Play with Purpose: How A Simple Toy Rotation Can Boost Child Development

Toy Rotation...

The Best Idea Since,

Well, Ever!

It's pretty simple... swapping and changing out your children's toys for new ones. But we don't mean BRAND NEW toys, just the toys you already tucked away in the closet from the last birthday or holiday!

Basically, it's like making it Christmas every time because they forget about their old toys and suddenly want to play with "the new ones!" I am sure you have heard about toy rotation, but you have yet to actually do it. If your children are not sustaining play, not really playing with most of their toys, or getting into everything they shouldn’t, this topic will be just right for you! If you're not having these issues, then you are about to find out why you could still benefit from doing toy rotations. Children need new stimulation and challenges from toys, and when that runs out, it is usually when they lose interest and eventually stop playing with toys or are not able to sustain their play for long. Toy rotation supports creativity, reduces frustration and overwhelm, and can even improve behavior. Toy rotations take a lot less work than you may think, and the benefits are great for both you and your child!

Before you start, I would highly recommend doing a toy rotation when your children are not around. I usually do ours when my son is having his nap. The benefit is when they go to play with their toys, they are excited there are new ones, and they are not getting into all the toys while you are trying to sort and organize them. Children don’t need a ton of toys to keep them busy; really, they just need 3-5 groups of toys in small baskets for the toy shelf. If your child has too many toys out, it can become overwhelming and overstimulating for the child, especially when their toys are everywhere. If it is too cluttered and busy, your child won't feel encouraged to play, and when it's time to clean up, they most likely will have a hard time as there is too much. Think of it like when you walk into the kitchen to make dinner, only to realize the dishes need to be washed, and the dishwasher needs to be emptied. Suddenly, you are not so excited to make dinner anymore. That feeling is what they feel when they have a play area filled with toys everywhere.

I would typically recommend doing a toy rotation every 2 weeks or on a monthly basis, whichever best suits your family. When doing a toy rotation, you want to divide up all their toys into storage bins. Each time you do a toy rotation, you will put the toys that are out away and swap them for new toys from one of those bins. If there are toys they actively still play with, then consider leaving those out for another week. My son is always playing with his construction trucks and LEGO, so they have been on the shelf without being rotated for a long time, and that's okay! Picking toys that are within your child's interests will also help their play last longer. My son loves garbage trucks and trains, so he currently has a LEGO set of each, and it keeps him playing for a long time as they are of interest to him. The other factor to consider when changing toys is to pick the open-ended toys that allow for creativity. Toys such as Mr. Potato Head, LEGO, and blocks are all open-ended and provide the opportunity for a wide range of play and development to occur. The overall goal is to keep children playing. Why? Because it is through play that they learn and develop, also because you don’t really want them into your tools and makeup!

"Give children toys that are powered by their imagination not by batteries." - H. Jackson Brown

Toy rotation can be done in more areas than just the main toys. I would also recommend doing toy rotation with the books as well. Swap out the books in your child's book basket every now and again to keep their interest in reading and looking at pictures. I also do toy rotation with the fridge magnets; sometimes they are animal magnets, other times they are vehicle magnets, and sometimes magna tiles. If your child has an accessible art table, you could put new art materials for them to use, maybe some scrapbooking paper, a playdough bucket, stamps, or pastels instead of the typical white paper and crayons. I'm not saying these are not good, but I am saying it is good to mix it up and allow your child to discover new materials.

If you have way too many toys, art materials, or books and need to get rid of some, I highly recommend passing them down to cousins, friends, neighbouring kids, or donating them. Often, daycares will accept these items if you call ahead, or places like Goodwill or a consignment shop are always a go-to as well. Alright, go along now, give toy rotation a try; I promise it will benefit your child, your living space, and help reduce the mess!

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