What toys/items worth keeping after they are outgrown?
My children are starting to outgrow many of their toys and we are re-organizing their playroom to make space for new games. I kept a lot from the oldest but the youngest has different taste and is not into everything. We are now deciding what to store (we have the space) for future kids in the family or even grandkids and what to get rid of (to friends or donate). So far we decided to store the lego collection (we have a large one and I know kids who enjoyed playing with their parents' collections so I know it will last), k'nex collection, magnatiles (they are compact when organized and really cool and expensive toy), and a few special/expensive/fancy barbies. I'm wondering if I'm missing something. For those of you with space to store and older kids, what did you decide to store for the next generation or in case anyone in family has a kid who can enjoy it (i.e. for nieces/nephews)? I'm mainly focusing on durability (don't want to store anything that will degrade with time) and things that are likely to still be useful and in-demand years from now. My kids will get a say too before we get rid of anything of course. Thanks.
Parent Replies
We stored the most beloved stuffies, some of the cooler non-electronic things (e.g., a block puzzle toy they played with endlessly and engenders lots of creativity), but mostly books that they read over and over because I was so thrilled to inherit the ones from my childhood when I had kids myself (Dr. Seus Sleep Book!!!). Some things I store for my kids when they have their own kids, some I store for myself for sentimental reasons, because I know I'll enjoy seeing them at some point and being reminded of when my kids were little.
If you have brio (or Thomas), I would suggest storing those too - or at least the wooden track. My parents stored my old Brio and my kids play with it. The wood sets, in particular, are timeless. I would caution against the inclination to store the more expensive Barbies. My parents saved my "collectible" Barbies (still in boxes, untouched) from my childhood but once my 5 year old daughter saw them, out of the boxes they came, brushes in hair, outfits all over the house, before I could stop her. Now they are just "regular" Barbies with little-to-no value. Oops! She hasn't found my Madame Alexander dolls (yet). Haha. So, if you have dolls with value, consider selling them now and putting the money in a 529. :)
We kept the wooden Thomas stuff, the American Girl baby and girl dolls, the wooden toy kitchen, and a few other things. Not too much.
You don't mention how old your kids are.
Wooden block.. Even as young teens, they took the Kapla blocks out again to do stuff with.
We had/have a large Playmobil collection which I've saved a lot of. No idea if it will prove worth it over the years, but they've held up well so far (going on 20 years now).