Getting Rid of Kids Toys...

Use the opportunity to teach her about DONATING. Help her out picking the toys she no longer plays with and explain her about other kids no having them. She will feel like a big girl (which she is) and will help others. Good luck :)

DO NOT do it while she isn't there!!! That will cause her emotional harm!!! Go in there with her and tell her you are going to bag the stuff up that she isn't using and you will store it in the garage for a month. IF she really misses something and asks for it, you can get it out for her (but limit that to 2 things). However, if she hasn't missed it in that time, you will donate it. I guarantee you she won't miss it and then you can donate it. Then start a new "tradition" with her. That a month before her bday and a month before xmas (assuming they are not close together), you BOTH will go thru her room and downsize so she is ready to get new "gifts" and will have a place to put them. This has really worked well for my kids, they are 12 and 9. Good luck!

You might have to hurry--school is out soon! LOL

While she's GONE, go in there with a few HUGE bags or bins.
Make a Pitch bag and a donate bag. Fill them up (she won't notice the little stuff is gone and you KNOW what to keep for sure).
Pitch the pitch bag and drive the donate bag to a re-sale, Goodwill, or nearby pre-school.

OR you could suggest that she has her own Kid Garage Sale and she gets to KEEP the moolah! (More work for you, but profitable for her.)

You MUST get a handle on this now. While you COULD just clean it out yourself, I think it is better to have the kid help you.

Do what they do on that show "Clean Sweep." Clear everything out, put it in the yard, and then make 3 piles: Keep, Toss, & Donate. The only things that can be kept are what fits on the designated area. Perhaps use a swimming towel, sheet, rug or whatever you think is big/small enough to make progress. Let her go through the toys with you. Toss all broken toys, or toys that have significant missing parts. Donate toys that she has outgrown. Keep only what fits on the rug. Daycare centers would be quite happy to have a kitchen set or the cottage. GREAT for their dramatic play areas.

When she is done sorting them, if you are up to it, let her choose a new paint color and bedding & redecorate.

Maybe you could talk to her about how some kids don't have ANY toys to play with. Maybe even take her to volunteer an hour or two at a homeless shelter or something (if it's something you feel she can handle, and if there is one you feel comfortable taking her to in the area). Then point out how many toys she has, that she doesn't even use. Have her help you pick out the toys she really wants to keep, and donate the rest. It may even help just to do one box at a time for a couple months, so that it doesn't seem like ALL her toys disappear at once.

oh my. i really really disagree with the suggestions to sneak in and do it while she's gone. it would certainly be easier for you, and i'm all about moms making things easier on themselves when possible. but sneaking has an element of dishonesty that is never healthy. kids need to know that they can trust and rely on their parents 100%, and this will introduce a seed of anxiety and distrust. and beyond that, kids do need to develop appreciation and learn to care for what they have. kids who are buried in stuff and suddenly feel that each one is the favorite are working on becoming selfish and entitled. it's natural for them to feel that way, don't get me wrong. but part of parenting is teaching them, isn't it?
be upfront with her. make her work WITH you. pick one toy per week (or whatever you decide) and have her go with you to donate it to a shelter or to goodwill. talk to her about kids who have few or no toys. have HER think about how long it's been since she played with a particular toy, and how important it REALLY is to her. have her help you organize the ones she's got.
this isn't a quick fix. but it's a fantastic opportunity for you to make a lifelong positive impact on how she regards possessions.
khairete
S.

I always have to sort toys when my 5.5yo is gone! Does not work with him here. Suddenly they are ALL his favorites!

I have the same problem and my sons are 18 & 14. So let me tell you, it doesn't get easier.

Some people may disagree with this but I used to go in when my kids were gone and box up stuff. 99% of the time they didn't miss anything.

You could always keep things in storage for a bit and see if they're missed.

The downside of doing it on the sly is that you won't be teaching her how to manage her things.

We have had a big yard sale and we made about $300. That was fun for my kids. Plus we were all much more aware of how much junk we keep laying around.

I'm terrible with this issue so I can empathize. Good luck.

ETA: Now that I have read some of the other mom's responses about doing it while they're away . . . I feel bad. :( But honestly I have one kid who has absolutely no idea how much stuff he has. But I think the other moms make a good point. So it really depends on your situation.

Don't throw out toys while she is gone. You could, however, sort her room into piles. One that you think she'll want to save, two that you think should be thrown out (broken stuff), and three that you can donate. Then when she gets home from school work together to validate the piles and package up the things for donation. This is a total teachable moment about kids who don't have enough toys and would get a ton of joy out of her hand me downs. If there are items that you two can't agree on, create a bin to put in the garage and reevaluate in three months.

We clean out toys every three months with no fighting from my kids because they've totally gotten used to it. Also, every toy MUST have a spot in our playroom. If it's blocked by another toy or doesn't fit nicely on the (very large) toy shelf, it gets rotated into the barn for thee months and then brought back out when another set of toys is moved to the barn.

For ME, I have a bit of a compromise between doing it when she's there and when she's gone. Doing it while she is there is much more emotional and traumatic. I've tried and tried to get her to throw away/donate/sell stuff and she ends up finding toys that she forgot about and wants to now play with them. Or she can't let them go! Every time we've done this she's ended up crying and crying because she can't keep everything and she's overwhelmed.

