Minimalist and Kids Toys - How Many Toys Do Kids Really Need?

One thing that you always read when it comes to kids toys and minimalism is how to get rid of them or why fewer toys benefit your kids. But you never hear about how many toys are too many? I asked myself the same thing a lot through the years, and while I know minimalism is different for every one, I thought I'd let you know what works for us and how we handle our kids toys.

Our two girls ages seventeen and nine, share a small room and closet. We have a set of bunk beds, and they each have their own desk, and folding chair. There are five (six cube) storage organizers in their room, along with a saucer chair, a clothes basket, and a guitar. The 17 yr old has outgrown toys obviously and now collects books! 

Below is a list of every toy my nine-year-old has. We have condensed all her toys to fit in either a shoe box, a fabric cube, or a small drawer, with the exception being the barbie toys in a tub.

There are 4 clear plastic shoe boxes that hold a little puppies play set, play food and dishes, hot pad maker and loops, and perlerbeads.

A small set of drawers that I picked up at a yard sale years ago.... (the drawers are easy to take in and out when she wants to play with something) holds a drawer of play dough/clay, a drawer of my little pony's, a drawer of misc. toys - dinosaurs, mini Nerf gun and bullets, spinner, walkie talkie, play make up, ball, etc., and a drawer that has Cd's, her watch, a flashlight, and spending money in.

She has 3 fabric 10" storage cubes. One holds 2 baby dolls, bottles, clothes and blankets. One has horses. And one has Lego's.

The barbies and barbie furniture are in a tub on the top shelf of the closet... they only come out 3-4 times a year. (The barbie stuff was a hand me down and if I was starting out fresh, I would not get any barbie furniture.)

She also has about 30 books, a Fur Real tiger, a zoomed pet, and a few larger horses that stand in a cubicle.

The hardest toys for her to part with is her stuffed animals... she has 15 (which in my opinion is too many, but she honestly loves and plays with them all!). The good thing is most of them are small, and we have the one in, one out rule with them. They all hang on a pet chain.

Our 9 yr old is a type one and gets bored easily, so I have found that it's better to keep a few different kinds of toys, but in smaller amounts. 

On a added note: she keeps paper, markers, stickers, coloring books, crayons, etc. In her desk.

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Our twelve year old loves all things paper and little trinkets. His bedroom is tiny...  only about a 8×10.

He has his desk with a folding chair, a dresser, a twin bed and a small closet in his room.

He keeps his toys all in clear shoe boxes on his closet shelves and in 2 dresser drawers. He has 5 shoe boxes of Lego sets, his nerd guns and bullets, a remote control car, a latch hook set, a technic set, 3 stuffed animals, matchbox cars and car mat, 2 boxes of tractors, model cars, and one box of miscellaneous toys and trinkets like magnetic putty, & magnetic rocks, etc. 

He also loves flash lights, and pocket knives (which I don't limit), and his 2 BB guns. 

His books/magazines are on homemade wall shelves made out of vinyl rain gutters. He is at a kinda in between stage, as he doesn't play with toys alot, yet, he still really enjoys his toys and things.

He is a type 4 and likes every thing in order. He is special needs and has limited interests so he has more of each thing, but less variety.

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We do keep a few toys in our hallway closet for the kids to share, which are: lincoln logs and farm/zoo animals,

a wooden train set (which will soon be given away as they are outgrowing it), Magformers, Squigz, board games, card games, and a few puzzles.

 I also keep an Abacus, Imagnets, and counting pigs, along with craft supplies in our school closet, as we use those for schooling. 

 We have a keyboard, lap harp, 2 guitars, and 2 ukulele's that are available for the kids to use. The kids all have their own bikes, and we have a small cupboard of outside toys such as basket balls, jump ropes, toss, etc. that are kept in the garage.  

 And there you have it... all the toys for our kids! 

Note: We do not have a Wii, video games, or xbox etc., for our kids!

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The majority of the nine year olds toys are hand me downs from our oldest daughter, back before we heard about minimalist living! If I was starting out with minimalism before I had kids, I would have kept toys much more simple.... if you are just starting out with a baby or toddler, here is a great list of the only 10 toys your kids need!

We go through our house pretty often and purge... and the kids are on board with that. The 9 yr old especially goes through her toys regularly and often gets rid of a few every couple weeks. We always keep a donate box in the garage.

Also having a home for everything, helps your kids pick up and keep their rooms clean. Click on this link to see many more de-cluttering ideas!