Paring down the toy pile

I read a great article on this last fall and it helped with the “culling” of our bedrooms as well as deciding what to purchase for Christmas. It is a “Parents Review” article found on the Ambleside Online website. (The Parents Review is a magazine that was sent to parents and teachers of Charlotte Mason’s schools and correspondence-type homeschools between about 1890 and 1920). We are not permitted to link to it from here, but you can access it from the AO site. Look for an article entitled “Our Children’s Play: Their Toys and Books”.

In a nutshell, it encouraged looking for toys that had no end. Toys that encouraged the use of their imagination and could be used over and over in many ways. Dolls, lego’s, trucks, clay, etc. Here is the exact quotation:

“In choosing toys for the children, how important it is to bear certain points in mind; one special thing to consider is, to give when possible something out of which the child can make other things, or can do something more with.”

This next comment also jumped out at me and I must confess has proven absolutely true with my DD’s.

“it is also said that the continually increasing wealth and perfection of toys also serve to produce dullness in children, or else destructiveness as the only form of activity left to them in relation to these too-perfect toys. In contrast to these perfect toys is the wealth of love and of imagination bestowed on the most meager and unpromising objects, idealised by the child into a doll, a horse or dog, etc., and especially is this the case with the curious objects made to do duty as a doll; and far more real love is lavished on these than on the pink and white fashionable perfections bought from a shop. The less individuality a doll has, the better able is the child to idealise it, and it affords far more scope to its imaginative faculties, as being able to represent many various characters.”

My DD’s have positively life-like baby dolls, but seldom touch them. They prefer the faceless rag dolls…go figure.

The article is excellent if you have time to look it up. I kept the philosophy in mind while shopping this last holiday season and gave the grandparents lists of what I would like them purchase instead of allowing them to buy out the store. This year, the gifts are ALL still being enjoyed, have provided hours of fun for the family and were even used quite a bit in schooling.

So my suggestion is to sort with an eye to the imagination…does it serve only one purpose? Does it promote creative thinking and engagement of the mind?

Perhaps that will help a little…Tonni

Thank you for that last bit of advice Sonya. My 10 yodd needs to spend more time with logical thinking activities. I have hesitated to pick up workbooks that are supposed to “teach” logical thinking since I would prefer to limit “artificial experiences”. Mancala is a wonderful (and not very expensive) option. I will be more mindful in looking at games and activities from this point forward! I often read your posts and wish you lived next door to me…you wouldn’t get much done though, I’d be knocking on your back door everyday! LOL!!

The Parents Review discussion is eye-opening too. When we were at Wal-Mart the other day I noticed my 6yo ds playing with a couple of wooden superhero-type “people”. He was having a wonderul time with them. When he played with the Speed Racer car he pushed all the buttons, listened to it, then just stared at it. That only lasted a few minutes (at a cost of nearly $40). Next time I go back I will pick up the wooden people and also some wooden building blocks and I know he will have literally hours of fun with those at half the cost!

I am grateful to all the women who are willing to share their experiences and ask questions, it’s so enlightening!

BTW the AO article referred to above is in Volume 17 on the AO site. There is a lot to look through!

That’s a great question, Cindy. IMHO, it depends on how those toys can serve you (the Mom) best. If sibling conflict is an issue, you may want to keep enough for several children to each have their own. (Of course, we want to deal with the conflict resolution, but peace of mind must also be a practical consideration in the process. 🙂 )

If clutter is an issue, you may want to pare down to just as many as the children can clean up easily. What that magic number is, probably only you and they will know.

If space is an issue, you may want to purge to just one container of each genre. Hey, maybe it would help to select a container the right size to fit in the storage space (shelf or whatever) and then keep only enough to fit inside that container? You could have one container of dolls, one of Legos, one of horses, one of cars, etc.

Just some random thoughts to try to help us all think through this practical question.

My dh likes Lego too. Thanks for the wonderful tips.

Rebecca ~Mom to 8 under 10

Alberta, Canada