Early last December I walked into my 3-year-old's playroom and surveyed the scene. Toys occupied every available space  -- a play kitchen, blocks, art paraphernalia, riding toys, piles of puzzles, stacks of games, baskets of small treasures. With no closet in the room, playthings were piled against walls, overflowing shelves, and stowed in every available nook and cranny.

I panicked. Samantha's stash had been bolstered by November birthday presents, and Christmas was right around the corner. Where would we put all the stuff that was earmarked for her in Santa's pack? I was facing toy overload at crisis proportions, wondering, even if I found a way to wedge it all in, was having so much stuff good for my child?

Experts agree that the too-many-toys syndrome isn't just about the aesthetics of domestic order. It can have negative effects on kids' developing psyches. For toddlers and preschoolers, an overload of playthings can be overwhelming and distracting. "They pick up one toy, drop it, and move on. They can't focus on using any of their things to the fullest," says Margaret Sheridan, Ph.D., chair of the human development department at Connecticut College, in New London. Toy overload can lead kids age 6 and older to think that everything is replaceable and nothing is valuable. They don't learn to appreciate their possessions or feel a responsibility to care for them, adds Shelley Lindauer, Ph.D., director of the Adele & Dale Young Child Development Laboratory at Utah State University, in Logan.

Fortunately, even if the critical mass seems very critical, there are simple steps you can take to both trim it down and prevent your child from winding up overstimulated or under-appreciative of what she has.

Katy Koontz, who lives in Tennessee, writes a column for Vacations magazine.

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