The Fun of Having Less Stuff: Toddler Edition

Have you heard that kids actually play better if they have less stuff? Me too. Have you been brave enough to try it? Me either. But we’ve let our playroom situation get out of control. And with the kids home for the summer, I could really use some more independent play from the toddler.

The Stuff Problem

We have a sunroom off of our kitchen that functions as our downstairs playroom. The girls each have an IKEA desk in their section. And we try our best to contain the toddler to his half using a couch, a baby gate, and strategic toy placement. He’s definitely capable of climbing over the couch to get to the girls’ side, but he knows he’s not supposed to. So I do want to maintain the visual “wall” of toys so he doesn’t think he’s allowed free range.

When the room is tidy, he is often happy to play in it independently. But most of the time, the room looks a little something like this:

He finds it overwhelming, and honestly, so do I. I get tired of cleaning up the same things over and over, especially when there are lots of small pieces. It’s hard to navigate the room without stepping on something or tripping over a toy. And we’ve been storing many of the toys in deep bins that he struggles to access.

I’d love for him to be able to play independently in this room. And I’d also love for him to be able to clean it up more easily. He actually really likes to clean up, but it’s not very clear where many of the items go. He steals crayons from his sisters’ art cart, and they end up on the floor. Upstairs toys migrate downstairs. Big toys are hard for him to navigate. I want to see if making a change to what we keep in this space will make a difference in how well it functions.

The Less Stuff Process

While big sisters were at camp, I recruited my mother-in-law to take the toddler on an adventure for a few hours. I knew he would have opinions about any toy he saw but was unlikely to notice anything that disappeared while he was gone. Before he left, I sorted some of the toys in bins, and I noticed he got really excited about the toys once I dumped them on the floor—definitely a sign that the bin storage was inhibiting his play.

Once I finished sorting, I took everything out of the room. He enjoyed helping with this too! After he left for his adventure day, I gave the room a good vacuum. I was left with a sunroom that looked like this:

I was tempted to leave it, but my living room looked like this:

The next step was assessing which big toys to return to the space. I had also purchased this toy organizer to minimize the bin storage problem. (My 7-year-old was able to assemble it almost independently! She just needed help holding some boards in place.) I’m hoping this setup will make the items more accessible. But I needed to edit down the large-footprint toys.

I prioritized items that support imaginative play. The play kitchen stayed, as did my beloved Melissa & Doug Disney popcorn stand. Any big toy that made noise was out. The Little Tikes playset that he’s outgrown went. I kept the table and chairs. And even though it’s the bane of my existence because it’s big and the big kids turn the structure poles into swords, I kept the Bluey car. Why? Because he LOVES it. And he really does use his imagination in it.

I also took out the short bookshelf because I wanted to force myself to stick with the limit supplied by the toy organizer. And I used the toy organizer as a barrier in place of the easy-to-move Melissa & Doug dollhouse. This has been a well-loved toy in our home, and I was sad to put it away. But the mess makes me sad too, so we’re going to see how we do without it!

Once I was happy with the footprint of the big toys, I sorted out the smaller stuff. Duplos and puzzles went into the toy organizer. I went through our huge bin of play kitchen items and added items to the organizer until the bins were fill. Anything that was broken, separated into pieces, or (you guessed it) made noise was excluded. When the small bins were full, I probably had a third of the kitchen items left. But guess what? We don’t need to have it all out.

I added a few books and an in-process Duplo creation to the top of the organizer. Mr. Potato Head and a dump truck stayed in the toy kitchen. I corralled crayons and papers. The UPS truck returned to its place. I set up the popcorn stand and dreamed about Disney.

The Stuff Aftermath

Once I was satisfied with what was in the room, I reviewed what wasn’t in the room:

That pink bin is almost full, as is the clear one on top. I set aside a few items to pass on to a friend. A couple others will go to his room. And for now, I’m putting the rest in our storage closet. I tend to be a bit of a softy when it comes to getting rid of my kids’ toys. This has come back to bite me over and over. But I would also hate for them to be absolutely devastated because something they loved disappeared.

However, I put a note on my calendar to review these items in a month. If he hasn’t asked for them before that time, I’ll feel better about donating them. If he does want something, I’ll reassess what he is and isn’t playing with and see if I can make a swap. Toys are fun! But the number of toys we have now isn’t fun for me. I think we’ll have more fun if we can maintain less stuff in this room. Which leads me to…

The Less Stuff Outcome

Look at all that empty space! The clear rug! The accessible toys! So far he loves it and hasn’t said a word about the things that disappeared.

I’ve been a mom long enough to know it won’t stay this way. But I’m hoping we’ll all be able to have more fun along the way.

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