I was walking through my boys playroom and felt stressed by all the toys. They have so many toys, they don't play with half of them, and often their favorite toys are the simple ones. I wondered how this toy clutter was affecting them. I noticed they would bring one toy upstairs and play with it for a long period of time. However when in the playroom, they would bounce from one toy to the next.
A few days later I came across this great article written by Sandy Kreps. She talks about having happier and calmer kids when we simplify their world. She references a book written by Kim John Payne. “Many of today’s behavioral issues come from children having too much stuff and living a life that is too fast,” says Kim John Payne, author of Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier and More Secure Kids. "As you decrease the quantity of your child's toys and clutter, you increase their attention and their capacity for deep play. Too much stuff leads to too little time and too little depth in the way kids see and explore their worlds,” says Payne.
After reading this article, I started to sort my children's toys and added Kim's book to my list of books to read. I hope you find this article helpful and inspiring to simplify your children's world.
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