Minimal toys | Imamother

amother

Mon, Oct 12 2020, 7:03 pm

As much as I try to pair down my toys I find it not working. Contrary to all minimalists, the more toys my kids have the more they play. For example my daughter will play with a bucket of Legos and build a house and put in doll house toys, mentchies etc..the more toys, the more to spread around the family and for friends. What am I missing (besides for the neat home. Lol)

southernbubby

Mon, Oct 12 2020, 7:11 pm

I recently bought a balance board from the Five Below website and it is supposed to be used for exercise but the kids are crazy about it. It's very sturdy and your kids will use it in numerous ways.

amother

Mon, Oct 12 2020, 7:15 pm

southernbubby wrote:

I recently bought a balance board from the Five Below website and it is supposed to be used for exercise but the kids are crazy about it. It's very sturdy and your kids will use it in numerous ways.

Not what am I missing in terms of toys. What am I missing in my ability to pair down my toys. How is it that ppl find their kids playing more with less toys. My kids are just the opposite

SuperWify

Mon, Oct 12 2020, 7:15 pm

I hear you sister. I own minimal toys and each toy is sorted into a bin in its own category. But who wants to just play with cars or animals or LEGO or blocks or the farmhouse? It’s way more fun to dump out all the containers and play with all of them at once.

Here’s what I try to do- 3 open bins for random trucks dolls and mentchies. They can be used in combination with other toys. Ie- the open bins and manga tiles or the open bins and the mega blocks. This way cleanup isn’t that hard. One closed bin at a time- bins are not easily opened by little hands or they are high up and must ask mommy to open.

amother

Mon, Oct 12 2020, 7:18 pm

SuperWify wrote:

I like your system. But altogether do you really have a minimal amount of toys?

southernbubby

Mon, Oct 12 2020, 7:20 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Not what am I missing in terms of toys. What am I missing in my ability to pair down my toys. How is it that ppl find their kids playing more with less toys. My kids are just the opposite

I buy the toys that I like doing with the kids and my house is toy city.
I don't believe that kids play more with less toys but some kids will spend hours with Playmobil and Lego and ignore the dolls and stuffed animals so you can get rid of the toys that they are not interested in.

amother

Mon, Oct 12 2020, 7:21 pm

southernbubby wrote:

I'm wondering if the ppl who claim kids play more with less toys just don't have kids who know how to play Smile

amother

Salmon

Mon, Oct 12 2020, 7:32 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

the more toys my kids have the more they play.

Before you know it, they'll be teenagers who want to go out three times during chol hamoed.

SuperWify

Mon, Oct 12 2020, 7:42 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I like your system. But altogether do you really have a minimal amount of toys?

Yes I think I do.

Closed bins:
Manga tiles
Mega blocks
Blocks
Play do
Craft bin- Paper, markers and stickers
Cars
Animals
IKEA train set
Pegs

Open bins of:
Mentchies
Trucks
Dolls

2 fisher price farms

Zehu.

Lots of books kept in child’s rooms and few Jewish books kept in my loving room to be read after candle lighting.

Last edited by SuperWify on Mon, Oct 12 2020, 7:43 pm; edited 1 time in total

amother

Pewter

Mon, Oct 12 2020, 7:43 pm

southernbubby wrote:

I recently bought a balance board from the Five Below website and it is supposed to be used for exercise but the kids are crazy about it. It's very sturdy and your kids will use it in numerous ways.

Link please!

tigerwife

Mon, Oct 12 2020, 7:43 pm

My kids get very very creative when they mix their toys. It’s definitely neater to have that perfectly separated toy closet and just enough toys to fit in the closet. However, I don’t mind it too much because of how they use their imagination when they transform my family room into toy land. I’ve learned to get over myself though and toss the toys that are broken or have pieces missing.

lilies

Mon, Oct 12 2020, 8:08 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I'm wondering if the ppl who claim kids play more with less toys just don't have kids who know how to play Smile

I think it's less (fewer?) toys that they play with long enough for organizing headache to be worth it.
I can count on one hand those toys that qualify for me. Legos, Monopoly, Uno and art stuff.

amother

Mon, Oct 12 2020, 8:34 pm

Superwify and lillies, other toys that get lots of use are

Dress ups
Games
Puzzles
Doll carriage, dolls, doll clothing
Toy oven and food
Stuffed animals
Doll house (not so much) doll house accessories (a few sets. They use tons)
Clics

This in addition to Legos, magna tiles, train set, cars, animal, car mat, trucks.

I have a few toys that are character related that don't get much use but the child who it was bought for has a difficult time parting with things. Otherwise only have a few toys that get used sporadically.

This is all I can remember right now

amother

Mon, Oct 12 2020, 8:36 pm

tigerwife wrote:

The mix doesn't bother me. I find they play with more of the toys when mixing. For example the girls will use the lego or magna tiles but only if they have the doll house accessories and mentchies out. That's why I'm saying that the more toys I own I find them playing more, not less.

Rachel Shira

Mon, Oct 12 2020, 8:37 pm

I don’t own minimal amounts of toys but I rotate them so there are 8-10 things out at a time. I have them in baskets or displayed on cube shelves Montessori style. There are a few things that stay out all the time (not included in the 8-10 rotated toys) like the doll and stroller, balls, toy food, a basket of toys for the baby, etc, but for everything else I change it up when I see it’s not being played with anymore. I do find my toddler plays better and more independently when there are fewer choices at a time and when it’s switched up periodically. Also, even if everything is dumped out, it only takes 3 minutes to clean it up (and easy for him to help).

southernbubby

Mon, Oct 12 2020, 8:44 pm

amother [ Pewter ] wrote:

Link please!

I don't know how to do that on this phone but if you go to five below/fitness, you can easily find it. It's concave so that the kids can balance.

lilies

Mon, Oct 12 2020, 8:47 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Lots of use does not equal the headache of owning it.
You need to come up with some criteria for what would qualify keeping a toy within a child's reach. If you can't get rid of the rest, put them in storage and rotate every half a year.

amother

Mon, Oct 12 2020, 9:55 pm

lilies wrote:

Most are out of reach up on shelves. The ones barely used are either away in boxes, in the shed or in back of the closet.

What would be criteria for eliminating a toy completely (besides for broken toys, cheap toys never used)

amother

Amethyst

Tue, Oct 13 2020, 3:19 am

I agree with you. My kids have A LOT of toys! And Baruch Hashem they play beautifully! When my first was a toddler, my mom said "Wow, what a pleasure to buy a toy for a kid who will actually PLAY with it!" They have cousins who don't have a lot of toys in their house because all they do with them is throw them around. We definitely have a whole bunch that don't really get played with very often, but it's worth it to me to keep it in the closet for those days when the kids are bored and I can't go out and I can pull out one they haven't seen in months and they'll play for the afternoon.