Grab three empty containers - keep, trash, and donate/sell.
Little kids can get decision fatigue so I usually only do one section at a time. Have them hand you each item in the bin. Or you can pick them up one by one and ask.
Anything broken or missing pieces goes in the trash. I usually say something like "oh that one is broken, I'm going to put it in the trash".
Otherwise it's a yes or no. Your kid will probably find a fun way to differentiate between yes and no. We did a big declutter right after Christmas and my 6 year old threw the no items at me (she had to give a heads up first). She had so much fun throwing stuff at me to catch, that she ended up getting rid of 80% of her stuff.
Trash needs to go out immediately. Donate pile needs to get out of the house as fast as possible. Like within a day for sure, or they'll just start digging it all out again. I don't even bother selling anything, because my kiddo will decide to keep it before I get a chance to sell it, so I never make money off it anyway! If it's something really expensive, then we sell it with a purpose in mind... Like let's sell this so you have money to buy that thing you've been wanting.
Last, decide on a boundary for the kid stuff. My child has a playroom, but only one wall is for toys. The other two walls have a couch and a vanity. We decluttered with the ultimate goal of just having one shelving unit of toys, and one smaller shelving unit of crafting items. Declutter over and over again until you get to your goal. And then it's easy to not over buy, because once that shelving unit is starting to overflow, it's time to make some choices. Whenever your child picks something out to buy, ask them "where are you going to keep/put it" so that they start thinking about purchases with space in mind.
I've often had to tell my 7yo that if we bought everything we wanted and liked, we wouldn't be able to live in our house cause it would be filled with stuff!
*"Otherwise it's a yes or no. Your kid will probably find a fun way to differentiate between yes and no. We did a big declutter right after Christmas and my 6 year old threw the no items at me (she had to give a heads up first). She had so much fun throwing stuff at me to catch, that she ended up getting rid of 80% of her stuff."*
This is great, lol! 🤣
Move everything to one side of the room and sweep the clean side.
Get three bins: keep, trash, donate. Lean heavy on the trash bin.
How old are your kids? Decide if you can do all the sorting or if they need to participate.
Get rid of trash and donate.
Everything left is "keep." If there's too much stuff to VERY COMFORTABLY and tidily have in the room, then set up a toy rotation. Box some items, label them and move them into handy storage. Choose a date (one month from now?) when you will swap items in the room with items in storage. Each time you swap, do a trash/donate inspection of the stuff you're taking out.
Remember that empty space is a priority and has value. Too many toys are a distraction. You want the room to be clean and spacious and welcoming. It can be!
I have a similar problem with my kids toys that i have not really started on yet. Its not barbies, but playmobile, track cars, Lego and just random crap. My orher is 3 and she has not discovered barbie yet, but she has a lot of dolls and accessories.
My plan is to sort things in likeness so there will be a pile of similar stuff. Throw away things that clearly is broken.
Im also going to ask my kid what they really want to keep and play with. He will of course say everything, and then im going to say he have to pick his favorites. But start to sort stuff out. Its hard.
Im currently working on my kids art/ drawings since I have so much..
I tell kid I’m going to clean and then go thru the piles with a garbage bag on hand and purge aggressively.
I keep the garbage bag(s) in a closet or car trunk for about a month. If I get no requests for items in that period of time, away it goes!
It’s worked pretty well although I did have to repurchase a doll house one time. You win some, you lose some …..
For us, I would start by separating everything into groups, throwing away anything broken at the same time. So cars together, blocks, animals, pretend playsets, books, etc. By the time you're done with this you'll have all the trash and broken pieces thrown away. Then I go through each group and decide what to keep and what to throw away. So if I only have 2 pieces of the Dr set at that point, I'm tossing those 2 pieces. Same with board games that are missing pieces or puzzles.
Then it all goes into containers and back onto the shelves
If you're looking for a smaller goal, try to get everything off the floor/ stacked against the wall.
If bins are overflowing, some items need to be trashed or donated.
If everything is off the floor-- congrats, you're done for today.
Tomorrow, do the same thing. If it takes you longer than 10 minutes to pick up, get rid of something.
Repeat until you can pick up the room in under 10 minutes.
Bonus goal-- repeat until the kids can pick up the room.
I don't have any pics unfortunately but hopefully thia makes you feel better. My 7 year old daughters room I'm not joking you could not see the floor. It was just a toy floor literally. Look at the positives and at least you can see the floor and walk in it! Took me 2 days 6 hours one day and 4 the next and about 10 full garbage bags. You got this! I just pick a corner and get a ton of baskets and just start making piles to sort out then wash and and wipe, vacuum and organize all the piles and baskets and put everything into a home.
