Learn everything you need to know about the practice of toy rotation. We guide you through what it is, why it works, and how to implement it.
Learn everything you need to know about the practice of toy rotation. We guide you through what it is, why it works, and how to implement it.
Want a Montessori playroom but aren't sure where to begin? Here are the 6 toys to keep on your playroom shelves every week.
Toy rotation categories - how to sort your toys into bins by category to cut toy clutter and stop over stimulation so kids play longer!
Read these organizing ideas for the kids’ toys, school supplies, etc. to keep them in order as well as to make them look aesthetically pleasing.
A busy mom's guide to ridiculously easy toy rotation: ditch toy clutter and watch your kids play better without a complicated system for you to manage.
I know I can’t be the only one who has ever felt overwhelmed by their children’s toys, right? Well, the truth is, if you feel overwhelmed by your children’s toys, then they do too. In this blog post, I’m sharing how to implement a simple toy rotation system to change the game for you and your li
A busy mom's guide to ridiculously easy toy rotation: ditch toy clutter and watch your kids play better without a complicated system for you to manage.
Y’ALL. Can I just say that I am THAT person? The one who can’t shut up about things she loves and just wants to share it with the world, including but not limited to random strangers in the grocery line. Toy rotation is one of “those things” that I just cannot stop sharing! It truly has changed th
If you rotate toys then there is a major dilemma that you have to solve, what is your toy storage solution going to be?!
Boost your child's development with a Montessori-based toy rotation system! Understand why, when, and how often to rotate toys in your home.
If you’ve just started practicing Montessori then you might have heard about Montessori toy rotation. Learn the do's and don'ts of toy rotating.
See the full post on Lemon8
If you’ve just started practicing Montessori then you might have heard about Montessori toy rotation. Learn the do's and don'ts of toy rotating.
Want a Montessori playroom but aren't sure where to begin? Here are the 6 toys to keep on your playroom shelves every week.
Montessori toy rotation helps encourage more creative and imaginative play. Looking for some toddler toy rotation inspiration? These toy rotation themes will will inspire you to rotate the toys out in a fun way for you and your child!
If you’ve been following for a while, you’ll know that I’m a big fan of toy rotation. Not only does it help to remove the overwhelming toy clutter from your home, it encourages independent, creative play too! I could talk about the benefits all day! However, one of the most common road blocks people face […]
Toy rotation categories - how to sort your toys into bins by category to cut toy clutter and stop over stimulation so kids play longer!
Overwhelmed by toy clutter? Struggling to declutter toys? How to organize toys with a simple toy rotation system to create a calm space
Y’ALL. Can I just say that I am THAT person? The one who can’t shut up about things she loves and just wants to share it with the world, including but not limited to random strangers in the grocery line. Toy rotation is one of “those things” that I just cannot stop sharing! It truly has changed th
Check out the NEW updated version of my immensely popular easy toy rotation system! It's sure to save you hours of cleanup, and maybe even change your life!
From rainbow-themed activities to educational art projects, changing the play theme can bring in stimulating experiences for your kids.
From rainbow-themed activities to educational art projects, changing the play theme can bring in stimulating experiences for your kids.
We're sharing our toy inventory, including our 12 toy categories, where we store toys in our apartment, and how we select toys for our wishlist.
....whether toy rotation is worth it? Read our Toy Rotation Guide to find out benefits and tips on how to implement a system in your home.
While I’m a pretty rubbish cleaner, I do like my house to be tidy and organised. Young children’s toys can make this somewhat challenging! Children in the UK have a huge number of toys these days and mine are no different. I’ve found that a toy rotation system helped me keep toys organised, as well
Check out the NEW updated version of my immensely popular easy toy rotation system! It's sure to save you hours of cleanup, and maybe even change your life!
Montessori toy rotation helps encourage more creative and imaginative play. Looking for some toddler toy rotation inspiration? These toy rotation themes will will inspire you to rotate the toys out in a fun way for you and your child!
Y’ALL. Can I just say that I am THAT person? The one who can’t shut up about things she loves and just wants to share it with the world, including but not limited to random strangers in the grocery line. Toy rotation is one of “those things” that I just cannot stop sharing! It truly has changed th
There’s no room or space I love more in my home than my playroom. It brings us all✨ J-O-Y! ✨ So I’m going to send out some tips about making your play space work for you. .
Learn everything you need to know about the practice of toy rotation. We guide you through what it is, why it works, and how to implement it.
