the great toy rotation

I'm not sure where I first heard or read about the idea of rotating toys, but I am officially a BIG fan. The basic concept is to store some (or most) of your toys - so only a portion of your toy collection is available for play at any given time. Then, every so often, rotate what is "out" and what is "in storage".

I tend to rotate once every few weeks - during naps or after bedtime I gather up tons of the "out" toys and open up the big wooden trunk that holds everything else. I put the "out" toys "in" and choose some of the "in" toys to come "out". At any given time only about 2o or 30 percent of our toys are "out". [Toys, not books. All our books are out all the time.]

Can I just say that my kids LOVE THIS!!!!! Seriously, I rotated a few days ago and Lydia said, "thanks for all the new toys Mom!"

Of course they remember the toys from previous times of play - and occasionally they even ask for a specific toy that is currently "in storage". But I just say something like, "oh, we aren't playing with that toy right now, I put it away".

Some of our newest "out" toys include the baby bed and the sock monkeys.....


And the dollhouse! They were most excited to see this one!


It's so fun to do this! The girls get soooo excited to see toys come "out". And you know what? Two months ago when the doll house went "in" to storage, they hardly noticed - it had lost it's appeal. But now that it is "out", the dollhouse is once again the center of attention.

Of course, I have ulterior motives in all this too :) Toy rotation is an amazing way to reduce clutter! I just put away the toy kitchen and all the plastic "accessories" - and I am looking forward to a few months of not tripping over plastic watermelons or little pots and pans! In the meantime, I'll be busy looking for the pieces of the doll house - I've already been summoned for a "we can't find the big girl bed" emergency!