1)      When the kids receive money for their birthdays or holidays they save most of that money to pay for sports and lessons, instead of buying more toys.  It’s a great way for the kids to learn about saving money and spending it on something they really want to participate in.  It also saves me from having to constantly organize toys, and we wouldn’t be able to afford activities for four kids otherwise.

2)      With the toys we do have we go through them 2-3 times a year and clean out anything they have outgrown, don’t play with or is broken.  We usually donate the toys in good condition, unless I’m ambitious enough to have a yard sale and let the kids sell the toys.  I let them keep whatever money they raise, which is a good enough incentive to help them to get rid of toys that might have been on the fence about keeping.

3)      Finally, I take about one third of the toys and put them in large Rubbermaid bins and put them in the attic.  Then two or three times a year we rotate the toys.  It’s a great way to keep the amount of toys manageable and organized and the kids absolutely love it when we get the toys down out of the attic!  It’s so exciting; it’s like opening Christmas presents!  This keeps my kids entertained for hours on end, playing with all of the “new” toys.  If you can get your timing right its great to rotate the toys during the long winter months, spring break for entertainment, and back to school time for the little ones who don’t get to go yet. 

Check out more posts like this one on home organization and kids at www.organizedmom.net .  I post there every Monday so be sure to stop by. 

It must take place late at night while everyone is sleeping.  I’m not sure if it’s multiplication, cloning, or mitosis, but some how when I wake up in the morning there are twice as many toys in our house as there were when I went to bed!  And some how my kids seem to know which ones are new and which ones are ‘old’.  Old as in a few weeks.  New toys are, of course, more exciting and entertaining, so now the ‘old’ toys get shoved to the back of the closet or under the bed never to be played with again.  Or maybe not. . .

I’ve noticed a phenomenon that seems to take place every time I try to donate those ’old’ toys.  When I dig them out from the depths of the closet and put them in a box destined for the donation truck all of a sudden they are the greatest toys ever!  “You can’t give it away, it’s my favorite.”  Before I know it my box is empty and all of the ‘old’ toys are now new.  Amazing how that works.

Now if you really want to get the biggest reaction ever to ‘old’ toys take some Rubbermaid bins and toss about one third to one half of the toys in it and stick the bins in the attic or garage.  Wait anywhere from three to four months and then rotate the new ‘old’ toys for the old ‘new’ toys.  Does that make sense?  It’s like Christmas every time we get the bins out of the attic.    I try to get my timing right by rotating the toys out of the attic during times like spring break, the beginning of summer, when we have a new baby, basically any time I need my kids to be self entertained.

So the next time your kids come to you and say their bored simply grab a box and start piling all of the ‘old’ toys in it and sit back and watch the old become new again.