I have a question though. Lovevery Playkit Subscription Review: Worth It? Thank you! Truly a win-win! This is great Kelly! We have a 10-year-old, 5-year-old, 3-year-old, and infant, so the baby always gets a few of his own toys in each toy rotation box. In my opinion, the earlier the better. That wasnt a good fit for us. Designate one box for each category: For the rest of your empty containers, youll be sorting toys based on how they support your childs growth and development. For example, suppose you have a toy rotation box that contains a jump rope (moving), puppets (pretending), a puzzle (thinking), and a xylophone (creating). She thought they should only be for dogs! I knew I needed to make a change. Its a zoo! What age to start doing toy rotation really depends on your situation. We rotate them about every other week. Or for a winter toy rotation box, you might include snowman-making supplies, snow shovels, or spare PVC pipe for making an indoor fort on frigid days. But try to resist that urge so you can be intentional and deliberate. One is more baby stuff that she's outgrown. Quick tip: For the best possible results, get my free printable toy rotation kit that includes a step-by-step guide, toy inventory log, and toy organization cheat sheet. We had PILES of them on the couch that'd slide over constantly. It keeps her interested in them, and gives me a break from reading the same stories to her! AFAA Group Exercise Certification Study Tips, The Best Blogging Tools To Save Time & Sanity, Our Favorite Toys + Our New Toy Rotation System + Lovevery Giveaway, FFFF #197 Thanksgiving Tableware, Shift, & Famjamas. For example, they can spend an hour or more building with Magna-Tiles and using animal figurines for pretend play Its an aquarium! At that point, I moved all the toys to shelves in that room, but the shelves were open and my daughter would always ask for the items in there. So if a Great Toy Purge wasnt the answer, how could we solve the problem of chronic toy clutter? At first, she asked for the bins quite often, so I'd just put them on my bed and open the lids. I love books and was an avid reader as a child. Babies dont even really play with toys until theyre older, right? If theyre not ready to let go, dont stress. Shoving a dollhouse into an under-the-bed plastic container aint gonna happen. We'll move the toys around the house often too. Daily toy rotation may be excessive. I don't stress about rotating toys every week or two perfectly. Why do they have to spread the mess around the whole house? document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); I appreciate how thorough this post is! I recently started toy rotation for my kids and love it! I think maybe the fact that someone else has the same issue and feels the same about it helps with the toy-induced tantrums you mentioned (that I totally have). Consider making a seasonal or holiday-specific toy rotation box or two, and then put those boxes in rotation when the time is right. So throw on your least sexy pair of lounge wear, get cozy, and let's make life a little less confusing! And I didnt especially feel like dealing with the cries of protest when I told the kids I was putting 75 percent of their toys away. Your goal will be to end up with several mini-collections of toys. Estimated time: 30 minutes-1 hour, but it will vary greatly depending on how many toys youre starting with. Instead, if you'd like to have montessori inspired toys, look for wooden objects that control for error, focus on a single skill, encourage open ended play, etc. ;). We did this in my family growing up, and it was great for us! When its play time, we get the bin out and Rory has her pick of toys! You are awesome for making this article. Required fields are marked *. More for your own sanity than any other reason though haa! The other is more random materials. So I keep 2-3 Lovevery toys in my night stand at all times (the plush mouse, the buckle pillow, the felt flowers, the mosaic button board, etc.). We also go to the library once every week or two weeks and get about 10 books. Your child seems clingy and is following you around all day be sure to rule out sickness or emotional upset as the cause before blaming the current toy rotation box, though. Here you'll find all my research for the best baby + toddler products, activities for kids, plus money tips + personal growth hacks to fill your own cup! When we feed Rory we grab a bib, burp cloth for the shoulder, and a rag to wipe-up any excess drool or spit-up. It's sort of like when our pediatrician said to move her nap time earlier in 15 min increments when we struggled with an early wake up period. Generally speaking, I'd limit between 5-12 items per area; with fewer toys out the younger the child is. But aside from that, the older kids play together well with the same toys. Again, this is where those free printable toy inventory sheets at the end of this post will be super useful. Start here . I love that this secret spot has lots of baby storage and you wouldnt even know it! What I've found is seeing the same item just in a new space can spark my toddler to engage with it after not touching it in a different room for a while. Essentially we asked our family to stick to our minimalist baby registry. Its a rescue ranch for fairy tale animals like the three little pigs! :-) My almost 11-year-old has told me she loves our toy library as she calls it. Just choose whatever feels right according to your parent's intuition! :) Thanks for sharing! Would you guys be interested in swapping a tea set for a musical toy or two?. Until what age do you think toy rotation is a good strategy? First, the step-by-step guide: Heres the inventory log that youll put inside your curated toy collection boxes: And heres the cheat sheet on the best way to organize toys into categories: What tips do you have for a successful toy rotation system? We also keep Rorys DockaTot and our Baby Bjorn carrier in here. Thanks for the nice article, The categories of toys to include is incredibly helpful. Oops. This is where having your kids in the room with you can be helpful. But its the experience of being engrossed in one toy that leads to real growth and development for your child. Each one is designed to help with your childs development and weve really enjoyed them. For instance, she was very obsessed with learning numbers a few months back, so I specifically set out a puzzle with wood numbers, her felt number book, counting cards, and a Connect 4 type toy she could use in montessori activities to bring numbers to life. Thank you! From there, I use mama's intuition to choose what toys to rotate out and in. Having stuff all over the place stresses me out. We also keep all of our toys in