Get rid of little stuff?

[graham.shellbell]

I am sure this has been discussed before but have you ever just got rid of the little toys...like the play food, cars etc.. all mine want to do is empty the bins then step in them..that or throw the small toys! I am thinking of just going to bigger toys(playhouse, climber, etc.. keep the kitchen but maybe only a few things instead of so many bins).. good idea or no?

[Meyou]

I got rid of alot of random little toys and taught the kids to set up the sets with all the pieces when we clean up. There is alot less mess now.

I also minimized what was accessible. There are always 4 cars on the car garage but if they want to have more cars they need to ask and I get the tub out of the closet for them.

[greenhouse]

When I do clean outs- I tend to toss things that have parts- mr. Potato head, the infant toys that sort one specific type of block- basically anything that needs it's parts to be played with. Make sense? People give me so much crap and I don't have room. The play food and cars can be dumped into buckets marked " play food" and "cars". I'm all about bins and buckets. If it doesn't have a category out it goes

[Ariana]

I have labeled bins that stuff goes in and I rotate those bins so there is something new every 2 weeks. I also have a large miscellaneous bin that all those random stuff goes in. Once that bin gets to have too much in it I toss some of the toys that are either annoying or has no purpose. Anytime there is throwing at my house it's usually because of bordeom and signals me to change things up.

[athomemommy]

When I do clean outs- I tend to toss things that have parts- mr. Potato head, the infant toys that sort one specific type of block- basically anything that needs it's parts to be played with. Make sense? People give me so much crap and I don't have room. The play food and cars can be dumped into buckets marked " play food" and "cars". I'm all about bins and buckets. If it doesn't have a category out it goes

I agree I think it makes it easier for you and the kids. I don't like random odds and ends.

[Abigail]

I have only had a few kids here--all separate times--so I've been able to watch and see how just one child is with all the toys in the room. Right away I had to put away about 5 items that were just "too much" for the child because it had so many pieces. All my little cars got put away because I don't have anyone who is even 2 enrolled. I just kept out my 6 jumbo wooden cars with the blocks. I also have most of my FP Little People out across two 4-foot-long shelves but they don't seem to be a hit quite yet. I'm thinking I will have to put away some of them because once again, it's just too many things.

My main thing is to try to avoid having baskets upon baskets of items out. I take them out of the basket and put them on the shelves. Food goes inside the kitchen set. Dolls and accessories and blankets go inside three-drawered bin. I have yet to take pictures of where the items go, but will get to it when I feel I've found the right spot for items! LOL

[cheerfuldom]

We do bins and take out one bin of smaller stuff at a time. no free access to dump things all over the place. I don't keep anything that is a choking hazard.