5 and 11 mths Looking at the pics I still feel they have too much. But I have a really hard time purging farther than this! But every month or so I go through the toys and always find a handful or 2 that we can purge. We will be living in a tiny house soon, so we will need to purge even more most likely. Not sure how many toys will fit. They will be sharing an 8x11 loft so 2 beds, their clothes, and all toys need to fit. Most likely there will be no room down below for toys.

[dagmomma]

I do not know how much we have but we stick to categories and try not to rome from them.
Boys

Toy story toys--includes potato heads, army guys, and barrell of monkeys
Dinosaurs
train tracks and trains
books
legos
cars
Sports

Girls and nb on the way

basically has one area--large PB canvos bag with

baby dolls
sophie
stuffed animals
tea set

We also have 2 wheely bugs and some mini mouse riding toys

[Dmpmercury]

I have too many

Playmobil School
Playmobil Slide
Playmobil Take Along Hospital
A few small playmobil sets
Old School Little People House
Old School Little People Fire station
Old School Little People Farm
Imaginext Fire station
Imaginext Castle
Melissa and Doug take along castle
Newer little People car, tractor, noah's ark, bull dozer
Wooden hospital set
Wooden animal set
Train tracks
Puzzles
Hungry Hungry Hippos
Zoob
Snap Circuit set
Tangrams
Pattern block set
Drill toy
Quercetti Techno toy
Quercetti Fantacolor Junior
Dolls
Stuffed animals
Animal sets Schlech and Animal Planet and generic target
City Blocks
Mag blocks
A few Hess trucks
Cars
Dress up clothes
Clothes for the dolls and stuffed animals
Small polly pocket sets
Magnetic dolls
Balls
Trampoline
Bilibo
Stepping stones
Hop ball
Inflatable horse
Tool bench with tools
Play food
Small punching bag

Outdoor toys
2 bikes
Balance bike
Wooden sled
Plastic sled
Tricycle

Plus the playroom will be getting a jungle gym sort of thing with a climbing wall, rope ladder swing and maybe a slide.

There are also crayons, construction paper, paper dolls, coloring books, workbooks, c-rods, colored pencils, crayons, and glue. We also have lots of books and some videos for the kids.

I'm so embarrassed listing that all out. Is that way too many? Should I pare down considerably? I am worse than a lot of people who thought they were bad.

[TypeAMom]

Originally Posted by solarbabies Doll house was built by dh and decorated by me for dd for Christmas. All the dolls and family fit inside the black bins with lots of space to spare. Built to fit the bins on purpose.

Love the doll house and the built-in storage!