Getting Rid of Toys and Clutter in our Typical Suburban Home

Social Experiment # 1 – What would happen if we remove all toys and collectables from our house?

Here is the idea.  We are going to box up all of the toys, collections, books, art supplies, knick knacks, old school work, art that is not on walls and stuffies in our home.  For one month.  Exceptions to this are pencil crayons, pens and pencils (needed for school), any sports equipment that is used currently, one craft project  that is in progress, the books that are currently being read.  Also each member of the family gets to pick 1 family game to keep.
We will check in 2 times / week and write a blog about this experience.  We want to pay attention to how we are feeling about it, make a list of any items we are missing and we will write about how we are spending our time without all this stuff.
We want to make this a fun experiment.  We invite you to join us in this experiment and we welcome any comments or suggestions you may have.

Why would I want to get rid of toys and clutter?

A few years ago I was moved and inspired by Kim Payne’s book “Simplicity Parenting”.  I particularly loved the chapter about decluttering in your children’s room.  He makes the case that it is increasingly more difficult these days to avoid the collection of stuff in our homes.  Companies spend billions of dollars trying to push consumption on our kids.  If there are too many choices of items to play with, none of them will have value and kids will just want another new thing.

Here is my favourite part from his book.  He suggests that parents can collect all the toys in a child’s room and put them in a large pile.  Half of this pile can probably be discarded – half!  Then, half of the half that remains can probably be discarded.  Finally, of the toys remaining, some can be put away in storage and others can be the keepers.

I have been pretty good about decluttering over the years but things seems to get out of control every couple of months.  It is amazing how often I do a big purge and still there is more stuff!  I honestly don’t know where it all comes from.  Honestly!

If the kids don’t have any toys, won’t they be bored?   

I think we need to change the way we think about boredom.  Boredom is a luxury.  Kids that do not have to work or struggle to survive are able to get bored.  Payne states that, “boredom is a great instigator and motivator of creativity”.  Boredom gives kids a time and space to dream up activities or crafts or amazing games.  Yay boredom!

This experiment is giving my children the gift of time, open-ended time and mental ease.  It is the gift of imagination.

How will you know if this is a successful experiment?

I plan on checking in with the kids twice a week.  These are the questions we will ask and write about in the blog.
  • how do you feel without all of your stuff?
  • is there any item you really miss?
  • what did you do with your free time?
  • did you bring anything new into our house?

I suppose an experiment is a success if we learn something from it.  I am hoping to learn that we are happy without all the clutter.  I am hoping we will determine where this stuff is coming from, and that we can figure out how to avoid bringing unnecessary things into our home.  I am hoping we are going to have fun together because we will have more time because we have less stuff to tidy.

How can I convince my kids to do this experiment?

Here is a list of reasons to try this experiment that I shared with my kids:
  1. less stuff in your room is less cleaning
  2. your room will be so clean!
  3. you will get to participate in a really cool social experiment
  4. after a month, you decide which toys you want to keep
  5. if it totally flops, you get all your stuff back
  6. you get to write a blog and you will be famous!
  7. you will be a big part of figuring something out as a family
  8. we can make videos and take pictures as we progress

Leave a comment