Stuffed animals out of control....

[mom2chrisnluke]

I am trying to declutter and deep clean. One rough spot is all this dang stuffed animals!! The boys each have 20 or so and they "have" to keep them so they scream as I try to clear some out. Any ideas on what can be done with them? How do you manage them and what is done with them? Thanks for any advice or tips!

Leah

[expatmom]

20 each is nothing! :shifty You should see our house. I've got a ban on stuffies, but they seem to multiply regardless. I do go thru them regularly, and tuck away the cheap ones/fast food ones/unloved ones. Then eventually I give them away. I also ask my kids every so often to go thru them & pick out 2 that we can give to children who have no toys; they are okay with doing this. As far as storage, I have one of those closet hanger things for sweaters. Dd keeps hers hanging in her closet & can organize each shelf by "theme" of animal. Ds keeps his in a big tub in the corner of his room because this is the easiest way for him to keep them tidy.

[LadybugSam]

Put them in a box in the garage or closet when they're not there. If they ask for any of them SPECIFICLY take it out and give it back. Chances are they can't even remember all of them and you'll be able to toss out a lot of them but they will still get to keep the ones that are special to them. I'd keep the box a month or so, but after that i'd toss/donate. (BTW most places won't take donations of stuffed animals because they're not very sanatary AND people usually have so many that it just takes up a lot of room and they never get new homes)

[Maggie]

Put them in a box in the garage or closet when they're not there. If they ask for any of them SPECIFICLY take it out and give it back. Chances are they can't even remember all of them and you'll be able to toss out a lot of them but they will still get to keep the ones that are special to them. I'd keep the box a month or so, but after that i'd toss/donate. (BTW most places won't take donations of stuffed animals because they're not very sanatary AND people usually have so many that it just takes up a lot of room and they never get new homes)

I would worry that they'd remember a favorite one right after I got rid of it or something.

We have a lot of stuffed animals, too. We store them in those colorful round tubs. You could also use those big nets that you can hang on the wall or ceiling.

[klpmommy]

Put them in a box in the garage or closet when they're not there. If they ask for any of them SPECIFICLY take it out and give it back. Chances are they can't even remember all of them and you'll be able to toss out a lot of them but they will still get to keep the ones that are special to them. I'd keep the box a month or so, but after that i'd toss/donate. (BTW most places won't take donations of stuffed animals because they're not very sanatary AND people usually have so many that it just takes up a lot of room and they never get new homes)

I would worry that they'd remember a favorite one right after I got rid of it or something.

We have a lot of stuffed animals, too. We store them in those colorful round tubs. You could also use those big nets that you can hang on the wall or ceiling.


Yeah, E & P have incredible memories "Mommy, remember the dragon I got in England? It was green. I want to play with it." And they haven't played with it in months & months. Right now all our stuffed animals are in the crib in the baby's room. That won't work for much longer. I am trying to figure out a better solution now.

[mon]

They do multiply too fast! I've never bought any but ds has too many for the small space we have. I see most of them are special because he looks for them and plays almost everyday. A food progress was when my brother realized ds has too many stuffed animals that we don't have place for, and stopped giving him more. My bro was the main source of stuffed animals, so at least the population growth is somehow under control :giggle

[SouthPaw]

i thought i posted here! hmph. it was an incredible and enlightening once in a lifetime solution! actually, i just said that we stuffed all ours in a box :giggle when i was a young'un i had an animal net hanging in a corner and they lived there.

[fourbygrace]

I would worry that they'd remember a favorite one right after I got rid of it or something.


This has happened to me several times. :O My children have incredible memories! My oldest remembers where every single one of his animals came from and they each have some sentimental value to him. I have convinced the three oldest to give up several stuffed animals and we are down to about 15 each, but they want to spend any $$ they get on more (especially DD). I have said they need to get rid of one to get a new one. It is such a dilemma.

I am going to try an idea that I got from the "Lazy Organizer". She boxed up all but ONE favorite animal in her daughter's room and it gave her daughter less to be responsible for for a time. Then she slowly allowed more items back in. I am hoping this technique will work for us at least ot get a temporary feeling of control.

Blessings,
Mary

[Rachelle]

When I found out that dd had allergies, stuff animals where one of the first things we had to get rid of due to the dust they collect. I found out that our local police department collected them so when they made call to abusive situations they had something to give children that were involved. I allowed dd and ds to keep 3 of their favorites and the rest we gave away to the police department. This made it easier for my kids to part with them.

