So you have gone through the kids toys and made a pile to give away and a pile that is destined for the toy graveyard. But, maybe you don’t want to just throw out the toys for sentimental or environmental reasons. Here are some tips for what to do with old and broken toys.
Reuse Old Toys Outside
For those toys that are too beat up to donate (or that kids just feel that they can’t completely part with), there are ways to reuse and recycle them. Put old toy cars and trucks in the backyard sandbox for kids to play with or add them to a bucket and shovel to take to local parks or the beach, that way if you lose or forget them it’s not a big loss. You can also create a box for the backyard of various worse-for-wear toys that can be used for just outside play. Another idea is to use some to decorate the garden, maybe instead of a garden gnome have a one-armed garden dinosaur or make a mini scarecrow with an old doll.
Use as Dog Toys
If you have a dog, that old dolly or ball could make for good dog toys. If you don’t have a dog, maybe a friend, family member or relative does that could use a dog toy or two. Another option is to call the local animal shelter and see if they could use some human toys as new dog toys.
Arts and Crafts with Broken Toys
Get creative and make art projects with old toys and parts. For all those broken bits of toys from one doll shoe, a wheel, missing puzzle pieces and board games pieces, put them in a bucket and have them handy for mixed media projects for the kids. Get thick paper or cheap canvases and let kids glue and paint to make a 3D masterpiece. Or you can have kids make sculptures with them using glue and string. You can make the sculptures look fancy by spray painting them gold after.
Use Old Toys for Halloween
Get out the glue gun and find interesting ways to create your own toys with the kids by sticking different toy parts together to make a new one. Think of the spider baby in Toy Story for inspiration. Then you can hang them and place them around your front entrance or windows for a spooky effect on Halloween. You can also use old toys for costumes. For example, get inspiration from Lady Gaga and make a stuffed animal dress for a Halloween outfit or get a large box and glue parts and pieces on to make a robot costume.
Recycle Beat Up Toys
Instead of just throwing toys into the garbage and adding to landfills, see if parts of toys and games can be recycled. Some plastic toys have recycling numbers on them, so check and see if your city recycling will accept them and you can just stick them in your blue box for recycling. You can also call your local recycling depot to find out if and what parts of toys can be recycled.
For example, some things like game board boxes and puzzles are made of cardboard can be recycled. There are also companies like Pacific Mobile Depots in Vancouver and Victoria that offer more recycling options, such as electronics, CDs and even parts of baby car seats and they sometimes have outreach visits for pick up at community centres.
Sometimes, sadly, toys just have to go into the garbage. There are more toys available today that are made out of recycled materials such as Green Toys out of California or check out local craft fairs where you can find handmade dolls and wooden toys. Choosing these kinds of products can help lessen the amount of toys that end up in landfills.
Don’t just throw old and worn out toys out in the garbage. See if you can’t reuse them for play outdoors, arts and crafts indoors and recycle the parts that can be recycled.
You may also want to check out What to do with Old Toys.
Tami Nicholson - Tami is the Topic Editor for Parenting Methods at Suite101. She is a mother of two with a background in education and journalism.
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