I've been toying with the idea (yes, pun intended) of doing toy rotation with the kids' multitude of toys. I decided to join Pinterest. Shock, shock, I know! I'm always behind the times with new technology. For goodness sakes, Chad and I just got smart phones this past year. You know when your parents have better technology than you do, then it's time to upgrade. Anyway, I'm beginning to see how time consuming and addictive Pinterest can be. Maybe even more than Facebook; At least, when I begin to look up new recipes....that's my downfall. There were several ideas and inspirations for me related to toy rotation.
I wanted to have all of their toys separated in bins that we pull once a week. I may pulls bins sooner (every other day) or later (once a month) depending on how things play out. I made sure to have puzzles, noise-makers, and builders (legos/blocks) in each bin. All of their books, stuffed animals, and large toys (basketball hoop, kitchen set) remain out in their bedrooms. So far, the house seems much more picked-up and clean-up is a breeze, since I only have to worry about putting 10 toys away in a bin, rather than 30+ that are scattered all throughout the house :)
I felt that it needed to be done for two reasons: 1.) Luke gets bored easily. He also gets overwhelmed. For instance, if you have every toy at his disposal in a room, he will usually try to "play" (tackle) with me or just sucks his finger and looks aimlessly around. I think he gets overwhelmed without some kind of structure. 2.) I'm going to try my hand at "homeschooling" Meredith for pre-school this year. I wouldn't even call it homeschooling, but I couldn't think of another term for it. I'm going to try to do an hour or two of structured activities with her daily, similar to what she would do at pre-school. We will probably send her next year when she turns 4, so I thought this would be good practice. I have two different pre-school workbooks for her to work through, and we recently bought pencils (the big chunky ones for her to learn to write with), scissors, and lined paper. That along with the craft items we have should allow her to do a few structured activities a day. She is really excited about it and keeps asking when she can start "school". By having toy rotation, I think it will help to occupy Luke while Meredith and I work on some lessons. Plus, the puzzles and builders in each bin will allow Meredith to learn new skills and not get bored.
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| I found most of these bins at a garage sale this Spring, for $2-3 each. Can't beat that price! |
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| This is currently what the toys in our living room look like. Shoved down into a big bin. What a mess! |
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| Might as well put the kids to work on this project! Meredith was so excited to help me clean off the bins. I took full advantage of her help :) |
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| Next step: pull out all the toys, to make sure all the pieces are there and begin sorting into a few piles - noise-makers, anything with wheels, puzzles, and builders (legos/blocks). If you are missing pieces, look under the couch, dresser, and crib. Note to self: NEVER do this with kids present. It took at least three times as long, since they kept reminiscing over old toys. We still managed to finish the project over the course of a morning. |
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| Even though it took three times as long, it was priceless (and might I add super cute) when Luke decided to get into one of the empty toy bins. |
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| Happy boy! |
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| Process complete! After I put all the toys in their respective piles (I didn't take a picture of that since the kids kept pulling toys and I had to work fast!), I placed each in one of four bins. This was the fun part. |
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| I just need to add an outside label (from my OCD/nerd side) of what is in each bin, then it will be completely finished. I have enough room in Meredith's closet to store all of the bins, so I will just pull one out each Monday. We are on the go so much with activities, that I think once a week should work nicely. |
