Grandparents: What toys are you glad you kept?

My parents didn't keep anything for my kids to play with. I also didn't keep anything of my kids' toys for future grands. It's just not something I wanted to store for 20-30 years on the possibility it may get used again.

The toys my MIL kept are my kids’ absolute favorite thing to play with. I’m so glad she has them and that my kids got the cool experience of playing with their dad’s toys. She kept LEGO, Lincoln Logs, and a few other things.

We plan to keep LEGO, Thomas, and all Star Wars.

My parents kept nothing my inlaws kept everything. My husband didn't have a lot of toys, but he has the FP school, barn, house. I think they saved every book my husband and sil owned. SIL doesn't have kids, so they gave us everything. My husband doesn't get rid of stuff, so we have so much. And I love buying the kids new stuff, so they didn't really use the old stuff. I wish he would just keep the books special to him growing up instead of all of it. I wish my parents didn't get rid of almost everything. A middle between the two grandparents would be perfect!

We saved all Fisher Price Little People and some Sweet Street. The big FP kitcehn, lawn mower, Barbies etc. I don't know if my daughters will get married/have kids, and I wish we didn't have to waste so much space on toy storage, haha! They are hoarders, haha! Once they buy a house, they get all of their stuff so we don't have to store it, haha! If they have kids, I want to buy the fun new stuff! And keep a few old things.

Lego, wooden Thomas track and trains, Sandra Boynton and Dr Suess books, Tommy the Telephone, small bag of Matchbox cars.

I wish I had kept more of the high end Melissa and Doug wooden puzzles.

ETA:  I was only thinking boy/neutral toys since we only have a 6 yo grandson.  We also have my 70's Mandy doll and all the clothes my mom sewed as well as my dd's American Girl dolls and accessories.

Legos, matchbox cars, Thomas Train sets, tinkertoys, lincoln logs, electric train. Erector set, various books.

Books mainly, rather than toys.

As a parent I kept very little. My own parents kept nothing and my grandparents kept very little. In fact in the case with both sets of grandparents there had been a "caboose baby" in the family. So the saved toys were mostly just because they still had a kid of their own when they started having grandkids.

For me it's a combo of taking space with it and knowing that every item I keep is an item I will need to keep an eye on for recalls in the future.

Even with my own kids we once had to send back multiple boxes of Thomas Wooden Railway buildings, trains, accessories to have them all replaced due to a recall on the paint. Because we were aware of it when it happened, we were able to receive replacements from the company. And that's not something I personally want to deal with going forward. My kids may ask me to hang on to some of their things for them, and I'm fine doing that, though.

What I did save instead was a very few absolute favorite books of each of my kids. I would have kept them whether or not I ever have any grandchildren, though.

My parents didn't keep anything. It wouldn't have mattered as they had girls, I had boys. Nothing I had save for a few GI Joes that were left behind when my mom baby sat would've interested two boys that were into hot wheels and Legos.

MIL kept the weirdest stuff. Now she has been either giving them to us or giving them to her boyfriend's grandkids. DH said something about wishing he kept his He-man toys in passing. A couple of years ago, she gifts him this big box of He Man toys she bought on eBay. He ended up donating the box last year. She's coming over later this week and is bringing stuff she's trying to off load. None of it is stuff we even want!

Right now, the only thing I'm keeping are the Legos. I've been trying to get rid of the hot wheels as my dad has thousands of them he has been collecting. At least those will be new in package vs the beat up ones that are sitting in the tote.

no grandkids yet but we've saved lincoln logs, duplo/primo (kids still have their Lego, lol), playmobil, wooden trains...

I have (original) Little People playsets displayed in my craft room - some were mine, some were secondhand finds over the years but my kids played with them and if grandkids come along, they'll have that opportunity as well.

My mum saved a couple of ny baby dolls and clothes - my kids played with them and they've been saved as well. I also have the doll high chair that was my mum's in the early 40s. I think DH saved all the 'fale' American Girl stuff - I wasn't going to as the girls never really got into it as much as some.

I am that grandma that seems to have kept everything. I kept legos,American girl dolls, baby dolls,Barbies(at least 50 I had 4 daughters), 13 cabbage patch dolls, strawberry shortcake dolls, the big little tykes doll house with all accessories, most of their books,some of their dresses that were made by my mother which my granddaughter has now worn,stuffed animals and I don't know what else. Everything I kept has been played with by my 2 grandchildren. As they are getting older now (8 and 10)I don't know if I will hold on to most of it or not.I am sure I will continue to keep a lot.

A HUGE Rubbermaid container of Legos! They are loved by our granddaughter (11) and grandson (7).

A Wooden Radio Flyer Wagon/Walker (a small version of a wagon with a handle on it to use as a walker).  We have now passed it onto another family and that grandchild is enjoying it too!

Classic books - some were so "well-loved" that they were falling apart and we got rid of those

Original American Girl Doll (Molly) from the 1980's - my DGD loved to play with her mother's doll and accessories along with her newer ones.

Surprisingly, DGS loves his uncle's Pokemon and Star Wars cards!

As the mom of the grandchild, I'm glad my folks kept my wooden blocks, rocking chair, trike, my first bike (w/ training wheels), and my favorite books - and that DMIL kept DH's matchbox cars. DD has enjoyed all those things and learned to ride on the same bike I did. My folks also kept a huge baby doll (wears 9mo clothes!) that DD never cared at all about - she just wasn't a doll kid. One thing that I was surprised they kept was our (shared with my brother) electronic Merlin game (like this: Merlin ). Even more surprising is that it was stored without batteries and still works! DD's not much interested in it, but it was pretty effective in conveying how NON-electronic our childhoods were compared to hers.

I will keep a lot. But I am a pediatric speech pathologist so I play with toys all the time and use a lot with my clients. But I'm keeping all the legos, magnatiles, calico critters and books. I keep those separate from my therapy toys but will keep a lot of those too. I'm on the fence about American Girls stuff. We have a a million things but don't know if we'll save it all.

We kept the barn my DH built for our kids along with the tactors and farm animals. The grands absolutely love playing with it. We also kept a Fisher Price pirate ship. DH just saw the other day that people are selling them for over $200. I asked if we could sell it and he said no. LOL!