official toy count in our RV

We have 1 toy bin in our RV. It often also doubles as a doll bed:

official toy count in our RV 1

We have a doctor's kit.

official toy count in our RV 2

A play telephone.

official toy count in our RV 3

A real harmonica.

official toy count in our RV 4

A set of Ukranian stacking dolls.

official toy count in our RV 5

And two games - Letter Bingo and the Give Kids The World Village edition of Candy Land.

official toy count in our RV 6 official toy count in our RV 7

That's all. Under 20 toys. Everything fits in one rectangular bin and we keep it in a drawer.

Our experience on-the-road is teaching us what we (partly) already knew - that most toys can't hold a candle to hiking new trails, meeting new people, reading stacks of books at the library, baking in the kitchen, and doing arts + crafts.

When we settle down again in a house, I don't think we'll fill it up with tons of toys. [Exception: I want a dress-up trunk full of costumes...and some puppets.]

Now, books? Books are a completely different story. (I'll write about that in an upcoming post).

How many toys are in your house? If you had to cut your toy collection down to 20 toys, what would you keep?

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27 comments on “official toy count in our RV”

  1. I think Levi would freak if we narrowed it down to 20. He remembers EVERYTHING. I found some toys at the bottom of a toy basket that he never, ever plays with. I put them in a bag in the closet and earmarked them for giveaway. An entire month later he started looking for them. If I try to talk to him about giving away toys that he doesn't play with he screams and cries like I'm killing him. And, that's just over a gentle suggestion. I'm hoping that since he comes with us when we donate our stuff (which is regularly) maybe it'll rub off on him eventually.

  2. We would get a long great when it comes to toy clutter! Almost all the toys we own have been gifts from other people. Things I don't consider toy clutter are: games/puzzles, books and outdoor toys that promote physical activity (in reasonable quantities -- who needs 14 different ride-on toys?!).

    To be honest my 4yo doesn't really even like toys. He gets excited about something new for about a week and then never touches it again. He would much rather be playing a game, paging through a book or running around in the backyard. But my almost 2yo has shown a much greater interest in toys which is actually a little fun to watch.

    I'm always a little bit embarrassed to host a playdate because we really have a fraction of the toys most homes do. :-/

    1. We share the same philosophy. I agree that books and outdoor supplies don't "count" as toys. Same goes for craft supplies.

  3. We have a ton of toys mostly due to my parents and in-laws! Our 2 year old's favorites are Duplo's (hours of creative fun) plus sports equipment like baseballs, bats, a batting helmet, football, and basketball with a hoop.

  4. We have oodles of toys. I don't know how we would narrow it down that small. The girls both LOVE the kitchen set and all the food accessories. Babies, of course, are popular. Puzzles are very popular with our older daughter and we would have to have a set of blocks, both girls love to build. Oh and the dollhouse is also quite popular at our house, along with all the people.

  5. We have WAAAAAAY too many toys in our house. And we get more at every birthday/holiday/any day a friend visits my mother it seems.

    What would I keep??? Legos, some toy cars, playdough, stamps/paints, ... actually I think I'm realizing we don't really have that many individual toys, it's just that the ones we have all have a gazillion parts... oy! But most of them do fit in one 2ft by 2ft by 1ft box. So I guess it's not as bad as I thought. It's just bad when they're all spread out all over the living room floor!

    1. I didn't include art supplies in my "official count." Those fall into a different category in my mind. In addition to our toys, we also have smaller bins for crayons, markers, scissors, glue, stickers, etc.

  6. We have way too many toys :)
    I guess I'd keep the wooden alphabet blocks, some little people (he's obsessed with his "man"s as he calls them), some trucks, some balls, some felt food I've made him, and my husband's old 12 inch GI Joe's from when he was a kid.

    I would gladly get rid of everything made by VTech. I try to hide them so he won't play with them much.

