How to Declutter Toys: A Step-by-Step Guide to a Stress-Free Playroom
If you feel like your home has been taken over by plastic, you aren't alone. Learning how to declutter toys is one of the most impactful projects a parent can undertake to reclaim their living space and improve their child's focus. Building on our look at the benefits of decuttering toys in Part 1, this guide provides a practical, 6-step framework to help you pare down the "stuff" and prioritize meaningful play.
Step 1: Observe and Reflect on Play Habits
Before you start tossing items into bags, spend a week watching how your children actually interact with their environment. To understand how to declutter toys effectively, you must identify what truly adds value.
Take note of:
Which toys are being entirely ignored?
Are items broken, missing pieces, or outgrown?
Which toys stimulate independent, creative play for more than 15 minutes?
Do specific toys lead to more frustration or "dumping" behavior rather than actual play?
Step 2: Sort and Categorize Your Toy Collection
The most effective way to see the "enormity" of what you own is to bring it all into one space. As Marie Kondo suggests, seeing a mountain of stuffed animals in the middle of a room creates a powerful visual shift.
To organize your project, gather toys into these major categories:
Building & Stem: Blocks, LEGOs, magnet tiles.
Imaginative & Roleplay: Play kitchens, costumes, and figurines.
Active & Physical: Balls, ride-on toys, and scooters.
Creating & Sensory: Art supplies and Play-Doh.
Games & Puzzles: Board games and task-oriented toys.
Step 3: How to Declutter Toys by Setting Boundaries
Now it's time to let go. To keep the process from feeling overwhelming, set a timer and grab five containers labeled: Trash, Recycle, Donate, Sell, and Keep.
One of the best strategies for how to declutter toys is to set physical boundaries. Instead of saying "I need fewer cars," say "All our cars must fit in this specific wooden bin." If the bin overflows, something has to go. This shifts the decision-making from an emotional choice to a spatial one. Start with the "easy wins"—broken toys and duplicates—to build momentum.
Step 4: Organize for Accessibility and Visibility
If a child can't see a toy, they won't play with it. When you arrange the toys you’ve chosen to keep, embrace the "Toy Rotation" method.
Use small, clear bins: Keep like-items together.
Curate mini-collections: Place 5-10 toys on a low shelf where the child spends the most time.
Store and rotate: Keep the "excess" in a closet and swap them out every few weeks to keep the novelty high without the clutter.
Step 5: Responsible Disposal and Removal
Once you've decided how to declutter toys from your stash, get them out of the house quickly. Momentum is key!
Donate: Local shelters, hospitals, or preschools.
Sell: Use online marketplaces for high-value items like wooden sets or strollers.
Recycle: Look for specific plastic recycling programs (though rare for toys).
Step 6: Create a Long-Term Maintenance Plan
Decluttering is a one-time event; maintenance is a lifestyle. To stop the toy creep from returning, identify the source. Are the toys coming from impulse buys, or are they gifts from well-meaning relatives?
Embrace Experience Gifts: Ask for zoo memberships or music lessons instead of plastic toys.
One-In, One-Out Policy: For every new toy that enters the home, one (or two!) must be donated.
Curate with Intention: Prioritize "Open-Ended" toys that grow with the child.
Step 2: Sort your toys.
Sort your toys by category. Having everything visible in one space makes it much easier to pick out the favorite toys and the ones that add value. It is also, as Marie Kondo explains, important to make the pile so that you see the number of things you own. Think about excess. A dozen stuffed animals in different rooms around your house may not seem like a lot, but a pile in the middle of the room will show you the enormity of what you own. Then, gather all the toys of a specific category in one room. If you have a lot of toys or just want to divide them, tackle one category at a time.
Here are the major toy categories:
Baby toys: Play mats, stacking toys, pull toys, sensory toys (musical, light-up, textured, etc.), bouncers and walkers, rattles and teethers, soft books, etc.
Dolls and stuffed animals: Barbies, baby dolls, doll accessories, and plush toys
Building toys: Blocks, LEGOs, Lincoln Logs, Duplos, K’nex, Zoobs, magnet tiles, etc.
Creating toys: Arts and craft supplies, jewelry-making kits
Imaginative toys: Play kitchen, doctor’s kit, costumes, puppets, etc.
Transportation toys: Cars, trucks, trains, toy garages, racing tracks, etc.
Figurines: Action figures, superheroes, Playmobil, etc.
