How To Keep Your Family From Giving Too Many Toys

1. HOW TO KEEP YOUR FAMILY FROM GIVING TOO MANY TOYS

2. TOO MANY TOYS? Many parents are all too familiar with this problem: boxes and bins overflowing with discarded toys. Often, these piles of 'has-been' toys are the result of over eager family members giving children more toys than they can ever use. When Christmas and birthdays (and sometimes any other holiday) come around, it can tempting for family members to express their love for your children by sending toy after toy. However, too many toys can actually be detrimental to children. Kids tend to become bored more quickly, feel more entitled, and utilize less creativity when they have an abundance of toys. Paring back on toys, on the other hand, has been shown to encourage creativity, imagination, cooperation, and contentment among children. If you feel as if your child’s toys are out of control, and if you want to cut back on the amount of toys your family gives at each holiday, consider the following 5 tips. These suggestions can help you to direct family members to the best gifts for your kids without leaving you with an overwhelming number of toys to manage.

3. WISH LISTS Provide specific wish lists to help your family find the perfect gift for your child. Sometimes, family members buy too many toys because they do not know how to find the perfect gift for your child. They hope that by purchasing a large number of presents they will include one or two that are actually meaningful. You can help your family find the perfect gift for your child, and cut back on the number of toys your child receives, by providing your family members with a specific wish list. For example, say your 5-year-old loves superheroes. Add a couple of superhero themed Lego sets to your wish list. Or, say your 13-year-old has just begun reading a certain book series. Add the rest of the books in that series to your wish list. By doing so, you make it easy for family members to find a gift for someone they love dearly, and you are ensuring that the gifts your children receive are useful and desired.

4. BOOKS Encourage books as gifts in order to keep your family from buying too many toys. Another way to keep your family from buying too many toys is to encourage family members to buy books for your children instead. Books have the same (or greater) ability to spark the imaginations of children as do high quality toys. In addition, books make excellent educational gifts for almost any age group. Finally, because you can find a book on almost any topic, it is possible to find a book for almost any child. In order to further enable your family members to find an appropriate, non-toy gift for your child, create a wish list that you can share with anyone who wants to give your children a present. You can include specific book titles, subject matter in which your child is interested, and reading levels to ensure that your child will be both able and willing to read the books that are purchased for them. If asking for books seems boring, or if your child does not like to read, consider asking for unique books that can be fun for family members to buy and for your children to read. For example, some books allow the family members to record themselves reading it so your child can listen to their voice over and over, while graphic novels and comic books can engage disinterested readers.

5. EXPERIENCES • Request experiences instead of toys when family members wonder how to find the perfect gift for your children. • Not all gifts have to be tangible items unwrapped during the birthday party or on Christmas day. Instead, some of the best gifts for kids are those that provide them with experiences that will educate and entertain them. In order to keep your family from giving too many toys, consider encouraging them to purchase these gifts of experiences. • There are many experiences that can be gifted by family members. The goal is to ask for ones that will interest and educate your children. For example, do not ask for membership to an art museum if what your child is really interested in is sports. In that case, ask for tickets to a ball game or sports lessons. • Here is a list of just a few of the gifts of experiences that you can request to keep your family from buying too many toys: • Zoo membership • Aquarium membership • Museum membership • Orchestra tickets • Theater tickets • Art museum membership • Travel tickets • Puzzles • Games • Amusement park tickets • Lessons ranging from art to gymnastics

6. TIME Suggest the gift of time as a perfect gift for your children. Sometimes, family members give too many toys because they are trying to forge a connection with your children. By giving them numerous toys, they hope your child will feel connected to them and understand how special they are to your family member.  In order to keep your family from giving too many gifts, and to help family members build the relationships they want with your children, consider encouraging them to give your children the gift of time. For example, an aunt could take your children out to ice cream, while your father could institute a game night with the grand kids. These gifts of time often accompany gifts of experience, creating the opportunity to forge meaningful bonds with your children without needing to buy any toys.

7. ONE LARGE GIFT Have family invest in one large gift to keep them from buying too many toys. Finally, you can keep your family from giving too many toys by having them invest in one large gift. By bringing the group together to purchase one present that your family will truly enjoy and get use out of, you are creating the opportunity for everyone to feel included without incurring numerous toys. For example, have everyone chip in to purchase a swing set for the kids, buy a bicycle, invest in a play kitchen, etc. Keeping your family from giving too many toys does not have to mean forbidding them from buying gifts at all. Instead, it means presenting them with creative, non-toy gift options that they will enjoy purchasing and your children will enjoy receiving. Whether you provide a specific wish list, ask for books, ask for experiences, request the gift of time, or have family invest in one large gift, you are setting up a scenario in which your children have the right number of toys while still feeling all of the love and affection their family has for them.

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