As a parent, you know how easy it is for your children to accumulate toys. You’ve given them a few random surprises, then comes their birthday and Christmas, and all of a sudden, they’ve got more toys than they know what to do with.
Their toy boxes are overflowing and there’s animal noises coming from a tiny toy that’s in there somewhere. Sound familiar? It could be time for a toy spring clean.
Take control of clutter with a simple toy rotation system
While it’s tempting to just keep them all, especially if you’re expecting another child in the future, hoarding isn’t good for anyone. But we’re going to take you through a few ideas to help you overcome toy overload, without throwing too much away.
Teach through play, with a few toys
Start by dividing your toys into groups and allowing your children to access just one group at a time. This way, they’ll play with just a handful of items within reach (instead of unconsciously picking up a new toy every other minute). This way, you’re helping your children to appreciate what they pick up more.
Put all the value toys in one place. While creating a designated area for them to play, sort out the clutter toys with no value to your kids. Broken toys, puzzles missing pieces and Happy Meal ‘toys’.
Sort toys into groups, like ‘games and puzzles’, ‘arts and crafts’, ‘building blocks’, ‘costumes and pretend play’ and ‘books and charts.’ Once you’ve got them organised into groups, think about what your kids actually play with. Is there a toy they’ve never touched? Vinnies, Savers or give it away.
Choose several toys from each group and create three to six separate rotation sets. How does your child play? Encourage more creative use of toys and cross-play. If you pull out a superhero puzzle, pair it with his Spiderman costume. Or if one of the toys is a sit-on pony, are there other toys for her to fit with the pony theme?
Create a rotation schedule and it’ll be much easier to manage all those toys you don’t know what to do with. Design a learning-through-play system.
Oh, and with toys, it’s best to focus on quality, not quantity. At Baby Vegas, we only sell unique, well-made toys from brands that you can’t find in department stores. Our makers understand the importance of play in child development.
When searching for kid’s toys, shop consciously, with play-based learning in mind.
