admin Keeping toddlers entertained all day can be so hard and exhausting. Then I discovered toy rotation and it was a total game changer. I now preach it and recommend it to other mamas. There are so many benefits and it is relatively easy to do. There is also a lot of flexibility on how you want to rotate toys.
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The benefits of rotating toys are…
It will lead to more independent play and longer play time with toys.
Less overwhelm for children and for parents.
Keeps toys exciting and prevents boredom from setting in which increases engagement with toys.
Increases creative play and problem solving skills.
Easier clean up for the parents…yay!
Here is how we do toy rotation in our house
The first step is to get all the toys together and go through the toys to either keep or get rid of.
There is no reason to rotate toys that aren’t played with. I make a pile for toys that I want to keep that I know are played with and a pile to get rid of (these are either out grown toys or toys they hardly ever play with). If you are unsure, you can keep the toys and just watch for when you rotate what toys are played with.
Once all the toys are organized into keep and get rid of piles. You can now start to organize the toys.
You are going to want several bins—big and small. These will be the toys that will be stored for next rotation.
Small Bins We Used For Toy Rotation
Large Bins We Used For Toy Rotation
Next you are going to decide which toys to keep out and which toys will be put away.
When deciding which toys to leave out, I make sure I leave a few toys I know the boys play with often then I do a few toys that aren’t frequently played with.
The objective is to keep as few as toys out as possible and in an open format. You can categorized toys if you want. But I don’t have a theme. It’s random. I just make sure there are only a handful of toys out at once. However, I do have the arts and crafts—the crayon and coloring books, paints, kinetic sand, playdoh all in one bin.
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How often do I rotate?
For me, I rotate once a month. And I rotate out ALL the toys. And bring out completely new toys. However, if the boys start to not play with the toys that are out or act bored from the toys then I’ll grab one bin of new toys and fill the bin up with old toys.
You can do what works for you. If your children lose interest fast, then rotate every week or every two weeks. You will figure out what works for you and what doesn’t.
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Either way, you are going to love rotating the toys! It makes all the difference for child play. And also, who doesn’t love less toys to play with??
Feel free to ask questions below or comment if you have any ideas to add in regards to toy rotation!
