How many toys do kids need for ultimate intellectual stimulation and creative development? How much stimulation do children get from a wider range of toys? We have two types of toys, high quality toys that we spend good money on, and random toys that I pick up at Goodwill. Usually the latter are of good quality, but may not be as highly reviewed as the toys I pay full price for. It’s things like the big foam alphabet puzzle that I picked up for a few dollars. The boys don’t really use it. I keep thinking it’s going to be great once we’re doing more spelling work. I love the idea of the boys jumping from letter to letter to improve recognition, and we’ve done that a few times, but mostly they are put away- because it drives me nuts that when they’re down they’re usually just scattered around the toy room unused. Should I just send them on to a new life with some other family? What about the small container of waffle blocks, or the bowling pin set, or the construction stuff. Is it good for kids to play pretend with construction tools- or just bring them out into the garage with me and let them use the real tools with me from time to time? (Scotland’s built some pretty cool airplanes with scraps of wood and nails. And Anders always joins in when I’m building.) What about the build-a-train with blocks set, that the boys play with for 15 minutes, and then move on? It’s wood, it’ll last forever, but it just doesn’t keep their interest- so more often than not it gets stored. Should I say thank you for the short moments of fun, and pass them on?
I just read The Magical Art of Tidying up. I’m nesting hardcore. And I’m an organizer/minimizer at heart. BUT my desire to raise creative, playful, imaginative children trumps my desire to have a clutter-free, perfectly organized home. So I’m willing to hold on to these things, but I need to know that they’re adding quality to my boys’ childhood.
So somebody tell me. Keep or purge?
4 responses to “Toys, toys, toys”
I invest much less research in choosing toys for my kids, so you’ll want to take that into consideration… From my experience, I have learned that my kids creativity is often brought out the most by utilizing toys in new inventive ways OTHER THAN the way they were designed. My kids work well independently and with each other. If a toy is always going to require mom or dad, it has to be a toy that I love enough to invest that time too. (This has boiled down to card/board games, cats cradle, crochet, etc) Keeping toys that have a lot of pieces are my nemesis and if my kids have to assemble/put away a horde of parts it doesn’t hold their interest and results in a huge mess that no one really wants to pick up every time.
My 4 and 8 year olds are crazy inventive. They can whip up a costume, reengineer a toy, create a new game or build something awesome. They just do it naturally. My children each have their own ways of being creative while playing.
The real turning point where I changed my view of what toys we purchase and keep was when my kids learned to dump. Each of my kids hits a phase where dumping out full drawers of toys is the most fun they could ever have. They aren’t playing with any particular toy at all, just dumping. It always made my home feel cluttered, even when it was constrained to one room so I’ve done away with most toys, especially if they’re small. Everything has to fit neatly away in our toy closet, on shelves or in baskets and be a real winner with the kids. ( I also no longer require my kids to hyper- sort toys because I expect even my older babies to help out) If it doesn’t fit in our storage system, something gets purged. Even Santa follows these instructions.
Because we always have small babies/toddlers around who like to try to eat everything chokable, we haven’t had the luxury of being able to work on a puzzle, building set or toy and leave it out until next time. We do LOVE Legos, but that’s an “at the table, put everything back when you’re done” type of toy. After building the Lego set by instruction once, my kids start making upgrades and tailoring the design or starting over making something purely from their heads. It’s pretty amazing what they come up with! And if they choose to mix up the pieces, I’ve learned to let go and be ok with that.
My kids can find just as much or more adventure with a few sticks outside as with a multi,mega-pieces expensive toy. Now that I have older children, most of their active interests are bike riding, sports, backyard Ninja warriors pretend obstacle courses, etc so the bigger battle isn’t what new toy so much as helping them learn self control and balance with technology in and outside of our home. (Apps and tablets are the new video games… And they’re accessible everywhere!)
There are definitely toys that are designed to cultivate higher thinking/problem solving, etc. Those can be worth the money when your children love them and actually use them how they are intended. For me, it’s more about sparking imagination and helping my kids be kids. That’s the best toy you could ever provide!
