Rotating Toys

Catherine, a Supermom of two, from Phoenix, Arizona, said:

Upon becoming a mother, I realized how fast the toys filled up the living room and made a mess in my house! When I let the kids reign over the toys, they scatter them everywhere and then move on to the next thing. Pretty soon I have a disaster on my hands.

I decided to start rotating toys to make things more manageable for all. I bought three big plastic bins and used them for our three toy boxes. I would put a variety of the kids toys in each. Two of the boxes would go on the shelf or be put in storage for a month, a week, a day… whatever I choose. And just one box would be put out to be opened for play.

I noticed quickly that this was a great idea. The kids actually paid more attention to what they were playing with and were always excited with the “new toys” brought out on the next rotation. It kept the mess at a minimum, and that made it more manageable and less overwhelming for the kids to help in the clean up.

I have since adapted this using baskets and separating toys into categories… but still not putting all of the toys in each basket out at once… the others go in ziplocks in a closet shelf and the rotation is the same. At the end of the day, both parent and child feel like we’ve played well and cleaned up well, stayed sane, and there is less stress and more energy for starting again tomorrow!

Thanks Catherine — I’m excited to implement this toy strategy!

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