    1. I'm not a fan of electronic toys either...not enough scope for the imagination (as Anne Shirley would say). ;)

  7. I have toy "Stashes" around the house so that we don't have to drag things around all the time. So I kinda like "a lot" of toys. That said, I don't think we actually have a lot of toys! :) Let's see, from memory I can count:
    1 walker toy, 1 musical toy, 1 spinner toy, 8 cars, 2 balls, a pounding bench (that is put away b/c he kept throwing it and denting our hardwood, 1 wooden toolbox toy, 2 puzzles (he doesn't get how to do these yet!), a set of ABC blocks, a train stacker/sorter toy, and then a somewhat large handful of rattley/shaker toys and also a small pile of stuffed animals. Oh, and a "basketball/sports" set up that I really don't like and he doesn't play with and will probably be donated as soon as I get over the guilty conscience b/c it was a birthday gift to him! :) And books, books, books. Someday I'll do a post about my books for him! :) If I had to reduce... I would still keep several cars, the 2 balls, the tool box, and some activity toy like a stacker/sorter, probably the blocks too, and I'd scale down the stuffed animals. Obviously the walker toys and the rattles he's going to grow out of very soon if he hasn't already - sometimes he likes to fill his dump truck with them though so Ieave them in a basket! :) Oh gosh, I'm afraid I didn't really cut back too much did I! LOL - it's hard - do you find you get more attached to the toys than the kids do b/c you have fond memories of seeing your kids play with them? LOL

    I had a friend with a huge dress up barrel when I was younger and we had SOOOO much fun! :)

    1. Stuffed animals seem to accumulate so fast...and yet our girls hardly play with them. They much prefer dolls, make-believe toys (pretend food, career items, etc.), and building sets (legos, blocks, etc.).

  8. I love this. I have been trying to keep our toy count low, but family loves to give toys as gift.

    If it were down to 20 toys, then we would just have cars/trains and puzzles.

  9. Good for you. I got our toys down to one toy chest ( not including books) and it felt great. It's the new rules in our house. It all has to fit in the toy cupboard or we don't get it. All my son wants to do is play outside anyway. Thanks for leading the way for all of us as a good reminder they will play with what they have they don't need the best new toy each time we go shopping.

    1. That's basically our rule too. If it doesn't fit in the bin, we don't keep it. The girls have received several toys as gifts as we've been traveling...they can then decide whether to keep the new toy and donate an old toy...or to pass on the new toy to another child. Either way, they almost always give joyfully.

  10. That is so cool !! sorry its been a while !! if i had to take 2 toys for ayaan, it would have to be playdough and his ball :)
    loads of love to the kids

  11. We have 4 children and entirely too many toys. We're trying to cut the clutter... such a tough job. I feel guilty getting rid of things that others have given the kids as gifts (and nearly ALL of it is a gift!), but it must be done. No way to they need all that.

    The truth? What we have is likely 'less than average' in today's standards.

    1. Same here! We didn't personally buy any of the toys in our RV. They were all gifts from grandparents and friends. Oh, wait - Tim did buy those stacking dolls for the girls when he was in Ukraine last year!

  12. We have too many toys! I only buy the kids Little People stuff to add to their growing village - because they will play together with that stuff for a whole day, it's great to pull out on a rainy day! Or legos (duplo's actually) - once again, because it's one of those things that they will play together with for a whole day. However the rest of the family... yeah, anyway! Goose loves balls, trucks, cars, puzzles, and the musical toys. Sugar loves her dolls, her kitchen, her doctor kit and her stick horse. it would be hard to pare down to 20 toys - but I'm sure we would manage!

    1. Little People ARE fun...and they're so much better than electronic/musical toys. I bet our girls would love to have a village of people to pretend with.

  13. :) it's really so great to read your entries. always inspiring. we don't have many toys either but that's cuz our home is a studio... still, she has everything she needs. btw, i saw your give every day blog... in g.a. are you guys coming to nyc? :D

    1. Perhaps in late June or early July. We'll be sure to announce our plans on Give Every Day as soon as they're finalized.

  14. We would keep legos. I have 3 boys ages 5,9,10. I am still holding onto our trains (will probably keep them for the grandkIds someday.). I've held onto a few baby toys in case friends with little ones stop by but it is pretty much legos around here and we have at least a 1,000 in a couple big bins!

  15. I think we have around 20 actual toys and puzzles, but then a few little teether rings & other such semi-toys. Then there are remote controls and cell phones, which are apparently the best toys ever.

    I think to your list you should add building blocks! My sibs and I had a set of plain unpainted wooden blocks of different shapes and sizes. We spent HOURS building different constructions, knocking each others' down, and then restarting. Good times. :)

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