I GOT RID OF ALL MY KIDS' TOYS...and this is what happened

I got rid of all my kids toys. Is being a minimalist with toys better? I wanted to find out. If toys are taking ofer your house, you'll love this experiment

🗣️MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO

0:00 - What if I got rid of all our toys?
1:26 - Decluttering and purging all my kids' toys
5:45 - what happened when I got rid of all my kids' toys
7:44 -what I learned from getting rid of all our toys

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Hi I'm Kallie Branciforte, the content creator for the blog and YouTube channel But First, Coffee.

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This is not a sponsored video. Some links in this description may contain affiliate links.
Music by licensed by Epidemic Sound.

[samanthamorse]

I did this years ago when my kids were 3 and 6. My kids are teens now but I got rid of everything except art supplies and it changed our life. Less bickering, more creativity, and a much calmer family life. The stuff was stressing us all out more than I realized. We have never looked back!

[mamablue]

I love what Natalie Bennett does for her kids birthdays and holidays. She gets them a book, a surprise gift, 1 thing theyve asked for and 1 thing to wear

[crystalbehm]

My son knows every toy he has and had ever gotten, even years later. So what we do is go through everything together. I explain what we’re doing and why. We fill a few boxes and donate every few months. Been doing this over a year. He’s 4. Teach your kiddos from a young age. 👌

[marisacooper]

I am reminded here how important it is to recognize we only need “spark engagement” of children, then they will innately “entertain” themselves. Toys can overrun children’s natural play just as they can take over a space- they should simply inspire the imagination ❤ All great tips! And congrats on your new baby!

[ninnymuggins]

On the next holidays and birthdays, try gifting experiences like aquariums, zoos and museums, and try to avoid the giftshops, too!

[blujeans]

I am currently taking care of my late 90+ yo dad's house. He lived in this house for almost 40 years with my mom who passed away many years ago. I found they had kept almost all of our favorite games (we did not have much in those days) and even a favorite game I loved as a kid and always wondered if I could find a replacement on line someday. I'm 70 yo and honestly have no use for it and probably never really wanted a replacement - but it touched my heart (as so many other things did) that they thought it was special enough to keep for over 60 years - even keeping it for two moves since I had it at about 6 or 7. But times were different then. You rarely got toys except for your birthday or Christmas - so the little we had, we cherished.

[lindseymartinson-dkzf]

I followed your example and got rid of half of their stuff….so much better and they haven’t missed anything 3 weeks later. They are playing so nicely and are able to clean everything up, even the 3 year old. Thanks mama!

[AliP]

As a grandmother of 4, mother of many, I decided years ago that the kids only get half of their gifts at a time, while the other half gets stored away. They always get all their gifts on the holiday to open. Once they do that the toys that aren't getting played with right away, are quickly hidden. A few months later it's like the kids have brand new gifts again!!
It worked for my kids. 🤷🏼‍♀️

[barbkandel]

Kallie, this is great!!! We had four kids and we learned early on that they played better AND longer, when they had fewer toys. Our kids have great imaginations, and they grew up to be very productive adults! You are on the right track!!! We also had them choose toys to give to less fortunate kids, to thin down their toys right before the holidays. That really helped to keep it under control.

[Mary_]

Congratulations on your new bundle of joy! Hope you all are alright and Had a wonderful time getting to know each other . ❤

[patwagner]

When I was a kid, I didn't have a ton of toys. I had just enough. My toys were always in my room. But when my mom got rid of any of my toys while I was at school, I noticed !

[amandadunbar]

Congrats Kallie. As a first time mom with a 3 month old I am trying to solidify in the aunties and grandparents now that we dont need/ have room for alot of toys. Thank you for confirming this.

[kimvannatter]

I've been moving towards minimalism, decluttering lots. Really mulling over the "burden of abundance". The toy declutter happened after a couple weeks of dumping bins into mountains.. very overwhelming. I decided just one cube of random toys and a teddy per child, their legos, construction trucks for outside, and a large train set. I walked them through how I would have all the rest of their toys in the basement, that it was available anytime, but they could only exchange a toy for a toy. That first week they did a couple exchanges, but other than that this past month they've been content and they can pick up after themselves in 5 minutes. It's been so healthy, and they have not stopped having the time of their lives ❤️

[emotionalstability]

I love this! I decided to become a minimalist when I had a newborn and 1.5 yr old. It changed my life. No more cleaning up a thousand kids toys a day! Thanks for sharing this video. 😊☀️🌸

[susanhenley]

Did a quarterly toy rotation when my kids were little. It all happened while they napped, then they'd wake up to all 'new' toys. They loved it. Now I need to do this with our grandchildrens' toys.

[kristihurst]

One thing that has helped me so much with toys and toddlers, is yes, donating or packing up toys they don't play with, but also finding homes out of reach for the more complicated toys and puzzles, and only get those out a specific times. This keeps them from getting dumped on the floor 5 times a day, but also keeps them fresh and new when we want to do them together and have some learning time! Thankyou Cali! You inspired me to pack up 50% of their toys. I donated some and others I kept because I know as my 3 little boys grow and learn to actually build things it will take more blocks and farm animals, but for now it saves me a lot of time not having to pick so many up!

[karenmabe]

My daughter likes to keep her toys so we “put them in memories” which is code for storage in the attic. Periodically we go through “memories” and she is often more ready let it go when she’s had some time away from it. Her love language is gifts and the majority of her toys were gifts so they are important to her. It’s not as efficient, but it helps to honor her feelings in the short run for the long term benefits.

[sinkintostillness]

I think a trap we also fall into is they get excited playing with a particular toy at a friend or family members house and then we feel like they need a duplicate at home, instead of it being an exciting thing they get to do away from home.

My sister is a sucker for this, my niece will come here, play with something different and really enjoy it, so my sister will buy it for her to have at home, and will then complain that it doesn't get used there. Sometimes it's about the environment and who you are playing with, not the toy itself.

[JenMidwestMama]

Thank you Kallie! This is a great reminder for me. Last year I heard some great stuff like this from Dawn (the Minimal Mom)... but I have forgot. Time to overhaul our household TOY situation!! God Bless!

[chantals]

Love this video. I try and get rid of toys every now and then to keep it managed because they have SO MUCH! Usually it’s months later if they even ask for something. But majority of the time they don’t even notice when something is gone. As you said “they really don’t need much for them to be creative and have independent play”