The Secret to a Clutter-Free Home: The Rotating Toys Technique

(Whilst keeping the children happy)

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Most parents have, at some point, found their children’s toys overwhelming. From appearing in every single room to being almost impossible to find, managing toys can be frustrating.

A good declutter can get rid of ones that are no longer used. (Keep an eye on the easyStorage blog for some hints on selling them on.) Adding more storage options like baskets, bins and boxes can help.

Birthdays and Christmas add toys back the moment you’ve decluttered and cleared, and younger children have a habit of claiming a toy as their ‘favourite ever’ the moment a parent decides to part with it.

Rotating toys is a sensible solution if done well. The system comes with a warning – be flexible and watch what’s happening. Some perfectionists insist on having very fixed rules, but adapted to the rhythm of your own family and your child, both parents and children win.

The basic principle is to only have certain toys out for a set period of time, and tuck the others firmly away. It may sound harsh when a child has hundreds of toys, but survey results published by the Daily Telegraph as long ago as 2010 revealed that the average 10 year old owns 238 toys but plays with just 12 daily, representing £7000-worth of toys, but just £330 played with regularly.

Is it cruel to take away their choice? A quick look at the underlying psychology/reasoning says that this can be beneficial to children, and it’s a method that even Montessori schools are known to use.

·         Too many choices can make a child feel overwhelmed;

·         Rotating keeps the toys that children have available to them fresh and interesting;

·         Cleaning up is easier resulting in less family frictions;

·         Children can make connections between certain categories of toys, providing a learning opportunity;

·         Clutter may create disorder and confusion in a baby’s mind;

·         Rotating can help a child to focus more clearly;

·         With less things to manage, it’s easier to teach children tidiness and how to put things away, introducing them to the idea of selecting toys from a shelf and then putting them back when finished;

·         You will quickly identify toys that your child doesn’t play with or has outgrown and be able to move them on;

·         The changes encourage more independent play;

·         More space in which to play;

·         Having less toys can encourage children to find new ways to play with old toys!

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Getting Started with Toy Rotation

First step is to gather all toys into one place so that you can see the size of the problem. Look under beds, in boxes, in cupboards, on top….  there will almost certainly be more than you realised. This is usually best done once the children are in bed! (You know your children best – some may react better to change if involved in the process.)

Once they’re all together, it’s a good time to declutter – throw out/recycle broken, unused toys unless they are favourites that need fixing. (Give yourself a time limit on the fix or your two year old may be graduating university by the time the ideal moment presents itself!) Out with puzzles and games with missing pieces, games that can no longer be used because they lack parts, and ‘throwaway’ toys from Happy Meals and party bags. (I’ll be honest, I kept the latter – my children used them.)

Set aside toys that your child has outgrown (or children!) for passing on or selling on. Put these away somewhere they can’t be seen/box them up or they will almost certainly be dragged out again by a child who has suddenly been reminded of their existence. Your aim is to manage the toy load, not to add to it.

Then comes the sorting out into groups, and this is where you know your children best. Some suggest sorting into type of toys:

·         Arts and crafts, Playdoh and plasticine, paints;

·         Books;

·         Building/making toys like Lego and modelling toys;

·         ‘Let’s pretend’ play like costumes, kitchen items, toy tools, dolls and dolls houses,

·         Puzzles and spatial awareness games;

·         Moving toys like cars, trains, planes;

·         Musical instruments;

·         Soft toys like stuffed animals.

Where you have huge amounts of the same kind of toy, it may be time to narrow down amounts, keeping only favourites.

The downside of these groupings is that you may be subjected to days of music creation or messy play. My personal preference was always to start with these categories and then put various things together in themes – maybe wild animals, pets, farms, cars, trains, tea parties, monsters, superheroes, science, emergency services etc. This means leaving out generic instruments for playing along to related songs, creative materials and Lego for making whatever your current theme is, to create your own etc. These don’t have to be out all of the time, just readily available for you to pull out when needed. However themed puzzles, books, specific toys can be brought out as appropriate – and in accordance to what you can cope with at any point in time, and the mood your child is in. Likewise you can hide away noisy or electronic toys in that grouping on days when you can’t cope as well as usual. (We all have those days!)

Experts at Montessori suggest that having eight to ten toys out is the optimum number, whilst other guides suggest anything between four and twenty, and the Telegraph survey mentioned above indicated that children play with 12. Don’t stress about numbers – it’s about quality of theme, not quantity.

Put the rotation toys that are in use on display or easy to access. You have automatically reduced the number of toys that are out, given your children something to look forward to on ‘swap over’ day, and created a learning opportunity.

Make exceptions, of course – if there is an absolute favourite they don’t want to be parted from, don’t separate it into the rotation ‘piles’. Leave it out and available.

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Toy Rotation Schedules

How often you choose to rotate the toys is depends on you and how well your child is reacting and how you like to live. Some parents choose a fixed schedule of days, weeks, months, others just base the rotation on what how their child is reacting. Being bored sometimes helps a child tap into their imagination. For other parents their child being entertained is a goal in itself.

There are no rights and wrongs, just what works for you and your family. You can make changes to the plan as you go. Change is a process.  It may not happen all at once, either – or be fixed. Favourite toys will naturally change as a child develops. It’s never too young to start, although older children may well need involvement in the change.

Switch toy sets when the children are out or asleep. Watching their things boxed up and removed may create friction/distress, whilst having a new lot of toys to play with when you wake up or come home can be really exciting.

Remember that for children with autism or learning difficulties, you may need to adapt the system more closely to their needs and avoid this being a huge ‘all at once’ change.(Others will love it because of the narrowed focus and simplicity.)

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Where to keep out-of-rotation toys

Wherever you store the out-of-rotation toys, make sure they’re well hidden, in boxes or bins, for example. Avoid clear plastic ones – they’ll serve as a reminder of what they don’t have at hand to play with -  and store ‘out of rotation’ toys somewhere that they can’t be reached.

Think attics, basements, garages or even self storage. (And we at easyStorage can always help with that!)