as i put together chase's play space, i knew i wanted to start rotating his toys. this post is a peak into my take on toy rotation, which is pretty simple. at any given moment, a big portion of chase's toys are hidden so that he only has access to some of them at a time.
then, when there's a need for something 'new' to spark curiosity, excitement and energy, 1 or more toys in 'active rotation' that have gotten 'stale' get swapped for something that was hidden. sometimes the 'something hidden' is a new toy altogether, such as a gift that we saved for later. and sometimes the toy is an older toy he's had all along. in either case, he's excited because they both feel new.
my approach
the first thing i did was remove toys that chase has outgrown. some of those will get passed on to others and some will get saved for the next little peanut. then i started to take inventory of what was left by grouping like toys with one another. puzzles got grouped with other puzzles, books with books, moving vehicles with moving vehicles, etc.
then, within each group i selected toys for active rotation. these were organized in chase's play space, accessible for him to play with. the rest were hidden. i only left out enough toys that would fit into the shelves and bins of his play area. it was important to me that the space did not looked cramped, that there was plenty of open space. for me, ample open space allows positive and creative energy to flow.
i left out a decent selection of puzzles, shape sorters, stacking toys, etc. at the moment, these are toys that i want chase to spend more time playing with. not all the time, just more than he was before we started toy rotation. i also left out toys that he plays with consistently - like his basketball hoop.
(this b-ball hoop gets the most play time so imagine it'll be a permanent fixture and won't be rotated out anytime soon)
rotation
rotating a new (or new again) toy every now and then adds a dimension of discovery to chase's day. it's always fulfilling to see him get reacquainted with an old toy or to become familiar with a new one. either way, i watch him tinker and figure things out. i'm analytical myself so i love to observe him in these moments.
i don't have a schedule, per se, of when i rotate. i really just pay close attention to chase's energy each day - as a whole or towards a specific toy. i rotate as i start to notice that he's gotten bored with certain toys or when his overall level of engagement with play in general seems off for extended periods.
what i've learned
i've realized that a big part of toy rotation is the excitement that accompanies that sense of newness. when toys aren't getting much action, my toy rotation more often involves presenting them in a different way. i move a toy he doesn't play with often to another area within his play space.
(toys that were on his tv stand a couple of weeks ago)
usually, if it's a toy that i would like him to play with more, i place it on the tv stand. he tends to gravitate towards this play surface so the toys on top always get tons of his attention. sometimes i pair an unloved toy with one he spends a lot of time with. i love that these little things allow me to guide his play while still allowing him to make the choice of what he plays with.
(pooh bear was getting a lot of play time a couple of weeks ago so each day i placed him next to another toy that i wanted him to play with more)
(i tend to leave some sort of puzzle on top of the tv stand [his play surface] where he gravitates the most. i move the puzzle pieces out of place so that it's already ready for play. as his skills have developed, the puzzle pieces have moved further away from their slots or have rotated more)
(when i rotated in this new stacking toy, i placed it on the tv stand to spotlight that a new toy had made it's way into his play space. chase was thrilled to see it as soon as he entered his play area)
some things i might try
he has such a short attention span at this age so i might try hiding all toys one day and only leaving out a variety of one type of toy/activity. so, for a day that i might want to designate for arts and crafts, i might only leave out things that support that type of activity (paper, crayons, fingerpaint, coloring pages, stamps, etc. or when i want to foster imagination, i might only leave out things that generate that type of play such as a stuffed animal, his toy kitchen, puppets, etc.
what i love so far
what i love most about toy rotation is how much more meaningful play has become. maybe it's just me reading into something more than what's actually there, but it feels like he's learning more. because there's less stuff to distract him he spends more thoughtful play with each toy. some other reasons i love the system...
- less clutter [can i get an amen?!]
- less things to manage
- it's easy for chase to see what he has, which makes it easy for him to make decisions about what he wants to play with
- chase learns to value what he has
- chase learns to take care of his possessions
i hope you found something here that sparked an idea for your method of play. be sure to share! i'd love to hear about it.
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