What is the 20 toy rule?
Lenny Ondricka
2025-06-27 16:48:05
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: 14
The '20-Toy Rule' is exactly as it sounds. Your child should have no more than 20 toys available to play with at any time. When they acquire a new toy, whether purchased or received as a gift, they should select an old toy to donate to a charity shop or pass on to another child. Considering the piles of toys cluttering our children's rooms, it seems like a small number. Let's assume that toy sets count as a single toy and that beloved stuffed animals are exceptions. Simply sit your child down and explain: 'We are going to get rid of some things today. We can throw some things away and give some things away, but at the end of it all, you are only going to have 20 toys left.'
Antoinette Rolfson
2025-06-22 14:57:34
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: 20
We called it The 20 Toy Rule. Maybe that sounds like a lot, or maybe it doesn't. I said, "Honeys, we're going to get rid of some things today, we might throw some things away, or give them away, or put them in a box for our next garage sale, but at the end of it all, you are each going to have only 20 toys left." Once the toys were pared down to the dearest stuffed animals and dolls, the play kitchen, the wooden train set, a bucket of Legos, and some drawing and craft supplies, the task of finding a place for each item was extremely simple. Most of the discards were battery-operated toys that did only one thing, toys they had outgrown, movie tie-in items, and freebie junk. My kids were left with the things they loved and used. The less stuff we have, the less overwhelmed we feel, and the happier we are. Keeping toys to a minimum took some discipline. I had to train my kids to be okay with not having something just because they saw it advertised. I decided I would not buy any more non-birthday or non-Christmas toys, but it was challenging to follow through.
Madison Spencer
2025-06-12 18:46:09
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: 17
It was then that I knew we needed a change. We called it The 20-Toy Rule. I said, “Buddy, we are going to get rid of some things today. We can throw some things away and give some things away, but at the end of it all, you are only going to have 20 toys left.” 20 toys sounds like a lot… or maybe it doesn’t. But you’d be surprised at how many things children can accumulate. The less we have, the less overwhelmed we feel. And the less overwhelmed we feel, the happier we are. We don’t need stuff, we need peace. I want my children to learn contentment and joy where they are and with what they have.
Larry Abernathy
2025-06-03 19:38:57
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: 18
It was then that I knew we needed a change. That was that day we decided on a very simple rule that would become the foundation for how we would live: Fewer things, more peace. I said, “Buddy, we are going to get rid of some things today. We can throw some things away and give some things away, but at the end of it all, you are only going to have 20 toys left.” We called it The 20-Toy Rule. 20 toys sounds like a lot… or maybe it doesn’t. But you’d be surprised at how many things children can accumulate. I was shocked when we began moving towards 20 toys each. We don’t spoil our children and I already had been pretty strict about the toy situation. But when I sat with my son in his room that day, I had to face the fact that we had allowed in too much stuff. The less we have, the less overwhelmed we feel. And the less overwhelmed we feel, the happier we are. We don’t need stuff, we need peace.