Ha! I have two active dumpers-of-toys right now, and my house is always a mess. I guess it is just a typical kid thing!
Sigh… I think of you often and the challenges you have mentioned regarding the toy clutter. Our living room (really, our EVERYTHING room), is constantly cluttered with toys, sofa cushions, blankets, stuffed animals, toddler clothes, and bottles/cups from the boys. We have two bookcases cluttered with tattered children’s books, toys, and random kid-related items (baby wipes, antibacterial hand gel, baby powder, lotion for my son’s dry skin, spare clothing, diapers). We also have bins for toys that get emptied almost as soon as they are filled. I have tried to limit the toys and/or provide attractive and durable bins for their storage. But, my efforts seem futile against the Grandparents’ desires to give gifts, my sister giving me her children’s old toys, and my rambunctious boys that act like little tornados. The majority of toys we have come as gifts: the Mr. Potato head, the slide, the two rocking horses, the two vacuums, the construction pegs, the 10 helicopters, the cars, the trains, the random noise makers, the basket ball hoop, the talking Elmo’s. The bigger toys are put away and brought out on special occasions (like the slide and the basket ball hoop). Some are stored and rotated so the novelty does not wear off (like some of the cars or noisy toys). Some are brought out with close supervision (the Mr. potato head, pegs, and craft items). We personally buy the boys very few toys: a ball, a set of stacking blocks, two small dump trucks, a baby doll for each of them, a small train for each of them, one large dump truck, a bead roller coaster, a play kitchen, and a Rody. That’s it really. Besides those items, the only other thing I might get the boys would be art supplies and books, but those also tend to come from Grandma. I like to give the boys real kitchen items to play with – spoons, Tupperware, oatmeal (indoor sand), pans, paper tubes from foil or towels, random pieces of paper or foil, plastic cups, funnels, basically anything they could play with and not cause harm. We also do “science” in the kitchen – I mix vinegar, baking soda and food dye to make volcanos for them in old bottles, and we practice mixing water with food dye in clear, plastic cups. Play cooking with dry oatmeal is a big hit as well. We store and rotate a lot of toys, give a bunch away, and more and more I try to convince the Grandparents to not us too many or to keep the toys at their house. The only toys we strictly limit are the electronic ones. We were given a kid iPad of sorts and some kind of talking book – both are still in their packages awaiting a give away bag. I just do not think the boys need the exposure to the electronics toys because they already see our phones, computers and TV, and I thinking regular old books are a better way of learning language than the electronics. I wish we had fewer toys overall, but I admit, some of the toys we have been gifted are big hits with the boys – a neighbor gave us her old cozy coup which the boys have been enjoying for over a year, my parents gave us the Mr. Potato head which continues to amuse the boys months later, and my sister gave us an old toy from her kids that made music and was really rather “over the top”, but the boys still enjoy it over a year later. Each of those toys keep the boys highly entertained, but they are only available occasionally because we limit them in some way. Perhaps the trick to keeping their interest? I guess, my biggest challenge besides limiting the Grandparents, is getting the boys to play less rough with their toys and books. Seriously, to get one car involves dumping an entire bin of toys, and to get one book involves dumping an entire shelf of books! They destroy lots of toys and lots of books. Not to mention, other household items (Our lamps are… Well, I will send you a picture. It is pretty sorry). Any suggestions for keeping our kids from destroying your house?
In my experience is its a relatively short phase of the clutter toys.. Unless like me you have baby after baby. Ha! We’ve moved a few times and I’ve tried to limit toys to their favorites and ones that use imagination.. Dolls, kitchen, balls for the boys, cars, plastic tools etc.. I even keep a few extra things around like action figures for “friends” that come over to play. But with most of my kids dress ups have always been the center of their play.. Everything else just adds to whatever they are pretending.. And usually they get creative with the accessories and use things not the way they are intended.. So I ask myself why I bothered to buy things so specifically. Once they hit about 8 they move on to bikes, hobbies, and big kid stuff. But we still have 3 under that age with another on the way to keep the toys flowing. Best of luck to you. You’ll figure out what works for your kids and your sanity. 🙂