Are you tired of the toy cluttering up and taking up the entire space in your home? Find tips on how to get started with toy rotation and a free printable toy rotation kit with tips, cheatsheet and checklists.
A few months back as I walked into my living room, I felt extremely overwhelmed after seeing my living room’s condition. Unknowingly, over the past three years, we have piled up an infinite number of toys for my daughter and lately that seems to be occupying most of our space in our living room. As I tried to navigate my way through these toys, I accidentally stepped over a pointed side of the toy and hurt myself badly.
To take matters in hand I decided to give toy rotation a try. The more I learned about this topic the more I got obsessed with it and realized how beneficial it could be for my daughter. As mentioned below in the post, I had followed these exact steps to get started with toy rotation and found that this technique of giving my daughter only a few toys to play with at a time, kept her engaged for long hours and the house felt more cleaner. But before we head into the post, make sure to grab your free toy rotation checklist to help you get started with toy rotation at your home.
Get your free toy rotation kit to get you started!
Benefits of Toy Rotation
Did you know that too many toys can be overwhelming for kids? Although it might feel overly tempting, to get more and varied variety of toys for your kids, the truth is that having too many toys in a room can frustrate as well as bore your child.
Also reinstated by Kim John Payne, co-author of the book Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids says, “As you decrease the number of your child’s toys and clutter, you increase their attention and their capacity for deep play.” Too many toys can be stressful for your child, overwhelm him whereas a small number of toys to play with at a time can feel exciting, help your child concentrate longer and also help him think more creatively.
Besides these there are a few more benefits of toy rotation:
- Your house will be more cleaner
- Your child will feel less bored as he will be excited to try out the new toys from the bin each time
- Toy rotation helps in decluttering of the toys that your kids have outgrown
- Also, it helps him concentrate better and spark his imagination
- Decreasing the number of toys your child has access to will increase her ability to play independently and creatively. As your child will be engrossed deeper into the play experience with the fewer remaining toys, he will be able to focus better
- Toy ration helps your child appreciate his toys more. As he is more deeply engaged in playing with his toys, it helps him appreciate the toys more that are in front of him
- Lastly, toy rotation for many moms has proved to help cut down siblings fight. With fewer toys to play with siblings learn to play together and independently. Whereas if there are too many toys cluttered around, then it gets difficult for the child to decide what to play with and he tries to go for the exact same toy that his sibling is playing with
Running out of ideas to keep your little ones engaged at home for long. Download this FREE 45 list of activities that you can do with your kids to keep them engaged for long.
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How to get started with toy rotation?
Toy rotation is simple and all you need is a good plan in place to get started with it. Below steps will guide you through the entire process and also feel free to download the free toy rotation kit that has tips and checklist to master your toy rotation strategy.
1. Collect all the toys in one room
This step might feel overwhelming but if possible it is best to collect all the toys in one room so that you know what and how many toys are you dealing with.
2. Clean up the toys
This steps usually includes three simple steps. Once you have all the toys together it is important to sort them in different categories.
- Collect: Gather the toys that your kids enjoy playing with
- Trash: Discard the broken or useless toys
- Donate: Make a pile of toys that your kids have outgrown
3. Divide the final toys into different categories
Once you have the final set of toys that your kids can play with, the next step is to divide them into different categories.
- Thinking toys: These toys help your child think and also helps in his cognitive development. These include puzzles, sorting cubes, lacing beads and etc.
- Pretending toys: These toys include independent playtime toys like a kitchen set, dollhouse, doctor kit, etc.
- Arts and crafts toys: These toys help spark your child’s imagination and help them get more creative. These include coloring books, paint, crayon, pencil colors etc.
- Building toys: These toys encourage fine motor skills. These include mega blocks, lincoln logs, lego, Magna tiles and etc.
- Musical toys: These toys encourage motor skills as well as improve hand-eye coordination These include xylophone, guitar or any of these.
- Outside playtime toys: These toys encourage physical development. These include scooter, cycle, balls, water mats etc.
4. Create 4-6 bins with toys of each categories
Create 4-6 highly engaging bins with at least 2-4 toys per category. Depending upon how often you would like to swap these bins, create that many boxes. You can use these clear stackable bins to create the sets.
While preparing these boxes, it is important to include toys from each category into the bin, so that your child will have a good variety of options to chose from.
5. Place the bin in the child’s play area so that it is visible to him
Chose a place to position your bin in your child’s play area so that it is easily visible to him and within his reach.
Your child might remember his old toys and ask for them, so make sure to have an excuse in your mind to tell him. You can say simple things like you are looking for those toys or that you will give that to him soon with his new toy friends. Silly excuses so that your child is satisfied and does not keep looking for them.
6. Feel free to make exceptions
If your child has a favourite then it’s all rite to keep that out from the bin and make it available to your child to play daily with.
7. Plan out a toy rotation schedule
How often you would like to rotate your toys depends entirely on you and the toy inventory.
- Daily: Parents of young children can opt to swap out their boxes daily. So in that case, it is important to create seven different bins for each day of the week
- Weekly: You can also opt to swap your boxes weekly by making larger bins and incorporating high-quality toys from each category
- Also there are bi-weekly or monthly swaps.
8. Hide the remaining bins
Finally, chose a spot in your home which is beyond your child’s reach to hide the remaining bins. It could be a closet which your child rarely opens, or hide them in a cardboard box in your basement or garage.
Make sure to grab your free toy rotation kit. This kit includes a step-by-step toy rotation guide, toy categories cheatsheet and an inventory log sheet to help you get started with toy rotation.
Other Toy Rotation ideas
9. Consider toy bin swap with other mom friends
Another great way of toy rotation is swapping your toy bins with another mom who has kids of the same age as your child. This can save you time and money and your child will be excited to find something new to play with.
10. Join a toy rental service
Just like an apparel rental service, Toy Library has a rental service for toys. They have toys for different activities like motor skill development, sensory play, speech development, social encouragement and etc, and include toys from known brands like Disney, Hot Wheels and many others.
Using this service you can create a personalized box of toys as per your child’s interest and rent it for some time and once your child is bored send the box back. Also, you have the option to buy the toys if your child absolutely loves it.
11. Create seasonal/ holiday toy bins
Holiday and seasonal toys have a tendency to clutter up at home a lot. You can think of creating seasonal or holiday boxes, with these toys, that can help teach your kid about the holidays or the new season.
12. Create a book display shelf
If you have too many books cluttering around in your home, then try organizing them on a bookshelf so that it is visible to your child. Also divide the books into different categories like picture books, arts and crafts books, Christmas books so that it is easier for your child to pick a book.
Toy rotation has definitely helped me save a lot of time that went into cleaning the house and has also helped me stay sane and not feel too overwhelmed with all the clutter lying around the home. And the best benefit of all is that It has successfully helped me keep my daughter engaged for long hours without her getting too bored.
Do you rotate your kids toys?
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