Too Many Stuffed Animals
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Too Many Stuffed Animals
August 2005
Our daughter, age 7 and an only child, loves loves loves stuffed animals. She's got
way too many, of course, and all she wants to do is buy more (and each and every
one, by the way, has a name). The ''you have to get rid of one before you get
another one'' strategy doesn't work. So now I'm thinking that if perhaps we deal with
storing/displaying them in a more efficient way, they won't drive me so crazy. ;-)
Any ideas? We already have one of those big nets hanging from the wall. It's been
stuffed to the gills with stuffed animals for years. The rest live on my daughter's
bed, leaving very little room for my daughter as she gets older/bigger. Also, if I
were able to convince her to get rid of any of these, how does one do that? I imagine
there are issues of dirt/germs and you can't donate them? Or can you? Thanks!
Lori
When my son was growing up he had a ton of stuffed animals too.
I mean a ton. My gdtr is enjoying them now.
We finally got a board about 10-12'' wide, the full length of
the wall above his bed, stained it to match wood in his room,
put it up on the wall above his bed , about 18-24'' from the
ceiling, and put all the animals up there. If he had acquired
many more, I would have put up two of these high shelves.
He could keep 4-5 on his bed. He rotated which ones he wanted
on his bed.
I also took the Holiday ones, Easter chickens, rabbits, and
Xmas bears etc., and put away and took them out a month prior
to Holidays for him to enjoy.
He kept them up there into high school till we moved. In fact
he was indignant when he was 16 and didn't get a new bunny for
Easter! Childhood traditions are very strong with kids.
My gdtr loves the lion the best now.
Berkeley gramma
We had a pole hanging in a corner of the bedroom - a closet
pole would work, but hanging vertically. We screwed L-hooks all
over it and sewed rings onto each stuffed animal (safety pins
would work too), and just hung them all up. A great space
saver.
Heather
Too many stuffed animals is a common problem! Not many places
will accept used stuffed animals for donations/recycling. One
worthwhile thing you can do with them is donate them to the
Mavericks' soccer team which does the soccer kick at the Solano
Stroll each year. They will take your stuffed animals (in very
good condition) wash/dry them and give them away as prizes.
If you do have any you want to donate contact Lynn at
lynn at lmi.net. She will be happy to come and get them if you are
in Berkeley/ALbany/Oakland.
Lori
Install shelves all the way around her room, just above the top
of the doorway -- about a foot below the ceiling. There's
usually nothing else up there to interfere with just running a
board the entire perimeter of the room, the animals are cute up
there, and they are safe to store even directly over the bed
since they won't do much damage if they fall in an earthquake.
If and when she does outgrow the stuffed animals, the shelves
will provide display space for other collections. If you have
the wall space you can add more shelves lower down, too.
The stuffed animals will get dusty unless you take them down and
move them around frequently, but she'll be able to see her
entire collection and there will be quite a bit of room. And
they will be completely out of your way.
Holly
My parents sewed a little plastic ring near the back of the
neck of each stuffed animal. They then placed a colored pole
made of wood in my room, and put little hooks on it running the
length of the pole, so each stuffed animal could be hung up by
their plastic rings. I think it looked great, and it
definitely saved space.
anon
Anyone with too many stuffed animals can donate them (via mail
is okay) to ''Animal Beacons of Light'' in Mountain View. They
gather new and lightly used, soft stuffed animals, clean them,
and distribute them to children of all ages in orphanages,
hospitals and homes around the world. In the past 10 years,
more than 6,000 animals have been been sent to more than a
dozen countries including Bosnia/Herzegovina, Afghanistan,
South Africa, Mexico, Central America and Brazil.
To donate stuffed animals or volunteer your time for repair and
cleaning of animals, you can call 650-961-8777 (Mt. View) or
email her at LNh at batnet.com
Shannon
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