I want to simplify and clean my oldest son's room and get rid of things with a million pieces and cheap toys that are easy to break. My baby will share a room with him and we already have the crib in the room. I am planning on doing this while he is in school. I don't even know if he will notice but hopefully he won't be too upset. I plan on having a yard sale and giving him the money he makes for his toys. He likes being creative but hardly plays in his room. It would be easier for the kid to play and play with them if we do this to his room and use it as a playroom too.

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If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.

C.S. Lewis

I find it easier to get rid of things when I have DD's input. Your son is of the age when he has definate preferences. You might even be surprised that he is willing to get rid of some items that you would think to keep.

As far as all those small parts toys, he is of the age where he needs those kinds of toys. You may want to put some of them in a box which can be kept up high - away from the baby - and played occassionally.

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"I've been rich and I've been poor but independently wealthy is where it is at."

i would get his input at his age as well we did with my 7 year old son and i was surprised at what he was willing to get rid of and what he really wanted to keep.. we also took him to the store and bought plastic container for the things with small pieces took a pic and put on the front so when looking at the shelving he knew what was in each container..

cookie2 is right this is the age when they need those little pieces it good for their development and dextarity.

It is not easier with his personality. He is borderline pack rack. he likes to keep boxes and color on them. So I let him do that and keep it for awhile and then I recycle it. I already had him clean out some stuff before and he wants to get rid of stuff he just got my Christmas and Birthday. I just don't have the space for toys with a million pieces and plus my toddler likes to get into them and DS gets a little upset because his room is a mess so I picked it up for him because he shouldn't have to clean up her mess. We have been locking his door lately though. I let him keep lincoln logs, legos and a construction set ad his car collection plus some puzzles, books and his little skateboards. I am getting rid of cheap toys and toys with missing pieces. I had a small bag for a yardsale, one for trash and two to donate. You have to understand I have tried his input before and he has a hard time parting with anything even if it is a broken matchbox car. I am not going to have broken pieces, I hate broken toys. I also kept some games.

__________________
If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.

C.S. Lewis

I would do it without him too! I do that for my 6 yr old ds - who is a packrat also! I just organize everything into bins, throw away broken toys, and anything that does not have a bin to go into I get rid of (like happy meal toys he does not care about, etc.) I have his few latest "trinkets" on a special place on his bookshelf. When those get boring to him, I either put them in their bin or trash if they are broken.

You could try decluttering without him and putting it all in a box and letting him pick one or two things from the box that he wants to keep. You could also tell him that some kids have no toys and would appreciate the one's that he doesnt play with.

I agree on you Doing it Alone!

I Have a DD like Your Son and I Have to Declutter Her Room almost every Other Day
She is My House Keeping Challange right now .. It is So hard to keep up with everything and Her room too.
BUT she Hates Parting with Anything , And I Know I need to declutter For her.
She Never ever Asks For anything I Get Rid Of Either. She Has no Clue what she has , its all just a Bunch of Stuff.

Sounds to me like you did the right thing doing it by yourself. You obviously know your son and what is best for him.

I was at my parent's house recently and I helped my Mother declutter my 7 yr old brothers room while he was at school and after it was done, he never missed the toys that we took out of his room and he seemed happier, probably because of less junk that was in there. Hopefully your son appreciates what you did.

Well, he came home and was happy about his room being clean. He didn't seem to notice that I got rid of anything. I think I did the right thing. I try to teach him about what he should keep and not keep along the way We are all happy. Now maybe we can actually play board games in his room.

__________________
If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.

C.S. Lewis

Glad it worked out for you both! My ds is 6 and he is just now coming to terms with throwing away broken toys! Literally for years he did not want to throw away broken toys. We finally went through every single box of toys (we keep all ninja turtles in one rubbermaid box, all star wars in one, all army in one etc, to keep it organized/tidy) when we carpeted the basement and threw away so much stuff! I finally was able to throw away like 6 headless stromtroopers (our dog was going through a decapitation period!), 10 cars missing parts, McDonalds toys etc. This was the first time my ds went through with me and kept saying, pitch it, pitch it!