When to give his toys away

Filed in archive Toys on August 14, 2007

photo


My 4 year-old has a roomful of toys. Actually, 2 rooms full of toys, plus a part of our living room. We (my husband and I) have been trying to convince him to give or throw some of this toys away, since: 1. it's been occupying space; 2. he doesn't play with it anymore; and 3. some of it are broken anyways. But he wouldn't budge, he'd either play (well mostly mess) with his old toys or throw a fit, if we try to put his old toys in boxes. It's a bit frustrating to explain to him that we should get rid of his old toys, since his little brother might try to eat the small and broken ones. Plus it'd be a lot easier to clean the house, if and when we finally get rid of at least a quarter of his toys.

James Graham, Ph. D., associate professor of Psychology at the College of new Jersey, gave tips on how to loosen a kid's grip on his/her old toys.

1. Explain that there needs to be a room for new toys.
2. Remind your kid that she/he is here to stay. Since she might think that you can throw her away as easily as you've thrown her toys away.
3. Get her involved.
4. Be sneaky.

The tips seem very reasonable, although my husband and I might get in trouble with tip#1, since my 4 year-old, like me, also likes shopping. That might be a problem.