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Toy rotation means putting some toys away and keeping some toys out and available for your child. It is a very simple concept, but one that is very much worth the small amount of time and effort required.
Let’s jump into a few reasons why toy rotation is great for your family and should be regularly used in your home.
1. Less Mess
The more toys you have available the more stuff there is to create a mess. Different toy sets can easily get mixed up. The entire room or house could quickly become a mess. When you use toy rotation you only have a portion of the toys your children own out and available.
I value a clean home and am sure you do too. Fewer toys mean less mess.
I find that toys should be sorted when put away. The more types and sets of toys that are out the more time you will spend sorting them to put them away. This can also make it more challenging for a young child to help clean-up.
Evening time with your family is short. Make clean up faster and easier by using toy rotation to keep fewer toys out and available at any given time.
2. Excitement & Attention Span
When you give toy rotation a try you will be amazed by your child’s reaction. When new toys come out they are thrilled to see them again. They had time to miss them or sort of forget about them. They see them and fall in love with them again.
It is similar to when you go on a playdate and your child is so excited to see the host’s toys. They go from item to item out of pure excitement.
The first day of toy rotation is so exciting. Your child will not need your attention at all. If you have a specific project or task that needs to get done in your home save it for a toy rotation day. This way your child will be occupied for you.
You may also find they have a longer attention span with the toys that are out. They are excited to play with them and want to relearn them.
Give toy rotation a try and see what it does for your child’s attention span those first few days.
3. Sparks Creativity
Toy rotation means there are fewer toys available. It can also mean different combinations of toys are available during different times.
For example, maybe during March, you have out Legos and dolls. Then in July, it ends up being Legos and farm animals.
Your child might build a house to play with the dolls and then later use the Legos to build a zoo for the animals.
Rotating the toys this way gave the Legos a new life and purpose. It sparked creativity in your child. You allowed them to see a different use for their toy.
By having fewer toys available you may also see your child playing with them longer. There is no reason to continuously bounce from thing to thing because they will burn through all their options quickly.
Toy rotation can result in creativity in many different ways.
Where to Store the Toys
There are many places to get started with toy rotation. I would suggest first deciding where and how much room you have to store toys. The space you have for storing toys will determine how you are able to rotate.
You could split your toys in half, just an even 50/50, and rotate back and forth. Do you have space to store 50% of your child’s toys?
Maybe you split the toys into 4 groups and only keep 1 group out and store 3 groups of toys.
Where can you store the toys?
Get creative and look around your home. You could use the basement, attic, garage, closets, and under-bed space.
You could purchase tubs and label them based on the groups like 1, 2, 3, or A, B, C. This will help you keep track of which tub to bring out next.
How to Get Started with Toy Rotation
Depending on how you think your child will react you can take different strategies to remove toys and get them into storage.
You could have a day where you do a huge overhaul and divide everything up all at once.
If you think it is traumatic to take away a large percentage of your child’s toys then do so slowly.
First, start by removing a few toys you never see them play with and know will not be missed. Then each night or so remove one more toy.
Next, you need to figure out your rotation system. How are you dividing the toys? 2 groups, 4 groups, do whatever works for you.
Another part of toy rotation is how frequently you plan to make the rotation. Will you do so every week or every month or something in-between? Something that plays a role in this is how much time your child or children are at home and how much time they are outside.
For example, if you do full-time daycare you maybe not need to rotate as frequently as a stay-at-home family. In the winter you may want to rotate more due to being inside more than during the summer months.
You may also rotate the toys based on your schedule and based on what you are observing from your child. Are they clearly getting bored with the toys? Does it feel like the right time to rotate? Maybe it is a rainy day and you have time available so that makes today a great day to rotate.
A final thought on toy rotation is whether or not you do it in front of your child. Some people choose to do it at night time or during nap time. I have done it the majority of times when my child is not around.
If they see you do the toy rotations reassure them that the toys are just taking a break. They will be back soon. They are not going away for good.
Keeping It Organized
Like I have previously said you can have tubs that you label and rotate. 1, 2, and 3. You could keep the same toy combinations in those tubs or you could mix them up. Maybe each quarter throughout the year you dump all tubs and mix them up.
Try to consider the types of toys. I probably would put a puzzle in each tub rather than placing all my puzzles in the same tub.
You can make it as simple or complex as you would like!
You can also try a certain method for a while and later change it up based on how your child responds.
Special Items
There are certain special items that your child dearly loves. We never rotate our daughter’s baby doll for example. Toy rotation is in no way supposed to be stressful or harmful to your child. It is ok if some items are always available for your child. Toy rotation is not about missing the items that are gone. It is about enjoying the fresh items that make an appearance.
If your child is struggling at all take a step back. Put more toys out and cut back on removing toys. This should be a happy experience.
Purge Unused Toys
Toy rotation is a great way to see which toys get the most love! When you take away items that don’t get a lot of attention and then put them back out you can see the response. If every time you put out the blocks and your child never seems to have missed them or seems interested maybe it is time to consider donating them.
Quick Recap to Toy Rotation
1. Find Storage Solution
2. Start Removing Toys Slowly or All at Once
3. Figure out Your Rotation System and Schedule
4. Purge Toys that need to go to Another Home
Conclusion
I hope you are now ready to give toy rotation a try. We have found it to come with great benefits for our home and lifestyle.
Let me know your thoughts on toy rotation and tell me how it works for you!
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