Taming the Toys: 5 Minimalist Tips to Reduce the Number of Toys in Your Home

“Time to tidy up the toys,” I announced after dinner last month. 

My request was met by a novel “nooooo” from our 7-and-3-year-old daughters. 

My announcement wasn’t new—our evening routine includes a quick toy tidy before playing games as a family. Meaning that our girls tidy up their toys together…every night.

But the pushback? This was definitely new.

When we transitioned into minimalist living two years ago, I decided that picking up toys was no longer my job. I’d put in my time clearing piles of play things and I was done. This meant that the amount of toys in our home would have to match our daughters’ clean-up abilities. 

The post-Christmas toy influx, minimal as it was, had apparently pushed them past this point. Our daughters were clearly overwhelmed by the small box of toys they were required to care for. 

While this is certainly a first-world issue, too many toys in the home is a real source of stress for parents and children in our culture. 

This phenomenon of toy accumulation began in 1955 and is still going strong today. In fact, the United States now contains about 3% of the world’s children but 40% of the world’s toys.

Research from sociologist Juliet Schor’s book Born to Buy, found that the average American child receives seventy new toys a year.

So how do we keep the toys in check in our homes? Is it possible to have enough toys available to promote hours of deep, creative play, but not too many available, so as to avoid feelings of overwhelm (in both children and parents)?

Yes, this balance is absolutely possible.

Here are 5 minimalist strategies to help you reach “enough” toys in your home.

1. Examine your mindset

Before acting to reduce the number of toys in your home, pause to reflect. Why do you think your child needs a lot of toys? Do they all need to be out available at the same time? When you purchase your child new toys, what is the reason?

Most of us buy our children toys because we want them to be happy. We want them to engage in deep, imaginative play. We fear that, without a lot of toys in the home, we will be raising deprived children.

I used to think this way (and our toy collection used to reflect it). But after reading Kim John Payne’s book Simplicity Parenting, my toy-minimization fears quickly subsided. 

Research proves that when it comes to toys, less is better. While a mix of toys was an important part of our girls’ world of play, I realized it should not be the overwhelming center. I started to wonder about how the number of toys in our home affected our girls.

Could a more manageable amount of toys facilitate our girls’ role in caring for their own toys? Did a mountain of toys teach our girls to undervalue them all—always holding out for the next best thing and always wanting “more”? Payne’s research said yes.

When you read the research and realize that your child will play more deeply, have more space for creativity, and be more willing to participate in clean-up if the amount of toys in the environment is reduced, then you’ll begin to think about toys differently. You’ll realize that one of the best things you can do for your child’s development is create an environment with fewer toys. 

2. Declutter the toys

To reach the feel of “enough” toys in your home, it’s likely you’ll have to let some go (read how we did our initial toy purge here). 

For younger children, I’ve found the best strategy is to remove toys from their environment when they are not there, leaving the few you know they love and play with daily. Store the other toys out of sight and tell your child that anytime they think of a toy they want, they are welcome to have it. This gives you a feel for which toys your child will consistently play with. After a few months, you will know which toys to keep and which toys are forgotten and can be donated so another child can love them. 

The feeling of “enough” emerges when you’ve experimented on both sides of it: a home with too many toys and a home with too few toys. When removing toys from your environment, start out by “going big.” You can always add stored toys back in later if needed. 

3. Set boundaries

As our girls have gotten older, I’ve begun involving them more in the decluttering process. Boundary setting is a great way to do this. Our girls know they may have available whatever toys they want, as long as they are able to tidy them up themselves. 

When picking up toys became a problem after Christmas, it was a great teaching moment to talk with our daughters about that, when we have too many things, taking care of them can feel overwhelming. 

I told them I hadn’t done a good job of keeping the toys manageable, so if they would just pick up their favorite toys that evening, I would take care of the rest. I told them I would put the rest in a special storage place, and if they needed one, I’d happily get it for them. 

They willingly picked up about half of the toys in the room, and I stored the rest in a box high in the hall closet. Since then, they’ve asked me for only three of the stored toys. The amount of toys available in the home is manageable again—clean-up is no problem and our girls can play for hours together (as long as no one is too tired or hungry). 

4. Rotate toys

All of your children’s toys do not need to be available all the time. We keep one 16-gallon tub of toys in our apartment’s storage space (many which are developmentally appropriate for toddlers, which we will eventually use for our 6-month-old son), one small box on a high shelf in the hall closet, and one small box in our living room toy chest. 

Toys from the box in the closet are rotated back into the home every couple weeks. Every few months the toys from the 16-gallon tub come out. When new toys come into the home, the old toys go out, until they’re asked for or are rotated back in again.

Our girls act like it’s Christmas every time toys come out of storage. They help me choose which toys to rotate out and which to add back into our home. I’ve explained why all toys don’t stay in the home at once (because we have space only for a few and it keeps their clean-up manageable). They also know they are welcome to have any toy they want back out whenever they ask for it. Again, it’s rare that they do ask for one. 

5. Remember you are the parent

Maintaining “enough” toys in the home requires setting loving limits. You’re not taking away your children’s choices, but giving them options within guidelines instead. This requires you to remember you are the parent and you know what’s best for your home and your children.

When you set loving limits on the number of toys in the home or the amount of space toys can take up, you may feel like the “bad guy” at first, but you are helping your children in two ways. Setting clear, consistent limits helps children feel more secure and prepares them for adulthood. And having fewer toys available, as the research says, leads to deeper, more creative play.

I’ve watched our girls’ play go from dumping large boxes of plastic toys, only to engage with them briefly, to spending hours lost in creative play with only a few toys. They’ll often find things around the home to play imaginatively with, like building “castles” with kitchen chairs and blankets or attaching a jump rope to the laundry basket and giving a baby doll or eachother “covered wagon” rides. With fewer toys, our girls spend more time creating artwork or reading and our 7-year-old’s favorite activity is currently baking. 

Fewer toys in the home has been a win-win for our family. Our childrens’ attention spans have increased, they’ve learned to take care of their things, they rarely argue over toys, they’re more free to use their gift of imagination, and they’re learning happiness isn’t found in the next bigger, newer toy. 

My stress levels in the home have also noticeably decreased as the amount of toy clutter has decreased. I’ve found myself more excited to sit on the floor and play with my daughters, and I’m more able to focus on them instead of being distracted by the mess being made. 

If you’re considering minimizing toys, I encourage you to go for it. It’s worth a try, and experimenting with less could be a positive experience for your family too.

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Julia Ubbenga is a freelance journalist whose teachings on minimalism, simplicity, and intentional living have reached thousands of people worldwide through her blog. Julia practices what she preaches in her Kansas City apartment home with her husband, two extremely lively young daughters, and 6-month-old son. You can also find her on Instagram.

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