Alright I'm going crazy. We have a play room but now after the holiday's it's exploding into every other room of the house. I really want to do toy rotation, and always say I'm going to, but never do. How do you do it? I was thinking of buying a tote or two and putting toys in a closet or in the basement. How often do you rotate toys, and how do you choose which ones to rotate?
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We have a big tote and try to have out an assortment of toys, based on materials, what they do--development-wise, color, etc. We'll probably rotate every month or so? Whenever he seems like he's getting really bored with the stuff he's playing with.
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I am also curious how others do this!
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We have about four totes that go under her bed. Two long falter ones and two more square taller ones. At first I just packed up some toys I didn't want to see around. And then as she asked or wanted something new I pulled out the box out something new on her toy shelf but then moved a different toy back to the box. Some times I rotate one or two toys at a time and other times I replace a full set of toys.
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I have used bins, empty cabinets and baskets on shelving in the basement (I am a nanny so I have done this for lots of families). In general the way I get started with pulling items is I pull about half of the accessories from things like play kitchens, doll things, train tables, etc.-- anything with lots of pieces but you don't need all of them at once. I leave the basics and then I will rotate through the extras every few weeks (so I leave the pots, plates and cups but swap out the pizza sets, the cupcake sets, tea sets etc.)
I also pull things that aren't developmentally right for the time-- some things seem to hit multiple ages/stages; for example, a clock with puzzle pieces gets used as a puzzle, for shapes and numbers and the later for telling time so it isn't always out. Often these are put away a bit longer and I stash items like this together.
The next category is all the other stuff-- I try to take things that used to be favorites but have fallen out of favor or things that have somehow wound up at the bottom of the toy bin so to speak. I put these items away for a few weeks and then bring them back out again. I usually take one (if any) "classic" item away at a time-- blocks, legos, doll house, balls etc. but all the rest of these items are always out.
Seasonal and holiday items are stashed together and brought out in a timely manner. This includes books, coloring books, child friendly decorations, stuffed animals, toys, items for sensory play (at Halloween we do a rice box with insects and other creepy items etc.).
I swap every 4-6 weeks and rearrange the play spaces about 4 times a year and it really helps keep things fresh. In general here I am referring to toddler age and up, with babies I just swap what toys are in which baskets and move books around, I don't really put much away since they tend not to have as much. I do a big clean out every year right in late spring and after Thanksgiving and we get rid of stuff that is no longer applicable.
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