- I'm a mom of three kids under the age of 5, and have amassed so many toys since they were born.
- I've been wanting to declutter our living spaces for months while also encouraging my kids to play.
Marie Kondo recently admitted her house is not as tidy as it was before she had three kids. While I can relate to the chaos of having three kids, I've also wanted to declutter — following Kondo's famous style — for years, especially when it comes to toys.
My family went a bit overboard buying toys and stuffies for my first child, who was the only grandchild of my side of the family. That was only exacerbated when I had twins next, because everyone assumed we needed double everything. When my mom buys toys for the kids, she insists it always has to come in threes so there's no fighting, despite me wanting to encouraging them to share.
I was intrigued when I heard about Tiny Earth Toys, a subscription service that delivers toys to your home and allows you to use them for a couple weeks before returning the items and choosing new ones. I had used subscription services for clothes, both for myself and my kids, and I thought this was exactly what I needed to control our explosion of things everywhere.
How the toy subscription service works
The company has three plan options, ranging from five toys for $35 to 10 for $65 a month. You can also pay month by month or prepay an entire month for a discount. Once you receive the box of toys, you can keep it for two months before sending it back.
I opted for the 10 toy option to ensure everyone had something to play with. Many of the toys are geared to younger kids than mine. However, I found that they still had a pretty interesting selection for toddlers.
Their toys are Montessori-inspired, so they are wooden — like Maria Montessori preferred toys to be —and educational. My kids were immediately excited about every item I pulled out of our first delivery.
Toys are gently used and sometimes not even used at all. In every box, I've received at least one new item with the wrapping included.
I was stressed about losing pieces or breaking the boxes the toys came in, because my kids are, well, kids. As predicted, I couldn't find a car from a set, so I contacted the company to ask them what would happen if it didn't show up. They assured me that these incidents were considered part of the service, and I wouldn't get charged extra if we returned something with missing pieces. They also said that if I were to find the missing car at some point, I could always send it back with my next return.
Once the two months are up, you put everything back in the box it was shipped in, attach the included label, and drop off. Once the box is received, you can make new selections and the items are shipped that same week.
The subscription service made me declutter
Seeing my kids play with new toys made me realize how many of the toys we have at home are collecting dust in a shelf. This prompted me to purge over one weekend and realize that many of our things were not age-appropriate anymore.
Having new toys also made the kids stay engaged for longer. The first box came over a school break when I was working, and I worried how to keep the kids entertained without any meltdowns. I broke out one new toy at a time and they played together for hours because of the newness factor.
My kids were a little sad when I told them we needed to return the toys, but I immediately got excited when I told them they could help me pick another 10 items for next month.
Besides the newness effect and the decluttering, I'm also into how environmentally friendly this company is. I've tried to stay away from plastic toys and toys with batteries. All of the items fit that criteria, and also encourages reusing, which keeps toys and boxes from landfills.
While I can't go back in time and buy less stuff, moving forward, I am ready to keep renting toys and keep an empty shelf in our playroom for every new delivery we get.