Toys - This is what I had planned, BUT...

[Cassius2]

we have waaay too many toys! and you know what? DD just doesnt play with them all...her toys of choice are:

dolly
pram
handbag
old phone
a set of old keys

everything else she just ignores (unless another child comes over and they *might* play with the train set. mostly though the kids all just fight over dolly and the pram

i am thinking of doing a massive cull. it is way too cluttered and a waste for her to have so many and not play with them. so salvos here we come!

[Lolli]

Yeah, too many here too. I kind of have a policy- anything that isn't played with in six months either goes to the toy library, playgroup, or the Salvos, or shipped off to relatives houses so I don't have to cart toys around.

I am pretty minimilist and I like to buy toys second hand, or free-cycled toys. if I buy new it's things like a steel wheelbarrow and red wagon, that are good qulaity and will last. Not much I can do about the ones we get as presents thoug, and some people (like my SIL) are just so over the top. She bought ds twice as much as we did for Xmas- who needs that much, at 2 years old?

[beckoes]

Great article, very interesting, its hard when birthdays and christmas come around and you have a huge stack of toys from every aunt and uncle!!!
I made a point of getting 'doing' gifts for DD this christmas and letting others buy the crappy plastic things.
She got a bus with little people in it...fisher price i think, it lasted about two weeks before it was stuffed in a corner and not looked at again!!
He fave toys are her bags which she puts all sorts in, and clomps around the house with our shoes on and a hat or an old t-shirts or my pants on what ever she can get her hands on! and has a great time!!
She does have TO MANY soft toys and plays with about 4 of them. and boxes of crap that i just dont get out. we have a few good wooden puzzels etc
we do alot of painting, drawing, reading...a lot of reading, walking and gardening, cooking!!! thats the new fave thing to do...get herbs from the garden and cook something!!!!

She has ALOT of crappy bath toys...when i was a kid i remember just having a wash cloth in the bath and i alwyas really loved my bath time!!!

[aussienic]

We have way to many toys too.. We are renovating in the next couple months so the kids toys are going to be going down to lego, cars and a car mat.. and DD will get a table with a tea set and a pram and a couple dolls.. I feel they don't play with what they have and have decided enough is enough.. Going back to basics..

Jenifer.. Freecycle is just great isn't it.. I am a member of my own town and a town an hour away (where my mum lives)

[KatieRabbit]

Have any of you ignored the plastic/trendy toys successfully? And if so, please tell me how! I know people must do it but I just haven't found any yet.

Yes, BR, I have! I just buy toys for special occasions, eg birthdays, Christmas and only a few really good quality ones. To ensure good ones I go to a specialist toy shop and not Kmart etc and buy usually wooden ones that can be passed on (to siblings, next generation..)

So at home we have a few baskets in the play area- one contains wooden building blocks, one felt animals that I made, one of books, one of a tea set and other play kitchen stuff (bought real ones from the Salvos), one of silk scarves in diff colours and sizes and a few smaller ones holding honky nuts, shells, pine cones and rocks. Then we have a cane dolly bassinette, a dolly stroller, a soft doll that I had handmade for DD and a few of my old teddies. In a toy cupboard, we have some wooden musical instruments, block sorter, finger puppets and bigger puppets, wooden jigsaws and a few other things. As I don't take DD to departments stores, or allow her to read the catalogues and we are friends with like minded families, we don't have a big problem with her asking for things. She plays happily for a very long time with her things as they really allow open ended play.
Once a fortnight we get a toy from the toy library- usually a Fisher Price Little People thing that gets played with for a day or two and that's it. We have a craft basket too of good quality stuff and lots of homemade play dough. The craft basket is bought out every now and then and not left out.

I am opposed to lots of plastic toys for many reasons- philosophical, environmental, financial, developmental etc and I find that if I let people know really politely, then they don't have much of a problem buying gifts accordingly.

For birthdays etc I either guide family to websites that sell the type of stuff we like, or request vouchers or else things like clothing, books, or handmade gifts. I also photocopied a list someone else gave me that suggests suitable non-plastic type toys (I gave it to my mum and MIL).

Hence, we don't have lots of things that are not used, we have a cleanish play area, DD and friends are happy with what they have to play with and I know DD values what she has (to the extent that she can!). Anything received that I am really opposed to gets passed on to cousins or stored down the back room until I figure out what to do!