Toys! Toys! Toys!

02 Jun Toys! Toys! Toys!

Do you often feel like a gorilla, constantly bending over to pick up toys? How thrilled is your husband to come home and roller skate across the hallway on a set of dinky cars? Do you often feel they’re everywhere and you can’t get away from them? Put some order into it and gain some control. Here are some ideas to manage the toy traffic:

• Rotate your toys. Don’t have them all out all the time. Put some out of reach and put others away for a while. Then when the kids are bored, bring them down. Children will be excited, play with them more and appreciate better what they have. You will cut your clean up in half and they will “need” fewer toys.
• Keep big and easy to tidy toys at “ground level” in bins, on low shelves etc., but put smaller toys (legos, animals, playmobile, dinky cars etc.) that you don’t want to be always cleaning up out of reach. They can be on a high shelf in the room, or in a locked closet or cupboard. That way you can control the flow of toys to some degree through the house. You can insist the kids tidy a box of toys before you take out another. You prevent younger kids from dumping toys in order to find one toy. You have less to pick up at the end of the day.
• Organize your toys into bags, bins, boxes etc. so that similar toys are together. Mark the boxes with titles or pictures of what is inside so that clean up is easy and kids learn where things go when it’s time to tidy up.
• Have Toy Zones. Teach kids what rooms in the house are for toys, coloring, playdough, puzzles etc. Store the items in that specific area. Try to keep toy traffic between rooms minimal if non-existent.
• Keep toys permitted in bedrooms to a bare minimum. Why?  Bedrooms are for sleeping and it’s good for your children to develop good sleep routines.  You will avoid many problems down the road if you begin early. Children should learn to play in common areas (living room, kitchen, family room), especially with their friends. This will also reduce the clutter.  Bedrooms should be places for sleeping with only a couple of “comfort” toys, like teddy bears and books to read when they are older.  When you do this, you will avoid having your children getting into the habit of taking their friends (boys and girls) into their bedrooms when they are older. You will be able to provide better supervision and most importantly, the door will not be closed to you.
• Puzzles: Assemble your puzzle, flip it over and take a crayon to the back. Color code each puzzle piece. Now when you find a piece anywhere in your home, you know what puzzle it goes with  Put all the pieces of the puzzle in a Ziploc bag. Cut out the puzzle picture, color code the back of the puzzle picture and include it in the bag. Then put all the puzzles in a container out of reach. Have specific places where they will be assembled and you can best supervise them. I have mine locked in a cupboard near the kitchen table.  Consider also having a board upon which to build puzzles with many small pieces. That way when you say, “Times up”, you lift the board to a high up a shelf so that it can be re-started later without another sibling breaking it.
• To decrease the number of incoming toys:
  • Give relatives specific ideas on either good quality toys, board games, books, computer games, arts and crafts items etc. so you are not overflowing with junk.
  • Suggest relatives give a homemade coupon for a trip with grandma to a play, concert, museum, etc. so that your kids have gifts that bestow culture but more importantly greater friendship with relatives when possible
  • don’t feel toys are the only gift kids appreciate on their birthday. Children have to learn that we don’t need much, but what’s most precious are people. Write a poem, love letter, draw a picture and give it to your child. Have each person in the family give a gift of self—story, skit, song, drawing, joke etc. – to share.
  • If you are into birthday parties, ask people to not come with a gift but rather with a joke to share, an arts and crafts item, a good book or something to that effect. Be careful you don’t set your kids up to believe they should constantly be receiving and that joy is found in possessing quantity rather than in celebrating with loved ones.

• keep your eyes open for worthwhile toys that are durable, educational and reasonably priced. Check out the Annual Toy Report or ask friends for suggestions.
• Buy at garage sales or second-hand shops, but be careful that you don’t get into a collecting mode. Kids are not necessarily happier with more. As you take in new stuff, ask them to donate something they have to charity or just de-junk.
• Kids are kids and don’t expect your house to be neat as a pin. Be flexible, be willing to close your family room door and walk away from it, but do insist that some common areas are left toy free for the sanity of your husband and yourself. If you can’t do this because of the space limitations of your home, then please insist on your kids doing periodic tidying up of common areas, especially those your husband will walk through when he comes through the door.
• I have small decorative containers in all my common areas and on the second floor for quick tidying each day. Whatever toy is lying around that shouldn’t be there, I toss it in. Once the basket is full, I take it down to the basement to sort into the proper bins. This saves me having to constantly be going up and down the stairs and makes for very fast clean up before company comes.
• Cleaning up toys:
  • As soon as they can understand and follow directions, get children to contribute to the clean up. Make it fun (sing a song, put on some music), make it appropriate (proper length of time and amount relative to the age) and give it a time limit (let’s see how much we can clean up in 10 minutes.)
  • Break the job down and kids will co-operate better. Give them each a labeled container and ask them to fill it with appropriate toys or give them a section of the room to clean up. Assign quantity of cleanup according to age. Watch you don’t let your cleanaholic kids dominate while the rest become slackers. Each needs to pull their weight according to their age, not their interest level.
  • When you have a major job because your in-laws are coming, break the job up, and upon completion of each task give a boost with a small treat or some small perk. They’ll be keen. Or upon completion provide at your convenience a good movie, computer time or some other treat to show your appreciation for their great effort, perseverance and cooperation. You will gain more by learning how to motivate your kids positively than by yelling, disciplining and flying off the handle.  Also emphasize how much their efforts will make people happy, ie. dad, grandma, etc.

• Realize in all honesty kids do not need a lot of toys. Oftentimes, just some playdough, pots and pans, pencils and paper suffices for little ones. We live in a consumer society that is willing to empty your pocketbook for you. Provide what is good for their all-round education and enjoyment but don’t give into the mentality that more is better. Give your kids what they basically need and be firm in saying, “Honey we don’t really need anything else. We are happy with what we have and we don’t need more to make us happy. People are what count. Let me play with you and show you how happy you can be with me, rather than another toy.” You will find your kids will grow up more resourceful, more imaginative, more creative and less likely to be swayed by fads, gimmicks, advertising and the pressure to have.
• As kids get older and want more expensive gizmos, don’t give in right away. When you do, it sends the message of want, get. Instead, discuss it with your husband and then have your child wait a month, a couple of months etc. Sometimes the waiting takes the impulsive desire away. Kids also learn to appreciate more. They also build fortitude. Older kids should contribute to the cost of items they desire when it is not Christmas or their birthday. They can work off the cost by tasks you assign at home, above and beyond their normal chores. When kids earn things through their own efforts, they are more apt to appreciate it and you have taught them good life lessons.
• Teach them young that money is not just for pleasure, but to be put at the service of the family’s well-being and the needs of others.  When they start making some money, help them contribute to the cost of their soccer lessons, donating to charitable causes, and adding it to their savings.
• Playing is an important part of childhood and leaving kids to play creatively as they wish develops imagination, resourcefulness and good use of freedom. When your kids are small, it’s good to take the time to play with them, and have them play beside you while you are working. Don’t feel obligated to always entertain. As soon as their ready, let them help you how they can to broaden their skills and interests.
• Few toys, great imagination, a love for the outdoors, arousing curiosity, learning to read and pursuing a variety of hobbies establishes important routines of rest that will help them all their lives. Play is important no matter what our age. Help your kids to be creative at play and discover so much about themselves and getting along with others in the process.

• As your family grows, you will find your kids have very few toys and what they appreciate most is playing some simple things with siblings. What your kids appreciate most are brothers and sisters. No toys can replace having someone to play with.