Rachelle

[mom2threegirls]

Oh stuffed animals are hard. :yes2 My kids also remember them. And they NEED all 5 of the stuffed kitties or doggies or whatever to play their games :shrug :giggle. What we do it keep them all piled up high in a "pet net" hammock that we have in a corner of my older daughters' room. It's amazing the number of stuffed animals that fits in there when they're all piled on top of one another! :giggle It contains them all when no one is playing with them and when they are done it's easy for DD#1 or I to put them away (the hammock is too high for the youngers to reach- which is kind of handy so they can't constantly get them down ;)). If they don't play with certain ones for a couple months or so it gets delegated to the Goodwill bag and if no one asks about it for a couple more months I take it to goodwill. I only do this with the ones that aren't played with and aren't special to them.

[klpmommy]

When I found out that dd had allergies, stuff animals where one of the first things we had to get rid of due to the dust they collect. I found out that our local police department collected them so when they made call to abusive situations they had something to give children that were involved. I allowed dd and ds to keep 3 of their favorites and the rest we gave away to the police department. This made it easier for my kids to part with them.

Rachelle


Our local police & fire stations (as well as hospitals) only take new.

[Maggie]

I love your method, Cari! Thanks for sharing!

[joyful mama]

a hammock in their room :). have them pick 10 of their favorites and then have them donate the other 10 to charity :yes. My dd *loves* to donate things to ' a little girl who needs it' and often will bring a book or toy to her friend to have.

[crunchymum]

i don't like the normal hammocks, so we got one like this, only it's a little bigger: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90096786 i told the kids whatever didn't fit needed to go to a new home. :)

[Heather Micaela]

a hammock in their room :). have them pick 10 of their favorites and then have them donate the other 10 to charity :yes. My dd *loves* to donate things to ' a little girl who needs it' and often will bring a book or toy to her friend to have.




That does not work in our house at ALL! My dd just donated a 2-loader Laundry basket full of toys and books to a little girl who was just adopted by a couple at our church. She gave away her Little People Noahs ark playset and several animals, plus a small LP house and people and furniture. Then she went through her barbies, ponies, and mini (plastic) care bares. After that she chose dress up stuff and playhouse stuff. Guess how many stuffed animals made it in? ...One, and it was MINE!

Every stuffed animal has a personality and name. the very suggestion of throwing them out is met with tears - real tears. My ds even presents a case why each animal should be spared. From time to time one or two may go in - but not ususally. That is why save the very unique or special we have a moritoium on stuffed animals entering the home. The good news is that very few carnival games are played, we started a pressed-penny collection for souveniers, and there are less impulse buys. The bad news is that does nothing for the ones we do have.

What I did is make a high shelf for the very special ones, and they are not played with. I made a lower shelf for the semi-special (like ds' pooh bear collection) and the rest go in the toy box and it is not allowed to overflow. If an animal is constantly left out, I warn them that it is about to go in storage in the garage. And I do follow through. When the separation is over, things are better for at least a week.

My tip to the new parents at church: resit all urges to buy stuffed animals, they DO multply at night!

[Marrae]

I saw a cushion cover type thing that you put the stuffed animals in then use like a cushion. It's called 'Stuffed Animal Storage and Soft Seat' and there are different sizes and shapes. It looks cool but is very $$$ but you could make one, I suppose.

Here is a link (broken) http:// booninc.com/AnimalBag_oval.html

[Heather Micaela]

Oh my goodness! That is the coolest thing EVER!
(I like the FLO water deflecter they have too)

[something glorious]

oh, i love boon :tu we have their potty seat, and it totally rocks :rockon

[LadybugSam]

you should totally spay and neuter all of your animals, that kind of exessive breeding is not good for any of you :no

:giggle I'm in a funny mood today, i apologise

[klpmommy]

you should totally spay and neuter all of your animals, that kind of exessive breeding is not good for any of you :no

:giggle I'm in a funny mood today, i apologise


All of mine are spayed & neutered. They just keep adopting more. :P~

[Rabbit]

:haha

I've been slowly weeding through -my- collection of stuffed animals for the last decade. I'm down to one storage box. Except that some of mine that I had been willing to part with made it somehow into Samantha's collection.