the console in a little organized bin. While toy rotation aligns with Dr. Maria Montessori's observations that children benefit from a decluttered space. The adults get a spot to relax at the end of the day, while Rory has a nice little play area in between nap times. Thanks!! Language (books to start, as children get older this could be alphabet puzzles or montessori language activities), Practical life (cleaning supplies, dressing boards, etc. What Is Montessori? Ah, I know that feeling well! Sell a bunch of toys as a lot on Craigslist, or hold a garage sale to find new homes for them. If your child is older than a toddler, youll likely want to talk to them up front about what youre about to do and why youre doing it. Now that Im in AZ, we have no basement and with three dirt bikes in the garage and two cars, and any other little bit of storage we need for decorations, theres no space left. We like things in their place and having a messy house gives us both anxiety. Even worse than that, I discovered that having too many toys was hurting my kids developmentally. And I didnt realize until after my failures that I was missing the big picture. It had to be possible for my kids to learn to pick up their toys after they were done without me nagging them or losing my temper. Technically, Dr. Montessori never identified or utilized toy rotation as part of her curriculum/educational methods. Swap toys with another family in your neighborhood or with a friend who has kids around your kids ages. Looking for something in particular? A small price to pay for an end to the overwhelming toy clutter on my living room floor! Yes, I recommend rotating books for toddlers and babies! And again, per Dr. Montessori's finding, repeated exposure to the same materials is helpful in developing concentration and creativity in kids. Thank you!! Is there an email i could reach out to for specific questions? Ha! But everything I tried failed. But if you get the feeling your child is just anxious to play with that toy now, you can do what feels right to you: swap the toy out with a similar toy in the current toy collection, swap the whole toy rotation box now, or tell your child to wait until the next day youll be rotating toys. Kids (especially the younger ones) do best when they can see everything to choose from. This is probably the messiest/most hodge podge of the bunch. She got pretty disinterested in them this way rather quickly. As for your currently featured toy collection, you can handle that a couple different ways: Depending on the frequency you chose in step 6, you may want to set yourself a reminder on your phone or whatever calendar you use so you dont forget to rotate the toys when the time comes. Visual clutter can also increase your levels of cortisol, a stress hormone. Its completely up to you, so check out the steps below and do what resonates with you. Check it out for yourself: Get Your Copy Now: Free Printable Toy Rotation Kit. Sign up to receive new blog posts and my exclusive monthly newsletter straight to your inbox. The toy rotation thing has been hard for us because we dont have anywhere for them to go. With four different kids at different developmental stages and with different tastes, preferences, and personalities, we had a healthy mix of toys. Now, it holds some bigger items that we like to have on hand. This is so genius and has worked so well for my family! When I found out I was pregnant with baby number 2, I decided to move my office to the guest room, and give baby the room I was working in (it was originally a nursery). Mommy, I cant find the Lincoln Logs! Currently, in the nursery I have some of the younger Lovevery toys like the object permanence box, the peg drop, and the slide top box. Playing with this is the only way she tolerates tummy time these days and I swear we can thank this toy for her rolling over! Then when the novelty of the new toy wears off, you just send it back. But since toy rotation is more of an at home concept, I think she'd approve but encourage families to leave materials out for a week or so. Currently, I leave anything out if she's touched it even for just 5 minutes in the last week. Hi Kelly, great article! The other spot where we have secret baby storage is in our ottoman behind the couch area. Your child may also go through an adjustment period, wondering where all their toys went. So instead of 10-12 toys in each toy collection, you might have 14-16. When rotating toys for my toddler, I try to just keep these in the back of my mind. Kick the kids outside to play and lock the room so the kids cant wreak havoc before your toy rotation system is up and running, then move onto the next step. I've also always cleaned up and sung the clean up song infront of R (literally since she was like 3 months old). Things have shifted and changed as weve come up with this system, but as of now, this is what has been working well for us and it hasnt been too difficult to maintain. To do this, it works best if you do it at the end of a toy rotation. I'm a mom of four, a Certified Parent Educator, and the author of Happy You, Happy Family. As a bonus for joining my weekly-ish newsletter, you can get a free printable toy inventory sheet at the end of this post (or with that link right there). Im Casey Finn, the voice behind The DIY Playbook. Done? Toy rotation has saved us time, money, and sanity! Dr. Montessori instead believed that frequent repetition with the same materials allowed the child to go deeper into the learning/lessons. That will depend on a lot of factors: how many toys youre starting with, how often you plan to rotate toys, whether your kids play with the same toys or are at wildly different stages, and so on. Before Rory, it was pretty empty! When I first came across the idea of toy rotation, I was skeptical. Thank you so much for the detailed process and description of how to move our toys into a toy rotation. That last one goes more smoothly if you can tell them the specific day and even show them on a calendar. If that sounds confusing, dont worry Ill step you through it! The key is to keep things decluttered and options limited. And the clincher for me? Playtime is a nightmare here! I discovered that the average 10-year-old owns 238 toys but plays with just 12 on a daily basis. Happy You, Happy Family does not provide medical advice. Curiouswhat do you do about toys in different rooms? As the holidays and my daughter's first birthday approached, since family hadn't really spent money on toys, I felt comfortable asking for some large ticket items that aligned with her development (gross motor skills) like a scooter, pikler triangle and a non-toxic play mat for under it.
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