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Are there toys everywhere you look? Chances are that an over-abundance of toys is just as overwhelming for your child as it is for you. Joshua Becker gives a compelling argument about Why Fewer Toys Will Benefit Children. In my experience, fewer toys out means less to clean up and more focused and calm playing by my kids. I developed a toy rotating strategy when my eight year old twins were toddlers and used this system for years until their younger sister went off to kindergarten. Now I find myself restarting my system for my baby boy. Here is how I did it.
Step 1 –
Get 3 containers and divide all the toys into 3 groups, giving each grouping a good variety. Most of our toys come from consignment sales. Used toys are the best, because once they’ve been cleaned, most are good as new!
Step 2 –
Bring one bin out and use the bin itself as the toy chest, or distribute these toys into your decorative toy baskets.
Step 3 –
After a week, gather toys and give them a good cleaning. Place back in bin to store.
Step 4 –
Bring out the next bin and repeat.
When the toys come out, it is so exciting and magical to see the long lost toys. The kids play with the “new” toys so well! And during the week, it is so much easier to clean up fewer toys.
Easy enough, right?!
Keep bins tucked away in a closet, so they don’t get all mixed up.
This system is better for baby and better for mom! Win-win!
Don’t you love easy solutions that can make a big impact? Have you ever rotated your kids’ toys? Let me know if you try this system and how it works for you!
Happy playing!
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Dear Mary, this solution is so simple and yet so useful!. I will do it with my children’s toys and I know it will be a success. I’m a new suscriber from Bolivia and I’m loving your articles!!! Thanks a lot!!!
Great! This system works so well for us. I need things to be easy to cleanup with four kids! 🙂
Right now, we organize a little differently. I have bins organized by category (trains, cars, dramatic play, and educational). My kids are 4, 2, and 6 months. I tried leaving only one bin out at a time, but then they end up asking to play with stuff that’s put away. I try to keep the other bins closed while they are playing with one, but it doesn’t always work. It does help with teaching where things go. Still trying to figure out if it will work for us.
Mary, love this. Want to give it a try. A little scared that I will need 20 totes. Lol
Ha! Maybe set yourself a limit? 🙂 Good luck! Let me know how it goes!
Do you use this system with your older kids toys? My girls are 2 and 5…
I would with the 2 year old, but by 5, I’d hope they can start to learn how to clean after themselves a bit, so it isn’t so terrible to have a little more out.
I have a 3 year old boy, 20 month old little girl and 2 month old boy. Do you think j should mix their toys in a bin and bring out or get different totes? (Love this idea as I am drownding in toys)
I’d have a mix of toys in each bin that you are rotating. And remember, to declutter as you rotate!! That is when it is the easiest.
Ok me again…what age do you recommend doing this until and how do I decide what toys to get rid of or what toys to rotate…At age 3, 1 and infant they only play with a toy for a couple of minutes so it’s hard to know which ones to keep verses are just junk. I also have so many smaller toys that just seem like clutter. I’m leaning towards getting rid of smalls
Oh yes, sounds like you could get rid of 90% and be fine. I think you answered your own question – they only play with it for a minute. They don’t need a ton of toys that they only play with a minute. I remember reading that 10 toys was a great amount for small kids. I let that guide me a lot, though I never held myself to that exact number. Get rid of redundant things – like things that focus on color sorting. Maybe they only need one thing that focuses on that. 🙂 Don’t worry, you are not being mean getting rid of their toys, you are giving your children so much free space to build imaginations.
Yes, thank you. I could probably fill like 20 plastic bins to rotate,,,ugh,,,it’s overwhelming to me so I’m sure it’s overwhelming to them.
Exactly. Everyone will be happier with less.
With 2-3 years old, what toys would you always leave out, if any besides the big ones like toddler trampoline, train table and basketball goal. I️ could rotate the basketball goal and his little scooter car but I️ can’t move that table often. Right now it’s just him but I’m holding onto baby toys for the baby on the way. Also do you do this with books? Books in the bin too?
I leave out big stuff that is hard to rotate. If he stops playing with it, that’s when you may need to consider how to rotate those items if you wish … or just decide he’s done with it and declutter. My rotation is mostly things that can fit into bins. I’ve definitely rotated books and am still rotating them for my now 4-year-old. For my older girls, I don’t rotate anymore because they read and re-read and can keep their shelves looking nice.