I Swear By This Chaos-Free Toy Decluttering Method (Make Room for New Holiday Gifts!)

The twinkle lights are up, the stockings are hung, and it’s go time: If you’re going to declutter toys before the onslaught of new ones for Christmas, this is your moment. (Once you get this decluttering method down, you can use it all year!)

Recently, while one of my interior design clients vacationed with her twins, I had free rein to downsize the toy sprawl. Working without the kids made all the difference — some kids thrive on helping, but others only miss toys once they’re staring at them again, so this way, there were no tears. In just two hours, the piles shrank by half, and the apartment breathed again: room for holiday gifts, and room for real play.

Here’s how you can do it too:

Truly, everything. From the toys in the stroller basket to the ones in under-bed bins to the ones hiding in corners of closets. Gather them all in one spot and sort by type:

• Small World: Matchbox cars, dollhouse furniture, dinosaur figures
• Imagination Play: Dress-up clothes, doctor kits, play kitchens
• STEM/Building: Blocks, Magna-Tiles, puzzles
• Music: Instruments big and small
• Books
• Plus any category your child has in bulk (dinosaurs at my house; dolls at my client’s)

Go category by category and let go of …

• Broken toys
• Outgrown toys
• Duplicates
• Also consider toys that play themselves (the fire truck that drives and blares on its own, for example, because imagination does it better)

Don’t be afraid to break up kits. You might keep the Melissa & Doug fruit, but ditch the too-bulky tray. Or hold onto two identical dolls for identical twins — but skip the five extra pacifiers that came with them.

When I downsized my client’s doll stash, here’s what stayed:

• Dolls with diverse representation
• A pair of identical twins (because the girls are twins)
• One heavier doll that felt like a real baby

And what went? The oversized, jumbo-eyed babies that didn’t add much to play.

Trash the broken stuff. Sell if you have the energy. Donate the rest. Many local toy drives are collecting right now, so your timing is perfect.

If you declutter without your kids around, tuck away donation bags for a bit, just in case you unknowingly removed a favorite. If no one asks for it in the next couple of weeks, you should be safe.

Once you’ve pared down, sort toys by type and set up simple play zones. Then, later, rotate and remix.

Before leaving my client’s playroom, I …

• Moved the horses and stable into the dollhouse
• Placed Montessori sorting balls in a play kitchen basket
• Stashed the mice for later rotation

These small shifts spark curiosity — and curiosity means longer play, fewer interruptions, and more breathing room for you.