We get a lot of questions about products we like around here (books, toys, clothing, games, etc.), so I thought I would devote a post to it! Specifically, children’s toys and games that we have received as gifts (or that we have bought for our kids). The other day, Lilly inquired about how we keep the clutter to a minimum, which is very important when you have more than one child. The answer to that is tricky. It has taken a few conversations with close family members and quite a few toy purges over the years (check out this guest post about it from 2012). It’s all too easy to get carried away — we love our children and get excited to give them things, especially with access to some pretty amazing things that we never would have known about 10 years ago, let alone be tempted to buy. But years ago, we realized that the effect it had on our children was quite negative; they had too much stuff and as a result did not appreciate any of it, or take good care of it. Plus, the amount of clutter was raising everyone’s stress levels.
We participate in toy purges twice a year, encouraging the boys to go through their things and donate toys they have outgrown or are no longer interested in. Precious items that have sentimental meaning (a few baby clothes, shoes, and beautiful wooden teethers & handmade items) go into a memory box. The rest gets donated or passed on to friends with younger children. We meet very little resistance to these purges from our boys because we have never forced it on them and give them time to make decisions about things. I think it’s important to let them come to the conclusion themselves — so far so good! For younger kids, I might suggest putting away toys you notice your children have not played with in many months and if they don’t ask about them, go ahead and donate them.
Now for the fun part!
Here is a sampling of what we got our boys and what they received as gifts this Christmas. Not pictured are the stacks of amazing books they received from family and friends! That is an important piece too, that we give hints to our gift-givers about our kids’ (and our) love for books. They are always welcome in our home!
Clockwise from upper left: wooden construction dump truck (back flips up and back flap opens to dump); grizzly bears (here is the other one); wooden sling shot & felt ammo; knit knight helmet, sword, & shield; wooden skateboard (antique store); one of many awesome dinosaurs. Not pictured but noteworthy every single Christmas: Magnatiles. Though pricey, we have asked grandma for small sets every year for Christmas as the boys play with them more than any other toy in our home. Plus, stacked up on a shelf, they look really pretty!
And games, most of which we received from others this year:
Clockwise from upper left: Animal Upon Animal (from Haba — an eco-friendly toy company with mostly wooden toys); Blokus; Labyrinth Game & Boards (which comes with metal marbles from Swedish toy company Brio); Snap Circuits (really educational and a true winner with our boys this year). Not pictured: good old Monopoly, which we have, excluding Emil, been playing for endless hours lately.
There are so many amazing children’s products out there right now, but I think it’s important to be selective and thoughtful when purchasing them. Having a conversation with close family members about your preferences for your children can be a relief to all involved!
Now that my older two kids aren’t into the toy scene we have been relying more on games and books to give them for their presents. The plus side to games is that they’re a great way to spend time together as a family. I’m holding off on the bigger tech or electronic stuff for as long as possible. It seems like anything with headphones would just put more separations between us and I want to avoid that while I can. So even though my thirteen year old says everyone else has their own IPod, they do not.
These are all great tips, we have similar “rules” in our home. books and educational games are highly encouraged. I do need to go through the basement pile of toys and donate quite a few so this post comes just in time before a tackle that project.
Fun, fun, fun. I love the felt ammo for the slingshot, too.
Love it! Thanks for sharing, you guys always have the greatest collection of goodies. I’ve had such bad luck trying to convince W to pass things along. He is so sentimental about toys, and for so long I edited everything that we had so much that he never really was faced with parting with anything. Now that I can’t take gifts directly to donate before he is any the wiser, it’s getting tricky. I’m hoping to give away some of his car collection this week, not sure whether James or he will protest more! 😉