Kids Toys?

Toys can get so out of control! Between birthdays, Christmas and the stuff that's "too cute to pass up" in the toy department, they can take over the house! When my kids were young, I ended up giving up one corner of our basement as their "play area". I outfitted a bare wall with very simple, long shelves. Nothing fancy -- just the brackets you can buy at Home Depot or whatever, with plank shelving. I scoured all the dollar stores until I found some decent sized containers (they weren't only a dollar but they were still inexpensive) and I labelled them with permanent marker. I put the like items together and onto the shelves they went. It was so much work at the time but, when I was done, there was plenty of room for a kid-sized table and chairs, an art easel, that kind of thing. As they started to outgrow certain stages of toys, I had a garage sale. If you keep the toys very clean and in good condition, trust me, you can make a good deal of money back on them. Then, I was able to put that money towards new items that were more age appropriate. I look at toys as a cycle LOL Surprisingly, I had a very hard time when I tried to donate used toys. I had a beautiful Fisher Price dollhouse, complete with its original accessories plus all the extra sets I had bought, and no one would take it. The daycares where I live told me they couldn't accept it because of government regulations or something. I was SO frustrated. I ended up selling it instead, when my daughter held a garage sale for cancer research. So, the money went to a good cause instead.

That is really nice of you to donate your kid's toys! ;) I am trying to keep my son's toys down to a minimum but I am sure that's impossible as he gets older! Unfortunately his grandparents keep buying him stuff! LOL I am not complaining but I just don't want to end up with a room or even a house full of toys! Are you going to sort them using trash bags? Or even empty cardboard boxes?