None of us like to walk through the house in the middle of the night with Lego landmines on the floor. The first thing to do in maintaining control of the toys is to purge, purge, purge. You can do this with your children’s help. Set a timer and have two bags handy. One bag is for trash. The other bag is for the toys to donate.

The toys that you are keeping need to be sorted into types of toys and have a place to be kept. This will be the start of your toy rotation. For us, we sort by cars and trucks, Legos, building blocks, trains, Nerf guns, and balls.

For our daughter, I used to sort hers by dolls, stuffed animals, kitchen toys, dress-up clothes, building blocks, and doll house stuff.

By sorting their toys by type, I would allow them to keep 1 to 2 plastic bins of toys. The rest went into the storage area in the garage. Every month or so, we would take a bin out to the garage and switch out.

When I was homeschooling my two oldest, I kept a bin of special toys for the little ones that they only got to play with during school time. I would rotate those out regularly, too. This gave them something different to play with during school time and allowed for quiet play while I was teaching.

While not considered toys, I also sorted our craft materials by type, and I allowed the children access to certain craft materials when they wanted to make something. I kept the paints and glitter glue put away higher than the littlest ones could access. I also kept markers stored higher in the cabinet as well. I encourage them to make things and to be creative, but I kept control of the items when I had lots of little ones. If it doesn’t fit in my storage area for crafts, then we don’t need it.

If you have a child who is resistant to letting go of toys, you can use a few approaches. First, talk to them about other children who do not have as much as they have. Encourage them to donate toys to other children. There are many homeless shelters and domestic violence shelters who need toy donations. For small toys that you get in kids’ meals, many school teachers like to have donations of these items for a class reward jar. Operation Christmas Child also accepts donations in the fall for shoe boxes filled with small items. There are many ways to donate toys.

Another way to encourage children to let go of their excess toys is to let them have a yard sale and keep the proceeds. Children can be very motivated to sell toys they are not playing with if they are saving their money for a bigger ticket item. Let them start a yard sale box this winter, and in the spring, you can help them pick a date for a yard sale.

After you and the children have decluttered and sorted the toys, you need to decide on where you want to them keep their toys. Many children keep their toys in their bedrooms. This can lead to making it difficult for them to maintain their bedroom, so you might consider having them keep their toys in a playroom, family room, or basement. By not keeping the toys in their bedroom, you are giving them less stuff in their room, and this leads to a more peaceful place for them. It’s hard to fall asleep with clutter and stuff all around you.

As I have older children and younger children, I have kept the quality toys that I want to have for my grandchildren to play with in the future. I have kept our wooden train set and several of my daughter’s dolls. My two youngest still play with Legos and building blocks, and I don’t ever see myself purging those items. But I have no problem letting go of cheap, plastic toys. I want to foster a peaceful, learning environment for my children.

Your Zone Mission today is to declutter bathroom counters and wipe down.

Your Home Blessing for today is to wash sheets.

My menu plan for Monday is shepherd’s pie and a salad.

Have a great day!