9 Benefits of children having fewer toys

What many well-meaning parents don’t always understand is that in reality more toys can mean less play.  Kids are easily over-whelmed with choice and too many toys often mean that their toys amuse them momentarily instead of them truly playing - and you find yourself knee-deep in the clutter of all that they discard.  Quality over quantity is the minimalist approach that many parents are taking these days and there are many benefits to limiting the number of toys in your house – and it’s not just about making space! 

With Christmas offering you, your friends and the wider family the excuse to indulge your little ones with an excess of toys you might want to consider the benefits of reigning in the gift-giving:

Benefits of children having fewer toys 

1. Little ones learn to be more creative. Spending more time reading, drawing, singing, listening to music and creating art helps children discover and develop their talents. Longer-term a love of these things can save them from too much screen time too! 
2. Have better social skills. They learn how to develop relationships and the give and take of conversation that build strong friendships.  Studies have even linked strong childhood friendships to greater academic and social success during adulthood.
3. Develop longer attention spans. With less toys children can focus better with fewer distractions.
4. Learn to take better care of their things. When there’s always a replacement toy at hand kids can value them less when there is always another in the toy bin.
5. Become more resourceful. With fewer toys at hand, kids learn to problem solve and flex their imagination – both childhood skills with boundless possibilities.
6. Argue less. Kids with fewer toys are required to share more, work as a team and can collaborate and cooperate.
7. Learn to persevere. Kids with too many toys give up too quickly on a toy that challenges them, replacing it instead with another, easier one. In the process, they lose the opportunity to learn patience and determination. 
8. Become less selfish. Kids who get everything they want to believe they can have everything they want, setting the tone for developing a more unhappy and unhealthy lifestyle.
9. Go outside more. Kids with fewer toys look to the outdoors for entertainment and learn to appreciate nature 

Tops tips to help take control of the situation 

• Toss out the toys and reduce down to the things that your child might play with and what they actually like – ask yourself does this toy spark joy? 
• Put their toys they like where they can see them.  Theme toys together and display them instead of stuffing them in baskets and bins – when they can’t seem them, they won’t play with them  
• Rotate them. Keep things fresh by switching toys out and storing the ones that they still love for another day 
• Have the odd toy free day – get outdoors and create memories or build dens, bake cookies and re-use cardboard boxes  
• Offer gift ideas to family and friends that you feel you about your child receiving like brain-boosting building blocks, role play foods, wooden puzzles and bumper kids craft supply bundles     
• Consider non-toy gift ideas for birthdays and Christmas that benefit them and the whole family

Here’s a family gift that isn’t a toy - but will bring you JOY! 

Presents aren’t what that makes Christmas or birthdays special, it’s the presence of those you love, whether they are with you in person or in spirit – and of course at Christmas it’s not what’s under the tree that matters, it’s who’s gathered round it. 

Yet with possible pandemic restrictions in place this Christmas you might not get to share all of it in the way you want.  But you can still treat the whole family and give Joy (yes literally!) JOY is the digital family photo album of the future that brings back the sense of nostalgia and attachment you get from a physical photo album and here’s why: 

• The way we take and consume photos has changed. These days instead of printing photos and sharing them in albums and photobooks, most of our photo memories get hidden in hard drives, stuck on our mobile phones and scattered in our social media feeds. Joy changes that. 
• With Joy you can showcase your favourite family albums, complied of both photos and videos in delightful spreads 
• The Joy Album looks stylish on a stand or serves as a great coffee table pick-up and share device that gives a permanent home for organising and reliving your family’s memories 
• Enjoy coming home to new pictures shared by your family and friends. 
• Album making is easy. Simply use the Joy app to update grandma and keep the whole family connected. 
• The device is sleek, well-built and features a 10” inch full HD touch-screen display. It’s durable and safe to share with the kids. 
• Every picture tells a story. Share your story and bring your memories to life with VoiceNotes™   
• Wireless charging and cloud storage as you would expect with a modern device. 

Put simply, Joy is the smart photo album – a story telling device that lives in your home and connects you with your family near or far. Its technology solves all your photo sharing and organising woes and re-imagines the way families communicate around the photos, videos and stories of their lives. 

Black Friday Sale: Save £50 on each device. Buy one for just £149. Use code "SAVE50" 

Find out more about this fabulous gift that can bring Joy to your family by clicking on the link below.