Games: Board games, card games, puzzles, video games, etc.
Active toys: Bats, balls, ride or push toys, bikes, scooters, trampoline, etc.
Musical instruments: Drums, imitation guitars, flutes, harmonicas, etc.
Step 3: Declutter one category at a time.
Now, it’s time to let go. Here are the steps to take to make this project easy for you:
Grab a few supplies:
You’ll need 4-5 trash bags or cardboard boxes, a couple of old rags (one damp, one dry), and a small hand vacuum to clean empty drawers and shelving as you go. Labeling the piles with sticky notes will help keep things organized.
Designate separate areas for trash, and toys to recycle, donate, sell, and keep.
Set a timer:
This will move things along and keep you from spending too much time dwelling on one toy. Go back to the questions you reflected on previously to help you differentiate open-ended toys from closed-ended toys and identify toys that add value to your child’s life.
Set some boundaries:
Boundaries not only help you declutter, but they also help keep toy collections manageable in size. You can set boundaries by limiting the number of something or designating a certain amount of space for the collection. An example of this might be limiting your Matchbox collection to 25 cars and trucks or designating one storage bin for LEGOs.
Separate the favorites:
Regardless of whether it’s an open-ended or closed-ended toy, if your child truly loves and plays well with it often, keep it. At least for now. Then you can pass it on to someone else once your child has lost interest in it or outgrown it.
Declutter duplicates, broken toys, toys with missing pieces, and toys that have been outgrown:
They are quick to identify and the easiest to let go of because they no longer serve you or your kids. Starting with these will give you an instant sense of accomplishment and help you build momentum.
Reference your boundaries often:
Let the boundaries you set guide your decision-making as you declutter. Keep only the most loved toys that will fit within those boundaries and trust that they will be enough. And remember, the research shows kids play longer and more creatively with fewer toys.
Step 4: Organize and arrange.
Toys that you are keeping and want your kids to play with should be easily accessible and visible. If we want kids to play with their toys, they need to be able to see and access them easily.
Embrace small bins:
Organize small toys and toys with lots of pieces (i.e. Matchbox cars, magnet tiles, LEGOs) in small, individual bins to keep like-toys together.
Curate a few mini toy collections:
Arrange 5-10 toys individually on a shelf close to the action. Kids play where their people are. Keep a small selection of toys in each of the main areas of your home.
Store the rest and rotate:
Put the rest away and rotate your toys every few weeks, or whenever you sense your kids might need a change.
When toys are carefully curated and arranged with care, you’ll find your kids are more likely to value, care for, and clean toys up themselves.
Step 5: Get rid of your unwanted toys.
The last step to decluttering your toys is to remove them from your home. I recommend doing this while you’ve got momentum — within a few days or so. Here are several options for toys you want to remove from your home:
Donate:
Donate toys in good condition to a local shelter, hospital, resale charity, church, preschool or nursery.
Sell:
You can sell gently used toys online or at yard sales.
Recycle:
Consider recycling whatever you don’t donate or sell. Most plastic toys are hard to recycle. If a toy has a recycling code, do a search and you might find someone who will accept it, although this is rare.
Step 6: Create a plan to maintain the toys you own.
Identify the source of toy clutter:
Take a good, long look at the source of most of your toy clutter. How did all those toys get into your home in the first place? Did you or your spouse/partner buy them? Were they gifts, or hand-me-downs from friends?
Change the way you buy and receive:
The only way to keep toy clutter from accumulating again is to change your buying habits and let others know your intentions.
Think before you buy:
Resist making impulse purchases and discuss potential toy purchases with the rest of the family.
Learn how to say, “Thanks, but no thanks:”
Politely decline boxes of hand-me-down toys from friends and family.
Embrace experience gifts:
Ask friends and family to give experiences or to donate to the kids’ education funds.
Curate new toys with intention:
Having more open-ended toys will foster longer, more creative, imaginative, and independent play. Of course, there will be closed-ended toys your kids want, maybe even need. And some are great! However, the key to getting more enjoyment from fewer toys is having the majority be open-ended toys. Resist impulse purchases and the urge to buy more of something your kid is into just because it keeps them occupied. Let them get every ounce of enjoyment they can from the toys they already have.
Implement a one-in, one-out (or two-out!) policy:
For every new toy, have your child select one or two they no longer play with to donate, sell or recycle. Preferably, before they get their hands on the new one. We did that when our kids were small and it worked very well at keeping toy clutter under control.