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5 Reasons to Encourage Kids to Collect Quality Toys

by Katie Wallace | Updated: October 22, 2018

Is your playroom feeling a little cluttered? My kids love playing together and collecting toys. Our toy bins can get pretty full when we have just a few toys from a variety of sets. I like to encourage my kids to collect specific toy sets and limit the toy clutter. Here are a few reasons why it can be very helpful to collect high quality toys.

Reasons to encourage kids to collect quality toys - American Girl

Learn how to take care of nice things

My girls love their American Girl dolls, which is special because I also played with American Girl characters when I was younger. The American Girl collection includes dolls, outfits, accessories, books and even building play sets. Each American Girl story highlights valuable character qualities and many introduce girls to specific eras of history.

When my girls have a few nice things, they tend to take care of their toys better and enjoy them more. For example, my girls keep their American Girl dolls displayed on a shelf when they aren’t playing with them. I teach my girls how to clean up after playtime by organizing all their doll accessories in a storage bin. We organize their 18″ American Girl doll clothes and shoes in one bin. Their 14″ WellieWishers outfits and accessories go in another bin. My kids definitely benefit from learning how to organize their toys!

American Girl MaryEllen outfits and accessories

Collect toys in the same set

Also, toy sets can be much more meaningful together than separately. Instead of having a collection of ponies, bears, dolls and licensed characters from kids TV shows, it’s a lot more fun to build one toy collection. My girls often add to their American Girl collection with gifts from their birthdays and holidays. I encourage our family members to give our kids gifts that help them build their toy collections. My son enjoys collecting Legos and wooden trains. Parents can help their kids choose toys to collect which fit within their interests and stage of life.

Save up to add to your collection

My girls are old enough now to understand the value of saving up for toys. Teaching kids how to save their money is a valuable skill. When my daughter wants to buy something, I typically ask her if she thinks the purchase is a good value. In this way, my daughter is able to evaluate her purchases and intentionally expand her toy collection, rather than spending money on impulse buys.

American Girl WellieWishers camping play set

American Girl WellieWishers camping play set and accessories

Get excited about new releases

One of my favorite things about the American Girl collection is their historical doll releases. Each collectible doll release often includes several sets of darling outfits, accessories and even furniture. I’ve always thought that everything from American Girl is great quality and beautifully detailed. My girls also love collecting the 14″ WellieWishers seasonal outfits and accessory play sets. Of course, they love looking through the American Girl catalog. American Girl sets are great birthday gifts because any new accessories coordinate with my girls’ existing doll collections.

American Girl WellieWishers Camille and rockstar outfit

Make memories that outlast playtime

Finally, kids will make lots of memories while collecting a toy set, and they can give their collection to their own kids someday. I still have many of my old toys, which my girls now play with. My girls are blessed to be close in age and able to play together. While I don’t often play pretend, I enjoy making custom doll outfits and accessories for my girls to play with. These DIY doll mermaid tails are a simple sewing project anyone can make!

American Girl WellieWishers Camille 14 inch doll

The American Girl collection includes dolls, outfits, accessories, books and building play sets

The American Girl Collection

My girls absolutely love the 14″ WellieWishers doll collection from American Girl. Since the WellieWishers release in 2016, American Girl has added several rounds of new outfits and accessories to their collection. The 5 pals Ashlyn, Camille, Emerson, Kendall and Willa are fun to take on an outdoor adventure with this adorable camping set! The set comes with a WellieWishers tent, lantern and s’mores supplies. The WellieWishers pals can take their sleeping bags (sold separately) out for a night under the stars.

American Girl WellieWishers camping set Ashlyn and Camille

Of course, the American Girl BeForever dolls also come with their own outfits and accessories inspired by historical time periods. American Girl stories are an interactive way to learn about history as girls explore each character’s world.

Finally, girls will enjoy building these American Girl Mega Construx play sets. Each WellieWishers play sets comes with building instructions and beautifully detailed pieces. Girls can use these play sets to create imaginative storylines with the miniature characters.

American Girl mega construx play set garden theater

American Girl offers something for everyone! I love watching my girls play with these timeless toys. We make special memories when I help them dress up their dolls or we design custom American Girl accessories. For special occasions, American Girl dolls, outfits and accessories are great gift ideas too!

