This post was inspired by another blogging friend of mine, (you know who you are...Tracey @ Girls to Grow ;) )when I gave a suggestion of what to do with that pile of stuffed animals that have accumulated over the years.
If you have a little one anything like mine you have LOTS of stuffed animals taking over! My DD was never much into dolls, but loves her soft fluffy animals. So between my husband, myself and family giving her stuffed sweeties for every birthday or holiday that rolled around we have quite a selection!
To help control this, I take themed ones and pack them up with the other holiday things and only bring them out when decorating for that holiday. I do this for Christmas, Valentines, and Easter. (I don't pack away the brand new one she just got, those get to hang around until that holiday rolls around again, then it gets packed away the next time.) She hates to see them packed away, but loves it when that particular holiday runs around. We take all her stuffed animals that she keeps on her bed and replace them with the current holiday theme. We have a great time doing this, and it gives her room a nice freshening up and new look for a while.
Now, her absolute favorites stay either on her bed or in her closet. We have narrowed down just a few particular ones to leave on her bed when she makes it up. Then we have a game we play at night at bedtime. She hopes on the bed, then closes her eyes. I go into the closet and randomly pick one of the animals. I then lay it in her hands and she tries to guess which one it is before looking. This helps to keep toys from never getting played with by alternating them around.
For those that have not been played with in a long time and just need to go, we have found a solution for that as well. A friend of ours told us that the local fire department loves to receive excellent used condition stuffed animals to hand out to children on a call. Just a little something to bring some small comfort to a little one who has just lost everything in a fire. My DD loved this idea! She didn't feel bad at all losing a sweet stuffed animal knowing that it could bring some joy to a child who is no doubt sad and frightened. So call your local fire department to see if they do this. If they don't, maybe they would like to start.
Another suggestion would be to include them in a Christmas or Easter gift to a child in need. In these economic times, I'm sure that we could find many homes at these times of year to bless a child with.
I hope you have found my suggestions useful. Be sure to come back again real soon! :)
Have a great day,
Jennifer
