Birthdays and Christmas are probably the most favourite times of year for many children. After all, it is the only time when they receive an influx of gifts from relatives, friends, and even neighbours.
The downside to a sudden inflow of toys is that not all will be met with a happy smiling face and ‘ah’ expression. Some will be rejected from the very start, while others will be used for a short while only to be cast away after their allure fades. The stockpile of toys and games in your home tends to grow over the years. Many of them will be in great condition but no longer played with or wanted. If left unresolved, the situation can easily escalate into a mountain of unused toys that make you want to scream or turn and run whenever you enter your child’s bedroom or playroom.
Be sure to carry out the following steps before it gets to that point.
4 things to do with unwanted toys:
1. Give them to charity
If your child already has a ton of toys, donating the unwanted items to the less fortunate is the best course of action. The best part is that it is so easy to rid yourself of wanted toys by donating them. This is especially true during the holiday season where you will find many businesses and organizations holding toy drives. Even without the seasonal toy drives, there are always plenty of places to donate toys to all year round. Try hospitals, charity shops and women’s shelters for starters.
2. Throw a toy swap party
A toy swap party offers you the chance to rid your home of a stockpile of unwanted toys and still make your child happy. For this to work however, you really need to include the kids in the swapping part of the party. Letting kids participate in the toy exchange helps to ensure that items are exchanged quickly and everyone goes home happy with a toy that they will actually use.
3. Sell them online
Whether it is a busted kitchen faucet, unexpected car repairs, or a sale that has offers you simply cannot afford to pass up, there are always situations that call for the use of money you had not budgeted for. Thanks to open source online selling sites such as eBay and Craigslist, you can rid yourself of unwanted toys and solve emergency monetary situations without digressing too far from your usual household budget. And if this fails, you could always hold a garage sale from your home or participate in a local bazaar.
4. Try re-gifting
If you have kids, chances are that you also have little nephews, nieces, cousins or friends with children. This therefore means that you probably spend a good amount of money each year on gifts. The unwanted toys in your home offer you a chance of saving some of that money. After all, one child’s unwanted toy is another kid’s treasured plaything. So, gather up all unwanted toys, reseal them, and store them for the next Christmas and birthdays. Just make sure that the original gift givers do not find out! The last thing you want is to have to explain how a gift they went to all the trouble to get and maybe even spent a lot of money on, ended up with another child.
Although, a major drawback to holidays and birthdays, unwanted toys do not have to take over your home. With these ideas, you will be able to declutter your home and stay on top of the toy chaos.
[…] good place to look is on local Facebook buy and sell groups, as many people will be trying to get rid of unwanted toys, games and other household items before the holidays. You can buy items that are gently used or […]