Katie Wallace
Katie Wallace

Hi, I’m Katie! I live with my husband and 4 kids in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. I love Jesus, coffee, creative projects, photography, and traveling. I’ve previously worked as a web designer, journalist, and barista. I hope you enjoy our creative projects and family adventures!

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Becca Talbot
Becca Talbot
6 years ago

Love this post! Brings back happy memories of when I was a child and used to collect things like Sylvanian Families and trolls 🙂 x

Reply
Angela Ricardo Bethea
Angela Ricardo Bethea
6 years ago

Teaching our kids to collect toys and How to value things are really important for kids nowadays.

Reply
Shannon Gurnee
Shannon Gurnee
6 years ago

If I was a little girl today, I know I would be totally about collecting the American Girl dolls. These are super cute and I know my nieces love to collect them as did our daughters when they were younger.

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Jess
Jess
6 years ago

Collecting is always a fun hobby! My son loves collecting too! I remember collecting beanie babies when I was younger 😂

Reply
Liz Siemers
Liz Siemers
6 years ago

This is so true and something I really need to take to heart. My daughter is almost 8 and she has so many toys, but she can never find ones she wants and she can never keep things nice. Thank you for these helpful tips!

Reply
Jasmine Hewitt
Jasmine Hewitt
6 years ago

i remember these dolls from when i was a kid. they’ve really come a long way since then!

Reply
Angela Fernando
Angela Fernando
6 years ago

I don’t have children yet but parents with kids would really benefit from these tips!

Reply
Catherine
Catherine
6 years ago

What a fun post! I encouraged my kids to too and my daughter loved collecting the historic American Girls.

Reply
Chastity
Chastity
6 years ago

I didn’t realize how popular American Girl dolls are. I know a few people that collect unique toys. I think collecting toy sets is a cool idea and great investment!

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Fibi Tong
Fibi Tong
6 years ago

These dolls are so adorable. Seems like your kids have so much fun!

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Tash
Tash
6 years ago

My kiddos love collectible toys. I love brands who offer a collection with multiple price brackets, so my kids can add to their collections with pocket money and save bigger items for special occasions.

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Nati
Nati
6 years ago

These dolls are beautiful! My children don’t really need to be encouraged, my boy is a natural collector, he loved to have all the cars of the Disney movie Cars, and also played a lot with them! I have to encourage him to actually play because he would spend the… Read more »

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Elizabeth O
Elizabeth O
6 years ago

Those are very nice tips to share with. I totally agree with you! Great to teach kids collecting toys and learn how to value each piece.

Reply
Preet
Preet
6 years ago

Collecting toys is so much fun. I always encourage my kids to collect toys because it can help them to be close to each other.

Reply
eli
eli
6 years ago

I hadn’t thought about the benefits of collecting toys before. I have two younger sisters and could totally see them doing this.

Reply
Michelle Leslie
Michelle Leslie
6 years ago

That actually makes a lot of sense, especially since the kids will “bond” better if their toys are part of a bigger collection. And by bonding they’ll also look after their toys. Wish I’d thought about that when my kids were small.

Reply
Catherine Santiago Jose
Catherine Santiago Jose
6 years ago

These are great tips. I actually bought toys for my kids not only because I want them to play with their toys but I want them to learn how to take care and value their things.

Reply
India
India
6 years ago

These are so cute! My daughter loves American Girl. You’re right it does teach them a lot!

Reply
Chad
Chad
6 years ago

Amazing advice! Instilling these values in the kids is very important. Thanks for sharing.

Reply
Alexandra
Alexandra
6 years ago

Excellent advice, and you’re right – it is important to teach kids to value things. Fantastic idea to collect the toys.

Reply
Stacie
Stacie
6 years ago

I think toy collections are a great idea. It wasn’t until my kids started collecting the toys (or Pops! in one case) that they really started to value their things.

Reply

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Wallace Family 2024 create play travel

Hi, I'm Katie and we are the Wallace family! We homeschool, go on adventures, and travel internationally with our four kids. I hope you enjoy our creative ideas on Create. Play. Travel.

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