Swapping Out Toys Suggestions

Hide some of the toys and take them out on a cold, winter day when you can't go outside.

We have a Mom website where Moms take toys to families who cannot afford them. I have packed some up and donated them.

One yr I let a friend borrow some toys and I never asked for them back !

How often is your little one with his grandparents? Maybe suggest that some of the toys be kept at their house for his visits. That way you won't feel the need to lug toys back and forth to keep him entertained.

Well, we did do this on a regular basis, but we have basement storage. Lots of it. Do you have a garage where your husband could screw in some brackets, buy a wide board and put the little people stuff up on that higher shelf? We had a lot of the vintage little people stuff, I've sold most of it, and those buildings were always sitting on top of the storage shelves/cupboards, they are so bulky and odd-shaped.Open storage may be the answer for those pieces.

What has helped is to sometimes offer less-precious toys for others to borrow, understanding that they might return with pieces missing or in less than perfect condition.

Another idea would be to ask the grandparents to keep some of it at their house as special toys to play with there. I have a girlfriend who does this with annoying noise toys.... just tells her folks "hey, the boys love this, and I think it would be awesome as a special thing when they come to your place". Or be even more honest-- "we just don't have much room to store this, and can't keep all these toys out, but I know son would love to do some fun things with you. Maybe we could consider those outings as presents?" Or direct them to smaller-to-store but absolutely great presents like playdough, markers, paper, contact paper (it's spendy) for sticky paper collages, art supplies-- that sort of stuff is perfect and will get used up and go away!

I was doing the same thing... Trying to keep old toys to cycle back in, and for possible future children. I gave it up. Lol. It is MUCH simpler to simply sell, give away, or donate most toys than to bother with storing them. I do have a few that were more expensive, or hold sentimental value that I keep, but other than that, I donate or give them away to friends with younger children.

Like you, my DDs grandparents seem to think she needs more toys than she does. I simply do a trial run by taking a toy for a few weeks, then if she doesn't ask for it it disappears. As she is getting older, I have had her help me choose which toys to send to someone else.

Good idea.
What about in the rafters in your garage? If you have just beams you can
put big pieces of plywood across them so it's like have an "attic".
Try storing things in the upper shelves of all closets. Get rid of whatever
is stored in them currently that you don't need.
Do you have any cabinets in the garage? If so, put small bins in them w/
the smaller toys stored in those. The bins help w/spiders, bugs & rats.
You can also, store things in clear plastic bins in a shed if you have one
of those.
Take apart big toys that you have put together. Do this just for storing then you can put them back together again when you are ready to put them out again.

I think swapping out toys is a great idea. We did that, and it worked well.
But you only have so much space.
At some point you need to get rid of stuff, sell, donate, throw out, whatever.
If the grandparents complain, just be honest, you appreciate their generosity but you simply don't have room to keep it all.
Suggest they keep some of their future purchases at their house, for when you all visit.

I did the toy swap with my kids when they were little and we lived in a house with very little storage area (no garage or closet space). We did have a basement and the steps to the basement had a landing in the middle. That is where I would store a lot of the toys for the "swap". No one but me ever went downstairs (because I was the only one capable of doing laundry, lol). So it didn't bother me to have them stored on the landing. Plus it made things easier when I swapped the toys out again. Occasionally, one of the kids would go with me down stairs and find a "new" toy. That was usually when it was time to swap. You can put your stored toys under the bed, under a utility sink, in an unused bathtub / shower or even in the shed outside.

Here are a couple things we did. First of your little one is still in a crib the space under the bed is perfect for those big fisher price and playschool toys. Second put some shelves in his/her closet and put a hook on it. Do the trading out of toys when little one is asleep. If he/she is in a bed you can get under bed storage containers. Or a trundle bed with the big drawer that pulls out. Skip the second mattress and use the drawer for toys. (That you want to hide don't show little one that the drawer pulls out.

We hung shoe organizers on the backs of all the kids doors. You can store little people, Lego's, Lincoln logs, art stuff, CD' s, music stuff, movies etc. Books, crayons etc. Show organizers come with multiple sized pockets that are clear so you can see what is in them.

My son is 18 and has all kinds of computer and video game stuff and also at supplies.

Yep, that's our den corner. Now we have to get her to let go of them. I take them to Kid to Kid and what they don't buy, I take to Goodwill.

My children were the only grandchildren, nieces, and nephew on my side of the family so we use to get overwhelmed with toys all the time. It's was pretty easy to see what they liked and what they weren't going to play with so after a week. If things weren't opened I'd return them to the store. If they played with it for a while and lost interest I'd consign them at a local consignment store. What didn't sell I'd donate to Goodwill.

Better to have they go to some child who will play with them than have them sitting in bins in my attic.