"How many toys do you have?" I get this question more than any other question. People ask me what I think is the right number of cars? The right number of dolls? The right number of stuffed animals? There is no magic number.
There are many things I consider when deciding how many toys to allow my children. Here are the top 3 things I consider:
1. My children only have 2 hands each. Children do not need 30 dinosaurs. They only have 2 hands. Even with two of them playing, they would need to put down the two dinosaurs they were playing with, and pick up a different two at least 7 times. For 2 boys, 8-10 dinosaurs is more than enough. The same theory goes for cars, Barbies, action figures, stuffed animals, etc.
2. How much space are the toys allowed? All of our toys go on a book shelf. They all have to fit. (We do have a trunk for Duplos because with the size and nature of Duplos, they wouldn't fit well on a shelf.) All of the dinosaurs, cars, action figures and blocks have to fit on the shelf.
3. How long does it take to pick up every toy in our home, should they all get pulled out? In our home, 5 minutes and 20 seconds. The moderately minimalist dad hates coming home to toys all over. So 30 minutes before he is scheduled to come home, the boys are told to put it all away. To make it fun one day, I asked if I could time them. To put away every toy in our entire home takes 5 minutes and 20 seconds. That is a number that seems reasonable to me. Find a number that is reasonable to you. The next time the toys are all out, tell the kids they have to beat the timer.
There is a common misconception that more toys make children more creative. It isn't true. A child who has a toy space ship will never turn an oatmeal container into a space ship. Taking away toys encourages children to use their imaginations.
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