I am completely inundated with small toys. I have so many little bits and parts of sets, but it feels like I don't have any complete sets. Where they go, I have no idea. I feel guilty sending all these miscellaneous, mismatched toys to Goodwill but I don't know what else to do with them. Anyone have any suggestions?
I have been working with a professional organizer. Her name is Stacie Campion and her website is www.123ClutterFree.com. She is awesome! If you don't have all the pieces to something, I would throw it away - unless there is enough there for it to be worthwhile to someone else. Most of the ideas here have been great. Good luck.
S.
mom of 3 and daycare provider
Every couple of months I will go into each of my kids' rooms and dump everything they have on the floor. Then I sit (by myself) in the middle and start making piles. I take those little shoesbox sized buckets and sort, sort, sort. Then all the little stuff that just makes a mess is either left in the buckets with the lids on or put into ziplock bags. I put them in the hall closet and then when they want them they can take them out, play with them and then put them back.
If you are planning on gettig rid of them I would sort and put in plastic bags. This way you won't feel so bad just throwing them away. Another idea would be to dump them all out and ask your 10 and 4 year olds to sort and tell them that you will give them $1 for every complete bag of stuff when they are done. Kids love making money and it saves your time.
Happy Sorting,
J.
i have seen at garage sales, people will put like games/toys/figurines in a ziploc and sell for a buck or two. you could do this if you consider having a garage sale. or, maybe bag them like this for goodwill if you are ready to get rid of them. maybe put them in a plastic tub and let your kids rummage through them, but tell them they need to return them to the tub. ..or just throw them away if they are no longer useful and you dont think another kid would want to play with them as an incomplete set. if you cant throw them away, goodwill will if they think noone else will buy them...they dont like getting junk because they are trying to resell to make money.
I don't buy anything with small pieces or parts for that exact reason. If my daughter get's a Barbie doll I throw away any small pieces and just keep the doll.
With my daughters toys I have tons of rubbermaid bins the big ones. I label and keep all her different toys in certain ones. Like 1 is for polly pockets, 1 is for Barbies, 1 is for puzzles etc. She can have one bin out at a time, it makes clean- up a breeze and the toys stay organized and not mis matched so that she can play with them and not be missing half of the pieces.
Have you tried taking them to Once Upon A Child and see if they will buy them from you. I take alot of my old toys and clothes there.
Do not give them to Goodwill! Anything with small pieces and they cann't verify are complete sets they through away. My husband has seen the nice wooden train sets thrown in the garbage because they couldn't tell if it was a complete set. That broke his heart since he knows how much we've spent on them. Try giving them to a local church nursery or preschool. Or maybe a woman's shelter or even the crisis nursery. They are always in need of toys. It might not be a full set of blocks, but the kids need to play with something while they are in shelters.
Just an idea.
You could also try posting on Freecycle.com or craigslist.org - in the free section. Just say you have a bag full of toys that you aren't sure if the sets are complete. There's usually someone out there that will take them.
Ask a local daycare if they want them. Most of the toys they have there are donated. They would probably welcome them, all the pieces or not.
I don't keep small toys unless they are the timeless ones, like legos. After I found a Polly Pocket in my son's poopy diaper, we got rid of all the Pollys and I issued a DO NOT GIVE THESE TO THE KIDS edict to the family. I have no qualms about throwing out small pieces!
