How many toys do kids need? Is your little one’s room already filled with toys? Do you find it difficult to manage her toys? Do you often wonder why, despite so many toys your toddler does not play in his room for long or does not enjoy his playtime, as much as, you had expected he would? Are you one of the parents who feel that despite fewer toys during your childhood, you were still happy to play in your room as compared to your little one, who has loads of toys and is still clueless what to do with them? According to a recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Toledo in Ohio, US, kids who get many toys to play with, get easily distracted. The study suggests that these kids do not enjoy as much quality playtime as the kids with fewer toys do. Children who have fewer toys also display more creativity during playtime. Well, this answers the questions why children are bored despite more toys. They are simply baffled by the volume and are not able to decide which toys to play with and which ones to drop. Eventually, they do not like anything. This really begs the question, how many toys do kids need?

5 Ways to avoid Too Many Toys in your child playroom

If you want to change this in your household, here are five tips that will help improve play and reduce too many toys in your child’s playroom: Also Read: 64 gift ideas of toys for kids on their birthday

#1. Go minimalistic, Give-up Unwanted Toys

It is very important to choose quality over quantity. Find out toys you do not need at all and give them up. Look for the following -

• Toys your kids have outgrown – Only keep toys that are age-appropriate for your little ones. Give away the baby phonics toys, rattles, teethers, and block alphabets you no longer need. Donating to charities like Goonj is a good option to consider.
• Duplicates - If you ever got gifted multiples of the same toy, pick only one to keep. The others, if new can go into your gifts kitty to pass on to someone else or can be donated to the underprivileged children.
• Toy junk – Broken toys, missing game pieces, jigsaw puzzles, return gifts, broken dolls, car tyres, used up color boxes, half done art books and dried up art supplies all qualify as junk. Just throw them away.

#2. Place toys where kids can see them

Out of sight often goes out of mind when it comes to kids and their toys. So, have a shelf installed in the toy room or an open door cupboard where you can display your little one’s favorite toys. You can also make theme wise play areas (simply dedicate a corner or two) in the room so that your kiddo gets to play with a particular type of toy in a corner and place them back once done, instead of leaving it scattered over the place. Let there be an all dolls zone, with dresses and accessories arranged around. You could display the trucks and cars on wall shelves for easy accessibility and have a chef’s corner with a toy kitchen, vegetables, and grocery cart to tinker with. You could also create a reading nook with a comfortable bean bag and bookshelf, or go for an artists corner that houses all the painting supplies. However, you must teach your kids to leave everything organized for the next time they come to play.

#3. Rotate the stock of toys

Always ensure that the kids have a limited number of toys to play with even if they possess too many. The best way to do this is keep some toys out to play with and store the others. You could rotate the toys on a weekly or monthly basis or you could do so skillswise as you feel appropriate. This helps keep the child excited about toys while reducing the clutter in the room. Of course, if there is a doll your little does not sleep without, do not pack that. Exceptions can be there. As your kids grow you can take their opinion as to what toys need to go in.

#4. Buy Lesser Toys, Look For Alternatives

Are you are constantly in the habit of buying toys on every occasion? Do you gift toys whenever there are developmental milestones to celebrate, a skill your toddler masters, or successful three months without bed-wetting? Well, start looking for alternatives to toys. Present an experience to your little one, take her out for a family picnic, or plan a visit to the rail museum, planetarium, or the ice-cream parlor. Better still, shift to books. Start a mini library on the playroom wall and display some good, age-appropriate books for your kiddo to read. You could start a bedtime reading tradition. Just simply stop buying toys for every little reason. Also Read: 10 Toys you must buy to boost cognitive skills of your baby

#5. Rope in friends and relatives as well

Kids get gifted a lot of toys on their birthdays and festivals. Convey your ‘less toys’ policy to your friends and relatives. Ask them to help you out in your effort. You could either go for a no-gifts policy on birthdays or convey that you would rather prefer that all office colleagues pool in to buy one big play-station instead of multiple (often repetitive) gifts for your kids. Let Aunt and Granny bring a common gift and the Uncles chip in for theirs. Year long comic subscriptions, gift box subscriptions, gift certificates, and library memberships are great options to consider. You could also gift your kiddo a toy library membership to reduce the clutter at home. It is important to teach the kids to reuse their toys and not hoard similar kind of toys through repetitive buying, just because they like a particular toy type. Hopefully, this article has given you a fair idea of how many toys do kids need. Also read: 10 Best Learning Toys For Kids (12 – 18 Months Old) Want to share your mommy experience with other moms through words or images? Become a part of the Moms United community. Click here and we will get in touch with you

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