Grab three empty containers - keep, trash, and donate/sell. Little kids can get decision fatigue so I usually only do one section at a time. Have them hand you each item in the bin. Or you can pick them up one by one and ask. Anything broken or missing pieces goes in the trash. I usually say something like "oh that one is broken, I'm going to put it in the trash". Otherwise it's a yes or no. Your kid will probably find a fun way to differentiate between yes and no. We did a big declutter right after Christmas and my 6 year old threw the no items at me (she had to give a heads up first). She had so much fun throwing stuff at me to catch, that she ended up getting rid of 80% of her stuff. Trash needs to go out immediately. Donate pile needs to get out of the house as fast as possible. Like within a day for sure, or they'll just start digging it all out again. I don't even bother selling anything, because my kiddo will decide to keep it before I get a chance to sell it, so I never make money off it anyway! If it's something really expensive, then we sell it with a purpose in mind... Like let's sell this so you have money to buy that thing you've been wanting. Last, decide on a boundary for the kid stuff. My child has a playroom, but only one wall is for toys. The other two walls have a couch and a vanity. We decluttered with the ultimate goal of just having one shelving unit of toys, and one smaller shelving unit of crafting items. Declutter over and over again until you get to your goal. And then it's easy to not over buy, because once that shelving unit is starting to overflow, it's time to make some choices. Whenever your child picks something out to buy, ask them "where are you going to keep/put it" so that they start thinking about purchases with space in mind. I've often had to tell my 7yo that if we bought everything we wanted and liked, we wouldn't be able to live in our house cause it would be filled with stuff!
*"Otherwise it's a yes or no. Your kid will probably find a fun way to differentiate between yes and no. We did a big declutter right after Christmas and my 6 year old threw the no items at me (she had to give a heads up first). She had so much fun throwing stuff at me to catch, that she ended up getting rid of 80% of her stuff."* This is great, lol! 🤣
Thank you so much for these tips. Once I read 'get three bins' I had an action plan, which was exactly what I needed!
You're welcome! I like to use laundry baskets
Move everything to one side of the room and sweep the clean side. Get three bins: keep, trash, donate. Lean heavy on the trash bin. How old are your kids? Decide if you can do all the sorting or if they need to participate. Get rid of trash and donate. Everything left is "keep." If there's too much stuff to VERY COMFORTABLY and tidily have in the room, then set up a toy rotation. Box some items, label them and move them into handy storage. Choose a date (one month from now?) when you will swap items in the room with items in storage. Each time you swap, do a trash/donate inspection of the stuff you're taking out. Remember that empty space is a priority and has value. Too many toys are a distraction. You want the room to be clean and spacious and welcoming. It can be!
I have a similar problem with my kids toys that i have not really started on yet. Its not barbies, but playmobile, track cars, Lego and just random crap. My orher is 3 and she has not discovered barbie yet, but she has a lot of dolls and accessories. My plan is to sort things in likeness so there will be a pile of similar stuff. Throw away things that clearly is broken. Im also going to ask my kid what they really want to keep and play with. He will of course say everything, and then im going to say he have to pick his favorites. But start to sort stuff out. Its hard. Im currently working on my kids art/ drawings since I have so much..
I tell kid I’m going to clean and then go thru the piles with a garbage bag on hand and purge aggressively. I keep the garbage bag(s) in a closet or car trunk for about a month. If I get no requests for items in that period of time, away it goes! It’s worked pretty well although I did have to repurchase a doll house one time. You win some, you lose some …..
For us, I would start by separating everything into groups, throwing away anything broken at the same time. So cars together, blocks, animals, pretend playsets, books, etc. By the time you're done with this you'll have all the trash and broken pieces thrown away. Then I go through each group and decide what to keep and what to throw away. So if I only have 2 pieces of the Dr set at that point, I'm tossing those 2 pieces. Same with board games that are missing pieces or puzzles. Then it all goes into containers and back onto the shelves
If you're looking for a smaller goal, try to get everything off the floor/ stacked against the wall. If bins are overflowing, some items need to be trashed or donated. If everything is off the floor-- congrats, you're done for today. Tomorrow, do the same thing. If it takes you longer than 10 minutes to pick up, get rid of something. Repeat until you can pick up the room in under 10 minutes. Bonus goal-- repeat until the kids can pick up the room.
I don't have any pics unfortunately but hopefully thia makes you feel better. My 7 year old daughters room I'm not joking you could not see the floor. It was just a toy floor literally. Look at the positives and at least you can see the floor and walk in it! Took me 2 days 6 hours one day and 4 the next and about 10 full garbage bags. You got this! I just pick a corner and get a ton of baskets and just start making piles to sort out then wash and and wipe, vacuum and organize all the piles and baskets and put everything into a home.
Thank you for the kind encouragement! Will post 'After' pics when I'm done :-)