Less Toys = Higher Quality Play (And Less Clutter!)

Why limit toys, books and what’s accessible to kids? In addition to lessening the clutter and keeping your home a bit more tidy and organized, studies show that less toys means higher quality play. The University of Toledo in Ohio studied 36 toddlers (ages 18 to 30 months) in free-play sessions with either 4 or 16 toys. In the groups who played with only four toys, toddlers played in more varied, advanced ways for longer periods of time.

I believe that both active (with batteries) and passive (without batteries) toys are a personal choice for each family and all toys have a place. Some that drive me to a place of crazy, but yes, they still have a place.

One last tip - don’t keep out what you don’t want to clean up. Is one toy a shape sorter with 10+ extra little pieces? Put it in rotation when you have other large, single toys out so it’s more manageable to gather little parts. When I do this, cleaning up is less overwhelming.

🎶 "Welcome to my learning farm..." 🎶 IYKYK. Although I am SO tired of this song, the learning walker toy has been great for my son over the past few months - sitting for long periods, crawling/pulling towards it and working on standing; I can't complain too much. Do you have a least favorite toy as a parent? Tell me so we can lament together.
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