Ben is our first child as well as my parents' first grandchild and so he has been given a lot of toys. He is now 15months old and has  started to choose his own toys. Until then he always played with whatever toys we chose for him. Whenever Ben got a new toy he would play with it for a few days or even a few hours. Lately, I've noticed Ben playing with everyday objects like empty shoe boxes or plastic cups quite often. That's when I started to wonder why I should buy more toys. It is an expensive affair and the effect does not last long. And the worst thing is that all the toys end up cluttering up the house. So I decided to avoid accumulating lots of toys.

This is what I did:

Stop Buying:
I often impulsively buy toys when I see something cute in the store. Now I think twice before I buy anything.

Donate:
Whenever Ben gets new toys, I give the toys he doesn't like anymore to a local program that sends them to disadvantaged inner city kids. This keeps his toy collection a reasonable size.

Make it Grandma's problem:
Whenever the grandparents buy a new toy I usually say, “Oh, that is perfect for grandma’s house.” That way, they can deal with the clutter and I don’t have to pack toys when we go for a visit.

Contribute:
We’ve tried telling friends and relatives to contribute to our son's college fund and that seems to work to an extent, but people still buy toys because contributing to an account is boring.

These ideas have worked for me, but I'm sure that there is more that I could do. What do you guys do to avoid getting overwhelmed by piles of toys?