Toys That Earn Their Keep in Our Small Space
Executive summary: We are as careful and particular about toys as we are about any other item that takes up space in our small home. We only keep the kids’ favorites, which I’m happy to share, because it can be really hard to predict what kids will like!
My son recently celebrated his fifth birthday, which is only two months after the Christmas gift rush. (Total aside: I would’ve liked for his birthday to be somewhere in the March-May range, so it’s more removed from the holidays, but humans haven’t yet figured out how to exactly time procreation, much to my everlasting disappointment.) I explained in my minimalist gifting post (see it here) that we send around a wishlist before birthdays and holidays to family members who we know always ask about gifts for the kids. This helps us manage what comes through the door and gets “stuck” in here until the kids outgrow the toy or I manage to disappear it. This year, my son netted another Lego set, a kinetic sand kit, a “double decker car carrier,” and the game Sorry. We will make room in our small home for the favorites and send off the rest with the grandparents (more on that below). This allows us to maintain a very simple and minimal toy storage system – you can see everything in the single picture below. The only things not pictured are two dozen books sitting on wall shelves (you can see them in the bedroom tour here) – favorites have been The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Dear Zoo, Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site, Where the Wild Things Are, Winnie the Pooh short stories, and classic nursery rhymes and tales.
All of the kids toys are contained in this one picture (ignore the hanging clothes and boxes in the closet), so we make sure to only keep what is played with repeatedly and for many hours on end.
Given the limited real estate between the 4x1 storage unit and the rolling cart in the closet, I only retain the toys that have earned their keep with both kids. Little sister is still a bit fickle at <1.5yo, but even she has favorites. Here’s what’s in our arsenal, clockwise from left:
Lego bin: repurposed for baby toys that might honestly be making an exit soon (finger puppet books, Skip Hop electronic “follow bee” crawl toy, chew toys)
Wood case: “Take-Along Town” with vehicles, buildings, road signs, etc. (by Melissa & Doug – I’ll note them as M&D below)
Hedgehog bin: Duplos (as Legos are still hard for a 1yo and 5yo to handle on their own)
Owl bin: Mega Bloks (easier for the kids to build with than Duplos, for now) + Magna-Tiles (a big favorite)
Fox bin: various rolling toys, each contained in their own bag so the pieces don’t get mixed up (M&D shape-shorting dump truck, M&D animal train, M&D magnetic car carrier, Janod stacking pull-along turtle, wind-up cars, small balls)
Bonus: behold my son’s Duplo “castle” creation on apparently permanent display that no one is allowed to touch (which means we are secretly rebuilding it after little sis Todzilla destroys it multiple times a day)
Gorilla bin: stuffed animals (this is one place where we allow duplicates, so the kids don’t fight over who gets the panda, dog, cat, etc)
Radio Flyer Busy Buggy (another favorite – my son loved it so “vigorously” he broke off the steering wheel)
Cart top shelf: boxed games/toys (jigsaw puzzles, Candy Land, Sorry, Junior Monopoly, Connect Four, Janod Magneti’Book, Learning Resources pattern tiles)
Cart middle shelf: art supplies, M&D Water Wow coloring book, larger book sets that honestly just didn’t fit anywhere else (Peter Rabbit, Magic Treehouse original and Merlin series)
Cart bottom shelf: activity books (Hidden Pictures, mazes, patterns, connect-the-dots) + “noisy” music books (the kind that plays tunes when buttons are hit) + Touch & Teach Sea Turtle + Habbi Habbi bilingual learning books (you tap on the books with a battery-powered wand to hear it read in English and, in our case, Mandarin)
Also in closet behind doors: a small basket of bath toys, which is basically just a set of stacking cups (I can’t believe my 5yo is still entertained by these)
Foam folding mattress: not strictly a toy (I sleep on the floor of the kids room when my parents visit), but it’s turned into a play structure for the kids. They like to climb on it, jump on/off it, fold it up and make forts, etc. An unanticipated application that I’m delighted they’ve discovered, so we can get more use out of it! We have the Single size (only 25” wide), but Milliard makes them all the way up to a King (75” wide)
The foam folding mattress was meant to be a makeshift bed, but the kids have figured out how to turn it into a play structure and fort. Good job making it more multipurpose!
These are the tried and true toys that keep our kids busy for hours. Nothing else gets to stay (at least not long term). Like I said, little sis is still figuring out what she likes, but for now, she’s happy enough to play with whatever toy I put in front of her (and she often prefers random objects, such as a roll of wrapping paper she found in the closet). Big bro likes puzzles and things to “figure out,” as well as tinkering with his hands. He’s not much into art projects or crafts, but rather, building blocks/tiles, Play-Doh, etc. Speaking of Play-Doh, it’s a classic that we don’t keep at home, as it’s too messy to play with inside (all those tiny dried/mashed up pieces drive me to distraction!) Instead, grandma brings some with her every time she visits (about once a month), and they spend hours on it outdoors or in her hotel room.
That brings me to another point (also mentioned in my minimalist gifting post): when we receive a toy not on our wishlist, the gifter knows that it has to live with them. So the grandparents can buy whatever they want, but we don’t keep it at our place if it’s not on the list (e.g., elaborate Lego sets with tiny pieces that are choking hazards for a baby). It stays at the grandparents’ house and then the kids have toys ready for them when they visit. Since they don’t see these toys often, it can keep them entertained for weeks, a win-win proposition!
Whether we live in an 800 or 8,000 square foot home, we want toys that earn their keep. I’ve noticed that when my kids have tons of toys to choose from, they abandon each one more quickly and ultimately settle on a few favorites anyway (another example of the 80-20 rule: 80% of time is spent playing with 20% of the toys). In that case, I prefer to limit our toy collection to that favorite 20% and not spend half my life picking up after misplaced toys scattered all over the place. My son, despite turning 5, has a meltdown every time we ask him to clean up and can’t find things that are right under his nose. If he had more toys, he would misplace more pieces and spend more time asking us where they went, even if they’re sitting in front of him. No thanks.
Maybe it’s worth mentioning that we do allow our kids (ample) screen time, so that is another way to occupy them besides burying them under toys. I know parents who are more strict in this regard, and may need more toys to fill the time. But for us, keeping the favorites is enough, and it’s become more clear over the years what kinds of toys and activities my kids will like. It was really a guessing game at first, but now I can pretty accurately predict what will hold my son’s attention. TBD on my daughter – for now, she’s content with big bro’s toys, assorted household objects, and trash (e.g., flashlights, buckets, water bottles, empty boxes and jars). I do hope it’s helpful to see what the favorite toys are, as it was a mystery to me five years ago, and I consider this hard-earned knowledge that is worth sharing. Such is the kind of information I traffic in these days!