Do your kids have too many toys? -- study suggests fewer toys means more learning

Two-year-old Jack Morawski loves his toys -- and he has lots of them.  

His family's living room is lined with numerous shelves of toys and the extras that spill out onto the floor.

But when it comes to Jack's development, the latest research suggests less is more.

Researchers at the University of Toledo set out to find if the number of toys available to children had an impact on how they played.

"Parents say, 'My kids have all these toys, and yet they never play with them,'" said researcher Alexa Metz, Ph.D.

The scientists studied toddlers in a room stocked with either four toys or 16 toys.

"We videotaped all the play sessions, so from there, we were able to analyze them for incidences of play, duration of play, and then creativity of play," said researcher Carly Dauch.

The results? When given four toys, the children played with each toy longer and more creatively.

"In the 16 toy condition, we saw a lot of poking, lifting, carrying, looking and then with the four toy condition we saw much more pretending, imagining, role playing, so more deeper level," said Dauch.

So what does that mean for the packed playrooms in so many homes like Jack's?
The researchers are not saying you need to get rid of most of your child's toys or even stop buying new ones.  Instead, reconsider how you store them and present them -- to maximize the learning benefits.

"Anytime that a kiddo is sitting down to play, it might be a better idea to present just a couple of toys.  If the child lives in a situation where there's an overabundance of toys, and that happens, maybe putting some of them away for later," suggested Metz.

Making room for real growth, where it matters most.

"They can really engage deeply with those toys and explore them, and monitor that to when they're done with it, and you think they're not interested anymore, then maybe swap that toy for a different toy," said Dauch.