Toy Rotation: Creating New Playroom Fun
Wendy Smith
I have this dream that sometimes it works really well, and sometimes is a total fail. A couple of my friends do it pretty successfully though, they rotate toys on a regular basis. It makes a lot of sense, kids playing with the same toys over and over again get totally bored. Boredom is awful for parents. So, if you’re interested in trying some toy rotation to keep things new, we’ll go over the basics and some tips for getting a good plan.
- Create some space. Clear out a closet, invest in a sturdy bookshelf or cube organizer. You’re going to need somewhere to organize these rotation boxes and while you’re at it, grab some sturdy rotation boxes.
- Sort all the toys. Have your husband take the kiddos for a morning at the park, grab yourself a yummy snack and gather all the toys. All of them. Your goals: sort and minimize. This is a great time to get rid of all the duplicates, orphaned toys from play sets that are disbanded, and the junky ones that are on their last leg. Don’t be afraid to let it go.
- Sort like toys into boxes. Gather your arts and crafts, dress up toys, pretending toys, or whatever kinds of bins you can dream up from your current collection. I’d keep a notebook nearby during this process so you can take notes on what things you have way too many of, and what bins are a little sparse so you’ll know what to request for the next holiday.
- Pick a few toys that you’ll leave out all the time. My daughter’s kitchen stays out all the time, mostly because it’s too big to put in a bin, but also because she uses it almost daily. Her new doll house will also be one of those toys, because it doesn’t fit in a bin. I’m thinking about tucking those big toys into the spare room and switch those out on a monthly basis instead at some point.
Currently, I use a cube storage system, I’ve got a toy bin of our favorite fat brain toys, one with blocks and plastic dinosaurs because we’re into dinosaurs at our house. A musical box, and (full disclosure here) a couple of miscellaneous bins that really need cleaning out again. I also have a ton of books we also rotate on a regular basis to make sure mom and dad don’t get bored with those. Toy rotation helps my toddler stay entertained, which keeps us all sane!
Jenny Ditch lives in Illinois and works hard to maintain her sanity with her toddler.