As our son grows older, watching the way he plays has captured my imagination. Now at the age of 18 months, it’s the perfect time to implement our toy rotation! But how do you do a toy rotation?
What is a toy rotation?
Well, it’s basically a fancy term for changing the toys around to keep a child engaged. I’d never heard of the term until the mighty world of Instagram threw the phrase my way, and with that some wonderful inspiration.
It’s a simple system to keep your little one interested and minimise the number of toys that get left behind at playtime. We all know what happens when a piece of clothing is sat at the back of the wardrobe, you don’t appreciate it’s beauty until someone else brings it to the forefront. It’s exactly the same here.
Why would you do this?
Considering we have spent minimal money investing in toys, we have them in an abundance. From family hand me downs, generous birthday gifts and those items he’s selected in a supermarket and point blank will not leave without, his playroom often resembles a toy store.
But this means he creates chaos every time he plays, and the usual suspects come out on a daily basis.
We’ve also started to notice an increase in overwhelming behaviour. Throwing things, becoming frustrated and showcasing a very short attention span. The theory, is that having less choice helps them to focus and enjoy a deeper level of play for longer periods of time. They become more creative and take their time to play.
If it means less temper tantrums- Bring. It. On.
How I’ve set up our toy rotation
You’ve probably noticed that most people use the Kallax system from Ikea to display and store their toys, and I’m going to be a sheep and follow suit. If it ain’t broke, don’t change it. But all you really need is a way to make toys accessible for them to play.
This unit is in his playroom, and I’m keeping the toys out of rotation in our spare room, organised into types of toy. I’ll be displaying a toy in each of the top boxes and storing another toy in these cute bags from H&M, in the boxes below.
What toys go into a rotation?
There’s really no rules.
I’ve decided to allocate my rotation into themes or product type to make it a little easier. For example, I have a box of puzzles, family games such as skittles and musical instruments.
I plan to always have out-
- A puzzle or jigsaw
- A shape sorter
- A real life toy- such as his tea set or tool kit
- An animal themed item
- A vehicle
- A pull along ‘pet’
- Something with balls (he’s obsessed with throwing balls and playing catch with his dad)
Plus he’ll also have a few cuddly toys and a range of books to choose from. I’ve also decided to rotate his Duplo sets and Megablocks.
This is all based on the toys our son likes to play with and what he already has plenty of, I certainly wouldn’t be buying anything unnecessarily.
I’ve also organised items into ‘themes’ for special play activities for say Easter, or to create a trip to the farm on his tuff tray.
How often should you rotate the toys?
At this moment in time, I’m not too sure. Most bloggers I follow tend to do either fortnightly, monthly or 6 weekly. Most don’t fully remove and rotate toys either, just gently introduce new ones, one by one.
Verdict- Has it worked?
So, we are a few days into our first rotation, and so far so good! We’ve watched much less tv, had less tantrums and it’s kept us both more engaged and eager to play!
His reaction when we walked into the playroom was priceless, and that alone should spur me on when the time for change comes!
Will you be trying toy rotations? I’d fully recommend reading the following blogs The Hearty Home and Amy jane and Baby and watching the following IGTV video from Mothercould. I’ve found them all super helpful!
I’d love to hear how you get on, so please drop me a message if you take the plunge! Contact Me – Flicks and Red Lips
Sian x
Thinking of trying it out? Save the above image as a reminder!
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