Have you ever noticed that your children play more independently in a space that is clean and well organized? Or maybe you have found that after you spend hours cleaning and organizing a space then the children all of a sudden find that space interesting again and in a short time it looks like that same tornado went through. This is because when a space is tidy, things are put away in their rightful spot, and you can clearly see what is available it is easier for children to make independent choices. And when they can make independent choices they are more likely to play independently. I believe that the key to this type of space is Toy Rotation.
Somehow toys accumulate SO stinking fast! They are everywhere: bedrooms, closets, toy room, bathroom, car, laundry room, kitchen floor. I get it.
What we are going to do first is determine what handful of toys we are going to keep out and available at this moment. Maybe it’s 4 to 6 toys per child. Get them involved! Have them choose their most favorite toys to play with right now. Make this a big deal and get excited! Then wait for after bedtime or maybe send them off to grandma’s for some fun. Now it’s time to gather up ALL the toys. Yep, all of it. Every. Single. One. Throw them in totes, garbage bags, a pile in a room that the children don’t spend time in. Whatever will work. There is nothing tidy or organized about this part. If you end up with a gigantic pile wondering how it is even possible that you accumulated all this stuff, you are doing it exactly right! How do you feel about this pile? It might feel a little overwhelming. You might think, ‘what the heck did I get myself into?’ It’s ok, we got this!
Now we are going to organized this pile. Gather up boxes, totes, baskets, bags, whatever you can find and label them with these categories:
- Wooden Blocks
- Cars, Planes, Boats, Tractors, Trains
- Puzzles, stackers, and Nesting
- Dolls and stuffed animals
- Figurines
- Building Toys
- battery operated toys
You can get fancy with totes and label makers or you can simply use garbage bags and a sharpie. You may not have all of these or maybe you change a few up to match what your family has. Do whatever works best for YOU! Don’t forget a “Toss” and “Donate” pile (these are my favorite kinds of piles HAHA).
Put on some good music and go to town.
Make sure to keep out the 5-6 things per child that was previously chosen for your first rotation and store the rest. Maybe you store them on the top shelf of a closet, the garage, a storage room, or a spare bedroom. It doesn’t really matter where, as long as it’s out of sight. This part feels really good because you start getting an idea what it feels like to not be swimming in a sea of toys.
Then you need to determine a “home” for each toy or activity. This could be a low shelf, the heart of a fireplace, the bottom shelf of a coffee table, or even well organized against the wall on the floor. But each item needs to have a place where it consistently “lives.”
You’re almost done! Now that you have your space set up, it’s time to donate or sell the remaining items that didn’t make the cut! Some items may have been a bit pricier and are still in good condition; these are the items that may be worth the effort of selling. You can also try donating to local places instead of the typical Goodwill (not that there is anything wrong with Goodwill). And you’re done!
When is it time to rotate new materials? This kind of depends and you can do it however you would like. You could do something like rotations on the first and third Sunday of the month. Or you could be more like me and wait until you notice that your children are not using something very often or something is consistently being misused and then decide that it’s time to switch things up. Some things may only last a week while others may last eight weeks!
Congratulations! You did it! I encourage you to observe what kind of a difference this type of environment brings to your children. Enjoy!
