Home scenes involving toys – whether they be wooden blocks, books, or stuffed animals – strewn all over the floor in every room in the house is not an uncommon sight in a house with younger children. If anything, it should give you some perspective as to how much stuff you’d accumulated without having even realised it! Thankfully, there is a way that not only allows you to minimise the hazardous clutter that accumulates, but to also ensure you’re constantly bored children find more to be entertained by. Toy rotation is one such way, and in this article, we take a look at how this simple approach yields such positive results.
Toys, toys everywhere
Although your house might always have some degree of clutter related to toys, but this problem is often exacerbated when your child or baby boy gifts. In many of these cases, new objects will often find their way onto your floor quickly and never leave – this is why toy rotation is so important. Toy rotation, as its name would suggest, involves the regular rotation of what toys your child has available to them. Although some may think that their child will get bored quickly, in this case less is more. Changing up what toys your child has access to actually reduces stress related to toy decision, as this can often lead to decision fatigue. With a few specific toys available to them a child is also much more likely to appreciate what they have – for instance, if they’re used to regularly receiving new toys, they never really explore the options they have in full. It’s only when they really explore something that they can develop an attachment, rather than treat it as a disposable object. This is how children find friends in their toys that they can remember for the rest of their lives!
How to create this environment
Toy rotation occurs through the designation of key spaces in your house. First, you must ensure your child plays with their toys in specific areas – this way objects won’t start to materialise in areas where they should not be. These can typically be the child’s bedroom or in a certain spot in the lounge, and in choosing places like this you’ll also have a much better idea of where your child is at any one time. Within these spaces it’s also important to introduce containers specific to these toys – a toy chest, for example. When there is a special home for toys, they are much more likely to return there at the end of the day, so it’s important that you reinforce this with your child. Toy chests aren’t probably high on the shopping lists of most parents, but you can use anything, especially when its something already in the room (such as shelves). Introducing this concept to your baby will ensure that they develop good habits related to their toys so that you won’t have to trip over them for the next few years.
Working out your own toy rotation
How you choose to implement toy rotation will be completely related to your circumstances. For example, the rotation schedule might be every week, every month or even the introduction of a steady increase over time. You might also consider factoring in specific toy categories into the rotation to provide your child with sufficient variety.
Related Posts
