Ways to Keep Stuffed Animals Under Control

How to Tame a Stuffed Animal Collection Gone Wild!

March 1, 2013

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Get One, Give One

"When we got to a point where I thought it was 'enough,' we made a deal that every time they wanted a new stuffed animal, we chose one from their existing collection to donate to a child less fortunate. It was a win-win. I taught the kids about giving and kept the furry friends from going all Animal Farm on me. Yes, that was an actual nightmare." —Suzi F. of Crap No One Tells You

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by Circle of Moms Editors 9

Get One, Give One

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9 Comments

Sade30231 7 weeks 5 days

As long as they have a place to go when she's done playing with them or what ever why should they be thrown out? Like the other posters I have a few of my own that I've retained.

LucetteLapointe 8 weeks 6 days

When you move, you wrap your dishes in clothes rather than newspaper. And when you pack the toys away into bins for the future grandchildren, smaller stuff toys can be used as "packaging". Stuffed toys come in a variety of sizes: to those that could be used to play with barbie/superman and mega bloks/Fisher Prince Little people, to those slightly less than the size of a ketchup bottle, to those that a one year old can hold to - bigger. The tiniest can be put with similiar sized toys. The middle sized ones in a seat bench. The bigger ones with the baby dolls. I thought that this was going to be about getting rid of them - and was going to say when all the stuffing comes out in the washer or dryer.

LakeithaElliott 9 weeks 23 h

My kid is sixteen and has been holdingg on to her stuffed rabbit collectionn. Last week I talked to her about getting rid of some of.them recently and she said no, she needed to keep all of them. Later in the week , I pulled all of them out on the living room floor and gave her some cool pieces of fabric and props and suggested that she take pictures of all of them and that I would print and frame the pictures and hang them in the house. She had fun taking the pictures. Decided to keep her first rabbit, her beanie baby rabbits and two from great grandma. The others are off to stuffed animal heaven and she will always have her rabbits hanging around the house in frames.

DeniseAdam 9 weeks 1 day

I couldn't get rid of them.I'm glad you found something that works for you,and those are all fabulous suggestions.For me,I love, and have always ,and may always love stuffed animals.I've gone through phases (Barbies,Polly Pockets,etc.)growing up,but stuffed animals for me were more than toys,they were friends,confidantes and activity partners.Some, I grew to care less about and they did go but many stayed to this day and will hopefully be a part of my children's lives for a significant amount of time.So,that's just me,but I wanted to share this

Kathleen14313600 9 weeks 1 day

While cleaning her room my daughter found many no longer loved barely used stuffed animals. She donated them to local fire department. The response she got was so positive that she asked all of her friends to donate, then her school, then the community. Now her We Care Bear Project (www.wecarebears.webs.com) has donated more than 300 bags of stuffed animals to first responders all over Southern California and Clark County Nevada and more than 500 stuffed animals to the San Diego and Las Vegas Ronald McDonald Houses.

CarolynWalker96630 9 weeks 1 day

Stuffed animals are more like "friends" than other toys, they can be imbued with personality even. Maybe that's why even as an adult, I love the ones I have. They're so cute, I love them. And since I also love the cradle we used, it's just a convenient place to pile a bunch...among other places, lol. My girls, by the way, are now 17 1/2 and nearly 13, but they love them all.

JudieIsabella 9 weeks 1 day

I totally agree! My son's collection has overtaken my house, but I just could not throw them away. I have no problem sneaking other toys that he no longer uses into the trash when he's not around. His "stuffies" are different though. He has hundreds of them and a lot of them, he can tell you when and where he got it. When he graduated from his toddler bed into a big boy bed, I left the toddler bed in his room and we keep most of the stuffed animals on it. A treasured few he will sleep with every night. Yeah, it's a hassle to keep them clean and organized, but I could never throw them away.

CarolynWalker96630 9 weeks 1 day

Throw away? Not happening unless they are destroyed in some way, which happened to a few of my own in a box in a garage years ago. It was sad for me, even as an adult! I could never sneak & throw away my girl's stuffed animals, I think it's cruel, sorry. Yes, my girls have a "million" and I still have my own in my room! I just have always loved them. My husband still had some and even a cheaper one became neat to have because they could have something that was their Dad's toy. I really thought that "cage" that one Dad made was awesome!! What a creative fun way to help store the zoo!! Toy nets are good too. We have the hanging sections that are like 4 netted sections connected hanging down, it's all one thing, we didn't connect anything ourselves. Got them at Target several years ago. Those are good for containing a lot of small animals. Bigger ones though are on their beds, in buckets and a cradle.

Brenda3918891 9 weeks 1 day

Never...I still have stuffed frogs...