So, I do what one mom suggested. I sort her toys for her when she's not there. I throw away everything that's broken (she always wants to keep broken toys). Then I put everything I know she plays with often back on the shelves or in their proper bins.

Things I haven't seen her play with go in a big box that goes in the garage. This includes toys that are too young for her or things I've never seen her play with or that she hasn't touched in 6 months.

Things I'm not sure about go in a box that stays in her room. These are toys that she may or may not want to play with that are for her age.

Together we go through the box of things I'm not sure about. She is MUCH less overwhelmed and there is room on the shelves to keep some stuff. I let her keep some of her baby toys and collectables in a box that goes in the attic. Some of her nice Barbies and stuff she wants to keep for her kids.

The deal with the box in the garage is if she asks for the toy within the month I go out and get it for her. She knows it's there, but she's not allowed to look inside. She has never asked to look inside nor has she ever asked for any of the toys inside.

I donate the toys. Letting her see them again is too traumatic.

This has made us both happier! I figure it's a compromise between getting rid of her stuff when she's not around and helping her to do it. I also have been trying to be much better about watching what comes into the house.

Good luck!

In this case, I'd wait until she's gone. Empty the room, and start over. Change her bedding and curtains, move the furniture around. Then just refill it with what works now. Cull all the broken toys. Donate all the truly outgrown toys. Put the kitchen and cottage and other toys she loves but doesn't have everyday room for in the garage. That way, you can still pull it out when she wants toplay with it. COver her eyes and make a big reveal when she comes home.

Make this into a teachable moment about money. Have a toy-only yard sale. Invite a few of your mommy friends to do the same at your place (to make it worth customers stopping).

Tell her that all of the money that she makes will be hers to buy whatever she wishes (nail polish, new toys, swimsuit)... She will not try to keep everything because she knows that to sell is to earn more money to buy new things.

Have her present and talk through each toy. Set up bins labled, keep, donate, sell, and toss. Explain to her that some toys would be great giveaways for kids who have nothing nor money to buy things and that she should consider this when sorting things. Tell her, some toys are very collectible or valuable to some and they would like to buy them if she has no use for them anymore. Then tell her she can keep the money if she sells them at a consignment shop or a garage sale. Lastly, teach her when it's time just throw things out. Explain that when things can not be fixed or no longer used, or are just plain unsafe, they need to go and have her toss them in the toss bin.

She needs to be part of the process so she can have a sense of control and participation, and most importantly the ability to speak up if there is something special she wants to keep, even if she's too old for it. She will also learn about caring for and sharing her things when she doesn't need them anymore. JMO

The selling things and getting money for the piggy bank to save or buy something new is a big hit around here. Helps keep junk piles low for sure.

Do what I do, do it when she is gone.

I recently went through this trying to hold a garage sale and my son kept wanting to keep stuff. If it is something you can sell on Craig's list or at a yard sale, tell her she can use part of the money to buy something new she really wants that is more for a big girl. It worked for me!

Send her away for the day with dad or grandma....go in with hefty bags. Bag up what you will donate. Take it to the donation center before her return. She won't even know what has been donated. She will get over it if she does.

My daughter is 7 and it has been a rough road, but she will now help with this.I never liked the do it when she is gone thing. I always felt like I was taking her things (even tho I bought them) without her permission, like I wasn't respecting her space. I feel that if I what her to respect me and others, I start by treating her with respect.
I matter of fact tell her, we need to clean your room out, we are going to do it next weekend. We give toys and clothes to friends with younger kids as well as donation. We talk about what friend might like what toy or thing and why.
When the day comes, I start in with her (she doesn't always stick around) pulling old toys and clothes putting them in bags. If she protests about a certain thing, I ask her 'why? you don't play with it? is it really special? If it is - I let her put it aside and tell her that she can take out 3 things from our pile that she wants to keep.
I will say things as I am going through. 'Wow some little kid is going to be really happy that you are generous, sharing your toys.' 'Doesn't it feel good to start fresh and help people?' 'Remember how much X liked playing with that when she was here, she is going to smile when you give it to her, what a good friend you are.' I feel silly about it, but after years of doing it this way, she helps and she is happy about it or she will get bored and go play and I do it. After we are done, we go pick out a new toy that she has wanted too.

Look into the website flylady.com. She has a section just on helping kids declutter voluntarily. I think at 6 1/2, she should be involved in the process- it builds good habits for the future and gives the opportunity for so many more life lessons- generousity, a clean environment, accountability for her stuff. You could figure out a reward for the purge as well ($ from the sale of the items on Craigslist goes toward a new bike, room decorations, Justin Beiber poster... Whatever she wants). Good luck!

She is only a child, she is afraid of change. You will have to do it for her while she is in school. If it looks really nice & organized like when I did my daughters she probably won't miss it. Over time I took one big thing out a day & put it in the guest bedroom if she didn't mention it for a week, the next week I gave it away to a friend with a younger child. That is how I got rid of the big stuff. The small stuff I just had a bag in the guest bedroom & when it filled up I would again just gift it off or donate it for the tax right off. Didn't have any heartache this way.