Children in Stardew Valley are cute, but not all players are that fond of them. Maybe players decided they wanted a baby or two but realized they take up too much room, or maybe players just find them a little boring. Luckily, the Stardew Valley creator seemed to keep this in mind when allowing players to have babies since he also decided that players could choose to get rid of them, too - for a price, that is.
How - And Where - To Dismiss Children
For players to be able to dismiss their children, there are a few steps they must first take. They first must have access to the Witch's Hut inside the Witch's Swamp; this will only become accessible to the player once they've completed the Dark Talisman quest, which is requested by the Wizard, and once they've completed the Goblin Problem quest to get around the Witch's Henchman. These quests are only available after completing either the Community Centre or by funding Joja enough.
Once players have finally managed to gain access to the inside of the Witch's Hut, they'll be greeted by three spooky-looking shrines at the back of the hut. The shrine players will want to focus on is the one on the left, featuring a strange creature with glowing yellow eyes and two stone birds sitting atop it. This shrine is known as the 'Dark Shrine of Selfishness.' Now that players have found the correct shrine to dismiss their children, all they'll need is one of Stardew Valley's most difficult items to attain - a Prismatic Shard.
Where To Find A Prismatic Shard In Stardew Valley
Prismatic Shards can be found in multiple locations, but the most reliable of these locations is by mining in some of the most difficult mining locations Stardew Valley has to offer. Prismatic Shards are typically hiding in Mystic Stones between floors 100-120 in the regular mines and throughout dungeons like Skull Cavern and Volcano Dungeon, which is found in 1.5's Ginger Island. They can also be found through fishing or by slaying enemies, but the chance of finding any in this manner is much, much smaller than through mining.
Once players have finally gotten their hands on a Prismatic Shard, they should return to the aforementioned shrine in the Witch's Hut and offer the shard to the shrine. By offering the shard to the shrine, they will permanently remove their children from the game, turning them into doves and setting them free. Again, this is a permanent solution - the player cannot get their children back, though they can choose to have more children in the future if they so wish.
By dismissing children, players also unlock two secret events that are otherwise inaccessible. If the player owns a Telephone or if they watch television at the end of Fall right before Spirit's Eve, they'll receive scary, scrambled messages that may or may not be from the children they'd dismissed. As well as this, the game will remember the children that players may have previously dismissed... by making sure that the player is haunted by a possessed doll intent on harming the player every time they return to the Witch's Hut. If the player decides to dismiss more children, be prepared to fight to get to the Dark Shrine of Selfishness again!
Stardew Valley is currently available for Mobile, PC, PS4, PlayStation Vita, Switch, and Xbox One.