So have you been wanting to start toy rotation but don’t know where to begin? Start by reading this blog post and over the next few weeks I’ll be adding a few more parts to follow including how we set out our playroom and how our journey of play began. Toy rotation was always something that I wanted to do with my own children after working in Childcare as a Lead Educator for 10 years. I always wanted to implement it in my room at work but it was a long daycare centre and although Montessori was known about there wasn’t too much of the philosophy implemented. Before I fell pregnant with Big Sis and stayed at home to look after my girls I had thought about doing formal Montessori Training but dreams change and here I am running Little Toy Tribe and it’s safe to say I LOVE IT! I love sharing my knowledge and inspiring parents, carers, grandparents and other educators at home or at work to be more present with their children and more engaged in play together. You don’t need to be formerly educated to read and educate yourself on things you are passionate about. The more you read the more you learn and the more you can grow and adapt what you are doing in your home or workplace. I felt that everyday at work was the same. The same cars on the same mat in the same room… I would re arrange the room but that’s about it. So the reason I started toy rotation may not have even been about Big Sis when she was little, it was about me being mentally stimulated. Being at home with one child was very different to a whole classroom of children and it was not an easy adjustment for me. To tell you the truth I really struggled after the birth of both of my kids after hard pregnancies and deliveries but through my doctor I seeked help. No, they didn’t prescribe toy rotation - but I found it really helped! I found joy through rotating toys and finding new ways to stimulate them (and me) to take my mind off what I may have been feeling. I personally believe the more we enjoy the toys that we provide our children the more likely we are to sit down and play with our children, which is mutually beneficial. Benefits of Toy Rotation Toy rotation improves concentration and helps to develop a child’s focus, creating a longer attention span. Less is more and toy rotation helps avoid clutter. You’ll also find that your children will be engaged in more meaningful and focused play. An example is how many times can you build up a stack of blocks before it get boring? Children then need to use their imagination to come up with a new way to use them. In our home blocks turn into food in the kitchen, a road for our cars or fences for animals among many, many more ideas. It also fosters creativity as they need to find new ways to use the same toys when they start to get bored. Don’t worry - boredom is good for them, it helps build their imagination and creative skills. No matter how messy it gets in our playspace it can all be packed away in less than 5 minutes but even better than all those things is the benefits it has on their independent play. So have a think about it… What do your children do when they get bored? How could you help them get through their boredom? Mine usually start to chase each other around the house and jump on the bed BUT it can be solved by a simple question such as “can you build a tower using only the blue blocks?” A question this specific leads to intrigue and quite often they want to know if they can and want to show me! When they begun playing after I asked them this question Big Sis (3) started by building a tower of blue blocks but then changed to making a bath tub and putting a doll in there to wash clean. At the same time Little Miss (19m) built many towers as high as she could and begun kicking them down with her feet when it was high enough. They played for well over 30 minutes from that one simple question and I sat back watching. They didn’t want me to join in but they did want me to watch but this isn’t always the case sometimes there is time for a cup of tea. Toy rotation also helps to increase the life of a toy no matter whether it is open ended or not. Taking it away and bringing it back every few weeks or a month later over and over again means it is kept and enjoyed for longer as every time it comes out it feels new to them. A Tidy Environment We like to live very minimally in all aspects of our home and Dion and I are both on the same page when it comes to clutter (thank goodness). I don’t know about you but my anxiety is at an all time high when things aren’t organised and I find it really helps clear my mind knowing everything has and is in its place. It’s the first step of me feeling calm and relaxed in my home when it is tidy. A tidy environment for children is also beneficial as they won’t be as overwhelmed by the choice of too many toys and know how to help you pack up. Having less toys means it is easier for them to remember where it came from. We have done toy rotation since Big Sis was around 6 months old and so the girls are very used to helping pack away and they enjoy it - most of the time! Big Sis often won’t leave the house until everything is back in its place and it is usually only one thing she will spot like a Nin under the couch but she says “wait Mummy” and runs to put it away before closing the door behind her. Where to store toys out of rotation The next question I get asked the most from people that want to start toy rotation is where to keep the toys that aren’t out on the shelf. I have found that storing our toys that aren’t in rotation away from the playspace and out of reach means the children don’t ask what’s not out as it’s not accessible to them and therefore not on their mind. However if they do ask for something specific I will ask them to choose one activity to take away and replace it with on the shelf rather than adding it and becoming cluttered. If you struggle with space get creative! I keep our rainbow rice in a box under our bed as our house does’t have a lot of storage but the rest of the toys are in a small wardrobe downstairs. Also do a big cull and keep only what you need and use and find different ways to use the same toys over and over - open ended resources are the best!
The goal is to toy rotation every 1-2 weeks or as you notice your child losing interest. The 5 minutes it takes me to rotate toys out, yields so much more independent play for my kids. It’s always worth it!
Rotating toys daily sounds like a lot of work. Here's how we've set up a system with minimal effort and maximum fun for our toddler.
