Unwanted,Toys,Ideas,For,What,W family Unwanted Toys - 16 Ideas For What To Do With Them

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Knowing what to do with unwanted toys can be the biggest stumblingblock when it comes to taking action to get rid of these housecluttering items. Children grow out of them or they did not like themin the first place, for whatever reason, every household has a pile oftoys that no longer see the light of day. If every time you look at theever growing mountain of abandoned toys you quickly walk by or closethe door, take heart, finding a better home for them is easier than youthink. So where do you start?Firstly you need to consider which toys should really go in therubbish and which can safely be given away. You should not give away:toys which are at the end of their useful lifesoft toys, unless they are new or in as-new conditiontoys which have suffered significant damage.In other words only give away toys in a condition that you yourselfwould buy. If you have the original packing or manufacturer’sinstructions give them away with the toy.Secondly you need to decide whether you want to GIVE your unwanted toys away or make a bit of spare change from selling them.The following 11 ideas cover donating your unwanted toys to worthy causes:1. Donate to Charity Shops Pop into your local charity shops and ask if they accept second handtoys. Don’t be offended if they don’t because due to health &safety regulations it often costs the charity more money (in terms ofstaff time having to check for loose threads/parts/batteries etc) thanactually buying them brand new. If they will accept your donations donot forget to sign the Gift Aid declaration form, to boost the value ofyour donation by 28%.Charity shops obviously benefit the charity they are supporting, bethat children’s charities, medical charities etc. If you would preferyour toys to go directly to less fortunate children ideas 3-11 may bemore appealing.2. Donate to Charities Online By using the Ebay For Charityinitiative, you can sell your unwanted toys and the proceeds will besent directly to the charity. Items being sold for charity areidentified with a distinctive ribbon symbol along with a description ofthe charity that will be receiving the proceeds of the sale. Buyersplace bids for these goods in the usual way, knowing their money willgo to a worthwhile cause.JumbleAID is another onlineanswer to your mountainous toy problem - they let you post adverts foryour unwanted toys (and other things) online and anyone can pledge adonation for them. It is free and easy to use and all of the fundsraised go to your chosen charity.3. Donate to Hospitals This is only really appropriate for new toys due to safety/infectionconcerns but sometimes we all find toys that our children received twoof or perhaps some that they were not so keen on that never left thebox.4. Donate to Childrens’ HomesChildren in homes are typically older so when considering which toyswould be suitable go with an average age of about 14. Find your nearesthome using a service using an online search to see if these childrencould benefit from part of your unwanted toy stash.5. Donate to Women’s RefugesWomen’s refuges help hundreds of thousands of women and children escapedomestic violence each year. Often they flee their homes leaving all oftheir possession behind. Find the number of your local DomesticViolence service online through an organisation such as Women’s Aid, to offer your help through your used toys.6. Send Your Toys To Orphanages Abroad There are many orphanages, child health homes and day care centersabroad who are in need of toys. Some encourage you to send your toys,old and new, to improve the lives of these children as well as monetarydonations. To find addresses of orphanages that do accept toydonations, search on Google for “send toys to african orphanages” or“chinese orphanages” or something similar and find their donationspage. Some only accept monetary donations but you can find addresses ifyou are persistent.7. Donate to Family CentresContact your local Social Services Department to see if they know ofany family centres near you that will take and get good use from yoursecond hand toys.8. Ask Your Local ChurchAsk your local church if they know of families who could benefit from your unwanted toys.9. Donate to Special Needs Schools, Playgroups or Nurseries Find your nearest special needs school, playgroup or nursery and ask if they will accept second hand toys.10. Donate to Toy LibrariesToy libraries offer services to local children, families and carersbased on regular toy loan for a nominal fee (and sometimes for free).Contact the National Association of Toy & Leisure Libraries online to find a library nearest to you.11. Use The Freecycle Network Freecycle is an onlinenetwork of groups that match people who have things they want to getrid of with people who can use them. Their goal is to keep usable itemsout of landfills. Find your local group from their website and send thedetails of the toy you are offering in an e-mail. All items must beoffered for free.The remaining 5 ideas cover making a few pounds from your second hand toys to help in the current gloomy economic climate:When selling your second hand toys you must be aware that allsecond-hand toys sold or supplied in the course of a trade or businessfall under The Toys (Safety) Regulations 1995 which requires that theymust be safe and bear the CE marking.1. Sell Them On Ebay Sign up with Ebay, an onlineauction and shopping website, where you can advertise your unwantedtoys for sale and interested buyers will make bids if they areinterested in your item.2. Sell Them On Craigslist Sign up online with Craigslist, a centralised network of online communities, and submit a free online classified advert for your item.3. Sell Them At A Car Boot SaleLook in your local newspaper to find the location of your nearestcar boot sale, usually held over the weekend. Make sure you turn upearly to ensure you get a pitch. You will have to pay a fixed fee forsetting up your car boot in the sales area so make you sure you takeenough unwanted items to make it worth your while. Portable tables orblankets are a good idea to take with you to display your goods on.4. Organise a Toy Swap Party Arrange with other parents a time and a place for everyone to bringtheir unwanted toys and the chances are all items will change handsvery quickly. The downside to this is that you will not end updecluttering your house of toys but you will get some new toys for free.5. Rent Them Out Find an online toy rental service, such as Zilok, and make some money by loaning out your unwanted toys by the day.Start DeCluttering Now As parents it is a daily task to try and keep on top of the toychaos that surrounds us. Decluttering the house of unwanted toys is alogical way to restore a bit of order and get part of your home back.Hopefully at least one of the above ideas will work for you and youwill feel better knowing another child is benefitting from your efforts.© 2009 Chloe Alice Wilson.