Too Many Stuffed Animals

Archived Q&A and reviews ▼

Archived Q&A and Reviews

Creative storage or charity for (too many) stuffed animals

August 2005

Our daughter, age 7 and an only child, loves loves loves stuffed animals. She's got way too many, of course, and all she wants to do is buy more (and each and every one, by the way, has a name). The ''you have to get rid of one before you get another one'' strategy doesn't work. So now I'm thinking that if perhaps we deal with storing/displaying them in a more efficient way, they won't drive me so crazy. ;-) Any ideas? We already have one of those big nets hanging from the wall. It's been stuffed to the gills with stuffed animals for years. The rest live on my daughter's bed, leaving very little room for my daughter as she gets older/bigger. Also, if I were able to convince her to get rid of any of these, how does one do that? I imagine there are issues of dirt/germs and you can't donate them? Or can you? Thanks! Lori

When my son was growing up he had a ton of stuffed animals too. I mean a ton. My gdtr is enjoying them now. We finally got a board about 10-12'' wide, the full length of the wall above his bed, stained it to match wood in his room, put it up on the wall above his bed , about 18-24'' from the ceiling, and put all the animals up there. If he had acquired many more, I would have put up two of these high shelves.

He could keep 4-5 on his bed. He rotated which ones he wanted on his bed.

I also took the Holiday ones, Easter chickens, rabbits, and Xmas bears etc., and put away and took them out a month prior to Holidays for him to enjoy.

He kept them up there into high school till we moved. In fact he was indignant when he was 16 and didn't get a new bunny for Easter! Childhood traditions are very strong with kids. My gdtr loves the lion the best now. Berkeley gramma

We had a pole hanging in a corner of the bedroom - a closet pole would work, but hanging vertically. We screwed L-hooks all over it and sewed rings onto each stuffed animal (safety pins would work too), and just hung them all up. A great space saver. Heather

Too many stuffed animals is a common problem! Not many places will accept used stuffed animals for donations/recycling. One worthwhile thing you can do with them is donate them to the Mavericks' soccer team which does the soccer kick at the Solano Stroll each year. They will take your stuffed animals (in very good condition) wash/dry them and give them away as prizes. If you do have any you want to donate contact Lynn at lynn at lmi.net. She will be happy to come and get them if you are in Berkeley/ALbany/Oakland. Lori

Install shelves all the way around her room, just above the top of the doorway -- about a foot below the ceiling. There's usually nothing else up there to interfere with just running a board the entire perimeter of the room, the animals are cute up there, and they are safe to store even directly over the bed since they won't do much damage if they fall in an earthquake. If and when she does outgrow the stuffed animals, the shelves will provide display space for other collections. If you have the wall space you can add more shelves lower down, too.

The stuffed animals will get dusty unless you take them down and move them around frequently, but she'll be able to see her entire collection and there will be quite a bit of room. And they will be completely out of your way. Holly

My parents sewed a little plastic ring near the back of the neck of each stuffed animal. They then placed a colored pole made of wood in my room, and put little hooks on it running the length of the pole, so each stuffed animal could be hung up by their plastic rings. I think it looked great, and it definitely saved space. anon

Anyone with too many stuffed animals can donate them (via mail is okay) to ''Animal Beacons of Light'' in Mountain View. They gather new and lightly used, soft stuffed animals, clean them, and distribute them to children of all ages in orphanages, hospitals and homes around the world. In the past 10 years, more than 6,000 animals have been been sent to more than a dozen countries including Bosnia/Herzegovina, Afghanistan, South Africa, Mexico, Central America and Brazil. To donate stuffed animals or volunteer your time for repair and cleaning of animals, you can call 650-961-8777 (Mt. View) or email her at LNh at batnet.com Shannon