https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 01 May 2026 11:38:20 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/toys-that-one-child-owns-vs-communal-toys#post-2141724 Mon, 13 Apr 2015 08:28:11 +0000 blackbird 2141724@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>What if you separated communal vs personal toys by color bins? I definitely think it makes sense to have toys for "everyone" and toys that are Charlie's vs. Olive's (especially gender specific or birthday/Christmas gifts, etc). You definitely wouldn't want something that is one child's to get broken by the other....there's just something about having your own stuff. Hell, i have things i don't share with my husband, heh. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/toys-that-one-child-owns-vs-communal-toys#post-2141684 Mon, 13 Apr 2015 08:05:22 +0000 mrbee 2141684@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mamaof2: Ah that's a great rule!! I will try it out on my kids too, thanks! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/toys-that-one-child-owns-vs-communal-toys#post-2141644 Mon, 13 Apr 2015 07:36:00 +0000 looch 2141644@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My son is an only child, so in theory, everything is really his. Right now, what works is that I tell him it belongs to our family and if he doesn't want someone else to play with something, he can put it away when we have visitors or he can not bring it out of the house if we're going somewhere. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/toys-that-one-child-owns-vs-communal-toys#post-2141640 Mon, 13 Apr 2015 07:32:07 +0000 Mamaof2 2141640@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrbee: As kids get older I don't believe that everything is communal.</p> <p>The rule in our house is that if its in the playroom, its everyones.</p> <p>If its in your room, then its just yours.</p> <p>DD doesn't care about this yet but my 6.5 yr old keeps lots of his lego creations in his room and his favorite stuffed animals so his little sister wont play with them </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/toys-that-one-child-owns-vs-communal-toys#post-2141314 Sun, 12 Apr 2015 17:11:07 +0000 autumnlove 2141314@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Everything is communal except for LO 1's stuffed gorilla and LO 's stuffed cat. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/toys-that-one-child-owns-vs-communal-toys#post-2141241 Sun, 12 Apr 2015 14:31:07 +0000 lemondrop 2141241@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Every toy in our house is communal. I don't care if it was a gift, both are allowed to play with every toy as long as they aren't destructive. I guess having two boys, I just assume that what the oldest gets, the youngest will be playing with sooner or later. My oldest loves plenty of gifts that my youngest has gotten too, so everything is fair game if there is interest. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/toys-that-one-child-owns-vs-communal-toys#post-2141223 Sun, 12 Apr 2015 14:01:39 +0000 tysonja 2141223@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>all their toys are communal too, except for LO1's stuffed dog, and LO2's stuffed bunny :). we'll see how long that lasts!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/toys-that-one-child-owns-vs-communal-toys#post-2141221 Sun, 12 Apr 2015 14:00:31 +0000 erinpye 2141221@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We encourage our girls to share everything and treat most toys as communal. A few things aren't age-appropriate for our youngest, so they belong to our eldest. Some things are given to one or the other and belong to her, but she must still share it with her sister. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/toys-that-one-child-owns-vs-communal-toys#post-2141158 Sun, 12 Apr 2015 11:11:58 +0000 BoogieBea 2141158@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>All their toys are meant to be communal except their loveys. But they do make the distinction on their own sometimes. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/toys-that-one-child-owns-vs-communal-toys#post-2141155 Sun, 12 Apr 2015 11:06:17 +0000 Mrs. High Heels 2141155@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Most of their toys are communal, but if it's a specific toy, I just tell the kid who is not the owner that they will have to wait until their sibling is done playing with it or ready to share to play with it. I do eventually make sure they let the other play with the toy though, even if it is "theirs". </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/toys-that-one-child-owns-vs-communal-toys#post-2141089 Sun, 12 Apr 2015 09:05:37 +0000 coopsmama 2141089@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Every toy is communal in outr family. The kids are so close in age they've not had a hard time sharing, thankfully, but they're still really quite young so that may change. We'll see how it goes as we add siblings along the way. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/toys-that-one-child-owns-vs-communal-toys#post-2141084 Sun, 12 Apr 2015 08:54:51 +0000 Baby Boy Mom 2141084@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I've been wondering about this as well. Up until now we said something like "they're for x to open because it's his birthday but then everyone will get to play with it", so the default is that everything is communal. But I think at some point that will have to change....not sure how or when. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/toys-that-one-child-owns-vs-communal-toys#post-2141021 Sun, 12 Apr 2015 06:05:08 +0000 Andrea 2141021@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I tell them as we are opening gifts that they are communal since I have two girls with the exact same interests. The only toys they get to own, for now, are their loveys/stuffed animals, things they are attached to for sleeping. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/toys-that-one-child-owns-vs-communal-toys#post-2140959 Sat, 11 Apr 2015 22:36:06 +0000 mrbee 2140959@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We have some toys that are communally owned: well, basically all of the building toys. The wooden blocks, the MagnaTiles and some LEGO pieces. Plus the play kitchen, which started off as our son's but became communal property over time. I love these toys, because they almost never cause fights!</p> <p>Then there are toys that are individually owned by one child, like specific LEGO sets, dolls, etc. These are highly contested, and can cause fights if one kid is playing with the other kids' toys!</p> <p>Overall, I've come to realize over time that communal toys are the way to go, when possible. But most toys lately have been gifts, and it's kinda hard to make those communal. So we roll with it, and work with the kids to manage any conflicts that come up.</p> <p>How do you manage the split between communal toys vs individually-owned toys? </p>