3 Benefits of Toy Rotation
Following a holiday season, many families may be wondering where exactly those new toys gifted to their child will fit into their existing collection. You may be (reasonably) tempted to just throw them into to the existing pile or toy box. However, this is the perfect opportunity to try toy rotation in your home!
Toy Rotation - What is it?
The name gives it away - rather than providing access to 100% of the toys, games, and books in your home all the time, you circulate what is out and available for your child to play with and store most toys away.
3 Benefits of Rotating Your Child's Toys
- Reduced clutter - it's simple math - the less you get out, the less you have to clean up! Limiting what you present also reduces the amount of toys you must clean up later.
- Improved attention span & creativity - toy rotation can help your child learn to do more with less. They may discover new ways to play, or play for longer periods of time with what they have rather than discarding what they have and moving on quickly (or dumping out the entire toy box!)
- More novelty - have you ever gotten excited finding a book or article of clothing you completely forgot about? The concept here is the same. Allowing children to revisit their toys weeks or months later will help the old toys feel new and exciting again.
How often do I need to rotate?
There are no hard and fast rules here! You can experiment with the length of time to determine what works best for your family. A general rule of thumb is to try rotating in at least 1 - 2 week spans.
Sounds Great - How Do I Get Started?
First, commit some time to assessing what you actually have. You can organize by object type, e.g., books, balls, puzzles, art. Next, grab some totes (or some Amazon boxes!) and sort. You can organize boxes by the type, or create "kits," with 1 - 2 kinds of each toy ready to pull out for your child from an out of reach closet or room.
Happy Rotating!
Sarah Larsen, M.S., CCC-SLP