How a Toy Rotation Saved My Sanity- and how to start one of your own!

Raise your hand if you have spent more than 10 minutes at the end of the day cleaning up after your kids? ✋
Raise your hand if you are over it and ready to make things more simple for yourself and benefit your kids? ✋
Let me introduce to you a game-changer: the toy rotation!

Flashback to about 7 months ago as I transitioned to staying home with my two boys. It was a few weeks after Christmas and I remember looking at our living room one day and there was an entire box of Picasso tiles dumped on the floor, a whole tote of Little People trucks and people kicked about the room, and another tote of random toys strewn about. This was the moment that things changed for us as a family. That evening I packed up most of the toys and put them out of reach/view of our curious toddler. This was the start of our toy rotation.

Our current shelf upstairs

Current downstairs shelf

What does a toy rotation involve? 
I try to pick out toys on a weekly basis that are on a shelf so the boys can grab them and play with them as they please. It is as simple as that! I have a choice which toys I am willing to pick up at the end of the day and the boys don't get overwhelmed with toy choices. We also have "special toys" that are in plastic containers that the kids can request to play with whenever they want, but the other toys must be picked up first and we will try to pick up these afterward too. These include Picasso Tiles, beans, water beads, and so on. We also started doing this with books as well. The boys are blessed with many books and LOVE storytime at least twice per day. But I spent almost as much time reading to them as picking up all of the books off the floor. So, we have some staples/favorites that are always out and then rotate a handful of others.


Do I have to be a minimalist to do a toy rotation?

The short answer is NO. We have accumulated many toys over the three years from finding out we were expecting until now. It seems that everyone has toys that they love to pass on or gift to kids. Our kids cherish these toys and gifts as much as the toys that we have picked out for them with longevity in mind. But, the more toys you have, the more storage you will need. As your kids play with toys, you can see their attention span and see if they are toys worth keeping. About a year ago, we started to be more intentional with toys for the boys. We now ask for or purchase toys that are open-ended. You may be wondering what an "open-ended toy" is, it is a toy that can be used in many different ways and is powered mainly by the child. These toys may include dolls, building blocks, animal figurines, cars, trains, and so on. We also prefer wooden toys to plastic for both aesthetic reasons and overall durability.
How many toys should I have out at a time?
I don't have a hard set number for toys/books out at a time. I try to have a puzzle/mental game, a precision task, an electronic noise-making toy, and then some open-ended toys. Keep in mind, only put out as many toys as YOU are willing to pick up at the end of the day (or multiple times per day). This made things like Picasso Tiles go to the "special shelf" where they can ask to play with it when they choose, but they will need to pick up other toys first (and hopefully pick up the tiles when they are finished).

How often should I rotate toys?

This is up to you and your kiddo! You can gauge their level of excitement with the toys, are they actively using them independently or with you? Do they seem bored with the toys? We often find that the light-up, noise-making toys are quickly discarded by Oliver, the toddler. Charlie gets a little more mileage out of them so we can usually keep them around for a few days for him. Overall, we probably rotate toys/books once per week.

A quick walkthrough out current shelves:

We have three kid's shelves in our house current: one upstairs in our living room, one downstairs in the family room, and one in the boy's bedroom. 

Our upstairs living room also has a train table in it, which probably gets the most attention. Our "special item" this week is music instruments so they are highest on the shelf and the boys need to ask to use them. Next to them is a puzzle item for Oliver (2.5), stacking shapes/colors. We have a mini guitar for music use anytime, a chunky puzzle for Charlie (11 months), a rattle ball and pull behind phone, a basket of construction toys, and a few small balls/cars and a little "peek a boo" box to put them in. Note the placement of items is dependent on which child they are for! Higher items are special or for Oliver, lower items are free for anyone (especially Charlie!).

Store puzzles "Undone"

Another note on storing items that are out, we prefer baskets/trays because they give us a place to put the toys back. Also, storing puzzles and similar items "undone" so that the kids can just grab and start playing encourages independence and initiative to play how they want! Most of our puzzles don't get put together correctly and that's okay! 

Our downstairs shelf is more open-ended. There is a little table in our basement for the boys as well as a Thomas the Tank play mat with train tracks/roads on it. On our self this week is Picasso tiles (the special item that they can request to play with), a Thomas basket full of different balls, a rolling cart of blocks plus a little cardboard with squares traced on it for stacking/sorting the blocks. A basket with soft baby toys, a drawer of various cars/trucks/etc, and a cardboard "parking garage" for the cars. 

These shelves don't always look beautiful and I still end up cleaning up at the end of every evening, but there are so many less things to pick up and everything has a place. We are working with Oliver on picking up for 10-15 minutes per evening as well, it's nice that everything has a home! Let me know if you give toy rotation a try and what it looks like for you!