Kids are amazing, but also, gross! How to reclaim your home from messy kids in just 10 mins. The simplest toy rotation method is to…
It did not take us long to see how much toy rotation benefited our daughters. Here are the few positive changes we saw once we implemented the process: More i
So have you been wanting to start toy rotation but don’t know where to begin? Start by reading this blog post and over the next few weeks I’ll be adding a few more parts to follow including how we set out our playroom and how our journey of play began. Toy rotation was always something that I wanted to do with my own children after working in Childcare as a Lead Educator for 10 years. I always wanted to implement it in my room at work but it was a long daycare centre and although Montessori was known about there wasn’t too much of the philosophy implemented. Before I fell pregnant with Big Sis and stayed at home to look after my girls I had thought about doing formal Montessori Training but dreams change and here I am running Little Toy Tribe and it’s safe to say I LOVE IT! I love sharing my knowledge and inspiring parents, carers, grandparents and other educators at home or at work to be more present with their children and more engaged in play together. You don’t need to be formerly educated to read and educate yourself on things you are passionate about. The more you read the more you learn and the more you can grow and adapt what you are doing in your home or workplace. I felt that everyday at work was the same. The same cars on the same mat in the same room… I would re arrange the room but that’s about it. So the reason I started toy rotation may not have even been about Big Sis when she was little, it was about me being mentally stimulated. Being at home with one child was very different to a whole classroom of children and it was not an easy adjustment for me. To tell you the truth I really struggled after the birth of both of my kids after hard pregnancies and deliveries but through my doctor I seeked help. No, they didn’t prescribe toy rotation - but I found it really helped! I found joy through rotating toys and finding new ways to stimulate them (and me) to take my mind off what I may have been feeling. I personally believe the more we enjoy the toys that we provide our children the more likely we are to sit down and play with our children, which is mutually beneficial. Benefits of Toy Rotation Toy rotation improves concentration and helps to develop a child’s focus, creating a longer attention span. Less is more and toy rotation helps avoid clutter. You’ll also find that your children will be engaged in more meaningful and focused play. An example is how many times can you build up a stack of blocks before it get boring? Children then need to use their imagination to come up with a new way to use them. In our home blocks turn into food in the kitchen, a road for our cars or fences for animals among many, many more ideas. It also fosters creativity as they need to find new ways to use the same toys when they start to get bored. Don’t worry - boredom is good for them, it helps build their imagination and creative skills. No matter how messy it gets in our playspace it can all be packed away in less than 5 minutes but even better than all those things is the benefits it has on their independent play. So have a think about it… What do your children do when they get bored? How could you help them get through their boredom? Mine usually start to chase each other around the house and jump on the bed BUT it can be solved by a simple question such as “can you build a tower using only the blue blocks?” A question this specific leads to intrigue and quite often they want to know if they can and want to show me! When they begun playing after I asked them this question Big Sis (3) started by building a tower of blue blocks but then changed to making a bath tub and putting a doll in there to wash clean. At the same time Little Miss (19m) built many towers as high as she could and begun kicking them down with her feet when it was high enough. They played for well over 30 minutes from that one simple question and I sat back watching. They didn’t want me to join in but they did want me to watch but this isn’t always the case sometimes there is time for a cup of tea. Toy rotation also helps to increase the life of a toy no matter whether it is open ended or not. Taking it away and bringing it back every few weeks or a month later over and over again means it is kept and enjoyed for longer as every time it comes out it feels new to them. A Tidy Environment We like to live very minimally in all aspects of our home and Dion and I are both on the same page when it comes to clutter (thank goodness). I don’t know about you but my anxiety is at an all time high when things aren’t organised and I find it really helps clear my mind knowing everything has and is in its place. It’s the first step of me feeling calm and relaxed in my home when it is tidy. A tidy environment for children is also beneficial as they won’t be as overwhelmed by the choice of too many toys and know how to help you pack up. Having less toys means it is easier for them to remember where it came from. We have done toy rotation since Big Sis was around 6 months old and so the girls are very used to helping pack away and they enjoy it - most of the time! Big Sis often won’t leave the house until everything is back in its place and it is usually only one thing she will spot like a Nin under the couch but she says “wait Mummy” and runs to put it away before closing the door behind her. Where to store toys out of rotation The next question I get asked the most from people that want to start toy rotation is where to keep the toys that aren’t out on the shelf. I have found that storing our toys that aren’t in rotation away from the playspace and out of reach means the children don’t ask what’s not out as it’s not accessible to them and therefore not on their mind. However if they do ask for something specific I will ask them to choose one activity to take away and replace it with on the shelf rather than adding it and becoming cluttered. If you struggle with space get creative! I keep our rainbow rice in a box under our bed as our house does’t have a lot of storage but the rest of the toys are in a small wardrobe downstairs. Also do a big cull and keep only what you need and use and find different ways to use the same toys over and over - open ended resources are the best!
Toy rotation benefits include more creativity, imaginative play and increased attention span. This week's toy rotation was all about FUN WITH FOOD! See what food and baking themed items we included in this weeks rotation.
From rainbow-themed activities to educational art projects, changing the play theme can bring in stimulating experiences for your kids.
There are several benefits and reasons to start a toy rotation. I personally aspire to be a very organized person. I am not unorganized, but I am not one of those perfectly organized and clean house with color-coordinated binders and labeled everything kind of mom…
While I’m a pretty rubbish cleaner, I do like my house to be tidy and organised. Young children’s toys can make this somewhat challenging! Children in the UK have a huge number of toys these days and mine are no different. I’ve found that a toy rotation system helped me keep toys organised, as well
Overwhelmed by toy clutter? Struggling to declutter toys? How to organize toys with a simple toy rotation system to create a calm space
Learn everything you need to know about the practice of toy rotation. We guide you through what it is, why it works, and how to implement it.
