Manage Your Kids’ Toybox
Children always acquire toys one way or another. It’s part of being a kid. They get them on their birthdays, on Christmas, when grandparents, friends and other relatives visit, when they whine while you are out shopping. Before you know it, you have toys strewn everywhere and you don’t have a clue how to dispose some of the them! Here are some tips on how to keep the toys to a more manageable number and how to keep them in their right place- the toy box:
First off, this task is not really yours. Involve your children and teach them how to manage their toys. Let them pick up after themselves. This not only helps in instilling discipline, but it also develops their sense of responsibility.
Get a huge box (or boxes if you have more than one child) and label it with your kid’s name and “Toys.” This is where all their toys will be kept. These will be put in their rooms. Make it clear that since the label speaks of ownership, the owner of the box is then responsible for it.
Set up rules such as each child can only play with one toy at a time. If he is finished with one, he should return it to his box before he can get another. If you see a toy lying around, pick it up and hold it in “custody.” The child who forgets to clean up after playing, could only have his toy returned after certain conditions are met (i.e. after three days, no TV time on Monday, etc.)
Schedule a sorting out day once a month. Together with your kids, sift through the toyboxes and look for toys that are broken or have some parts missing, or those that they don’t play anymore. You can give them to charity or you can have a small garage sale. The children will also be delighted to help with the selling.
To avoid acquisition of more toys, you can tell your relatives and friends to gift your children with books instead. Perhaps if your children are old enough to have kiddie savings accounts, you can have the gift-givers deposit cash gifts in your children’s bank accounts instead.
Related posts: