Hi friends! This has been a highly requested post for a while now and I am excited to finally pull it all together and share our toy rotation and organization system.
Why do we rotate toys & books?
We use a toy rotation system in our home for a few reasons. First and foremost, it keeps our kids interested in their toys because there is something “new” every week. Second, it allows our kids to play more independently because there isn’t too many toys to overwhelm them. Having too much clutter and mess can have the opposite effect. Too many toys = overstimulation. And third, it helps keep the mess manageable because everything that is out has a place.
I rotate toys in our main living area (where the kids spend the majority of their time) every Sunday night to have a fresh start on Mondays. I also rotate toys in their bedroom but I do that maybe every 1-2 months. It sounds like a lot of work (and at first ti can be) but once we got into a habit and routine of it, it was so much easier and now it is second nature to us. My husband and I both look forward to it because we know that Monday morning will be AWESOME for everyone.
Since so many of you are interested in this topic, I asked for your FAQs on Instagram. I am going to cover them below. I hope that this helps you figure out how to create your own system (they don’t have to be identical to ours) and inspires you to give this a try. I can’t recommend it enough!!
NOTE: This post contains affiliate links, which means that I’ll receive a commission if you purchase from this link. This will not change or increase the cost of your purchase. This extra income provides for my family and keeps The Friendly Fig running strong.
How often do you rotate toys?
We rotate toys on our main level every week on Sunday nights (after the kids are in bed) and rotate their bedroom toys once every 1-2 months. We rotate books once a month (sometimes more if I notice they are losing interest in them).
Where do you store extra toys that are not out?
This is probably the most frequent question I get. We are very fortunate to have a built-in closet system in our home in our on the ground level (we live in a tri-level). I store our toys in their with a child-safety lock on the outside. My daughters know that we store toys in there and sometimes my 3-year old will ask for something and I will grab it for her but other than that, they don’t mess with it much. We also have a play-room set-up on that level that we go into sometimes. I keep some of the extra toys out on those shelves, too. We still have safety gates up so my kids aren’t able to go down there unless I say we are but eventually when they can go up and down freely, I’ll probably have to rework our system a bit. Here’s a look at these spaces…
I know a lot of people do not have the luxury of extra space – we didn’t before we moved into this home! In our previous house, I stored extra toys in large plastic bins and kept them in our basement. It wasn’t the most ideal and took a little more effort so I only rotated toys back then once every 2-3 weeks. You can honestly make work whatever you feel works for you.
How do you rotate books?
The girls’ closet has a top shelf and I use that area to line up all their books. This way, it is right next to their bookshelf in their bedroom so it is easy to swap out. I fill their bookshelf with bedtime favorites and seasonal books sprinkled in. We also have a reading bin on the main level. I keep a few fun stories, board books, and non-fiction reads there. Books like I Spy, ABCs, animals & geography… educational books like that are fun for during the day vs. bedtime. I do keep mostly board books out on the main level currently or paperbacks that were on the cheap side because my youngest is 18-months and is still learning how to be gentle with them. I only rotate books once a month, but sometimes more. It depends on how my kids react to the selection.
Do you rotate plush toys?
YES. We have an overwhelming amount of plush. OMG. Too too many. I keep these in two large plastic bins and take out 8-10 plush tops (4-5 per child). We store their plush toys and blankets in our family room ottoman so they are out of sight.
When do you find time to rotate?
Once the kids are in bed on Sunday night, my husband and I spend about a half hour together on this. I start pulling everything into a pile that needs to be put away. My husband will carry everything downstairs for me while I start pulling the toys that will be coming out. He helps me take them upstairs and then I set them up/put away. It honestly goes by faster with his help! It was less about finding time for us than it is committing to this timeframe and making it a habit.
What if your kids complain about the selection?
Very rarely do my kids complain. Honestly, they don’t complain as much as sometimes ask “where is ____?” If that happens, I will go and find whatever it is she’s looking for and sometimes I will take something away that I notice they didn’t care about to balance it out. Or sometimes I don’t. No big deal.
How do you decide which toys to put out?
I try to stick with categories to make sure there is a good variety. The categories are usually: puzzles, stacking, real-life skills, building materials/blocks, dress-up/imaginary play, noise-makers, books, animal figurines, play house, cars, balls, gross motor skills (to encourage movement). I will at least have one toy out for each category, but sometimes more. For example, Willow really likes puzzles so I will keep 2-3 puzzles at the table for her. Sometimes I have two types of building materials out, too, because they get a lot of play.
Some examples of toys we have (and love) for the following categories:
Puzzles: peg puzzle, chunky puzzle, abc, numbers, and shapes puzzles, human body layer puzzle, season layered puzzle, two-piece puzzles, 12-piece puzzles, 24 piece puzzle, 48 piece puzzle, spelling puzzles, floor puzzle, letter puzzle
Stacking: cups, nesting boxes, ring stack, peg stack, rainbow
Real-life skills: lock/latch board, buckles, baby dolls/baby accessories
Building materials: natural wooden blocks, colorful wooden blocks, cardboard blocks, water blocks, mirror blocks, bristle blocks, duplo legos, magnatiles, lincoln logs
Dress-up/Imaginary play: princess dresses (our favorite are the nightgowns from target), play scarves, back-packs, cowgirl hats, pirate costume, bracelets, dress-up shoes, butterfly wings, doctor kit
Noise-makers: melissa & doug music set, echo microphones, drum, xylophone
Animal figures: we have a wide variety of animals from wild republic & terra battat, and also dinosaurs
Play houses/structures: green toys play house, green toys barn, little people car ramp
Cars: pull-back vehicles, princess cars, green toys cars, green toys trucks, bus, firetruck
Gross motor skill toys: slide, trampoline, tunnel, bowling, toss and grip, sit and spin
You can find a full list of our favorite toys HERE.
There are a few toys that have permanent homes on the main level because they get so much use day-in and day-out. We use a piece of furniture that matches our entertainment set to hold the things that stay out which is Little People & Little People furniture. I can’t tell you how much my kids love and play with these figurines. We also keep out our wooden rainbow and their kitchen set. In the picture below you would never know that the wooden piece was filled to the brim with toys. ;) You can also spy Willow’s puzzles on the table.
Which storage containers do you use?
I am not picky and will use just about anything. Here’s a picture of what our storage closet looks like so you can see just as mismatched it is. It isn’t perfect. And it doesn’t have to be! If you are someone who wants it to look nice, I would recommend clear plastic bins so you can see through them. For us, we just used whatever we had around the house and is has worked out.
Where is your cube system from?
This one in our daughters’ room is from IKEA.
What age can I start doing this?
Immediately! In the beginning, you may only have few toys so it doesn’t make sense to put any away but as soon as they start to accumulate or you notice there are too many toys per category, start rotating.
WHEW, this was a lengthy one but I really hope that it has been helpful. You can also see the main living area that we rotate toys in my stories on Instagram… I dedicated a tab to it! Thanks for reading. x
