Spring Toy Cleaning

SPRING TOY CLEANING

Do you have too many toys? Here is a solution.
First, please read through this list and pick your top 6/7 questions that are most important to you.

• Are children learning from the toys you currently have?
• Are all of the pieces there? Is it broken?
• Will it be missed if it is out of the child’s sight? Is the toy played with at least once a week?
• Is the toy age appropriate? Does more than one child play with it?
• Does the toy take up too much space?
• Can you bribe your child with the toy?
• Does it have a lifetime guaranteed?
• Has it been recalled? (It should be thrown out for safety)
• Is there a prescribed way to play with the toy (or does it use their imagination)? Can the child learn from it by
• using more than 3 concepts? Do I have other toys that teach the same concept(s)?
• Can you get replacement parts for the toy?

Then start with three piles:
1. keeping – answered “yes” to more than 4 questions

2. undecided – answered “yes” to 3-4 questions

3. give away – answered “yes” to 2 or less questions

Ask the 6/7 questions of each toy and place it into one of the three categories based on the number of “yes” responses to each question.



***If toy not missed (can be put away for more than a month), then donate it.

You will get the most from your toys if you rotate them. Make this simple. Rotate a third to a half out at the beginning of each month and put them back in at the beginning of the next month. Try to have a mix that do different things.

posted by:
Cara Retz
http://www.playsmartstore.com/
playsmartstore@gmail.com