For those of you that "rotate" toys

[Proud Mammy]

My Ds1 will be 2 on Friday. Xx.
We celebrated his birthday on this last wkend and from family's generosity, he now has (IMO) too many toys. I'm thinking that I'd like to start rotating his toys and just looking for ideas from you guys.

I'm wondering should I do something like this:
Day 1 , just have his duplo Legos out (he has multiple sets - farm, houses, construction site)
Day 2, have his wooden blocks out
Day 3, have his trucks, cars, garage out
Day 4, have his jigsaws, miscellaneous floor toys such as skittles, pegs and hammer, etc out
And then rotate back to Day 1 again?

OR, should I rotate them thru the day. Our normal  day is walk/ toddler groups/ story time at library/ park after breakfast, home, snack and play until 1:30/ 2:00 ish when he goes for his nap, lunch, play again until 6:00, when we have dinner and low-key until 7pm bedtime.
Should I have one set of toys out for his late-morning session and another for the afternoon session and use this as a way for rotation?

OR, should I just leave it as is and have all toys out and available to him at all times?

We don't have TV so that does not form part of his day. He loves books and I'll follow his lead in doing story time at some stage for him during the day (besides his bedtime stories), as he asks for it. He is very good at independent play and great and "creating" games - so it's not for want of "occupying" him that I want to do this ...it's more that I want him to get the most out of ALL of his toys.

Thanks for your thoughts.

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

I rotate toys...but more on a weekly or even monthly basis so they really forget about them. The most used stuff is out all the time - dolls, play food, puzzles, little people and the rest rotates - train set, board games, older style little people sets, some barbie stuff, a puppet theater.

Rotating daily just would not happen as I dont have the time!

[Hedgehog17]

I have DS's toys divided into 3. One set is out for 3 weeks, then I rotate to the next box of toys.

Each box contains a mixture, eg. 1 construction toy, 1 musical instrument, 1 or 2 puzzles, a selection of cars, a ball, a role play toy and something to encourage fine motor skills eg his cutting fruit (velcro).

I noted down how frequently he played with things which helped me to fine tune the rotations. We've been doing this for well over a year now and it really helps 

Like Heidi we have some toys out all the time (play kitchen, ride-on) as they are too big to put away and he uses them a lot  He also has access to art & craft materials at all times.

You should find that is plenty - they like having the same stuff for a week to 3 weeks then a change - toy rotation changeover day is always a lot of fun for him 

[cath~]

I rotate but not in a particularly organised or systematic way.

Every month (ish) I take away a few toys she's less interested in and replace with others that she hasn't had for a while. Sometimes L initiates this herself eg she asks for something that has been put away and so we get it and she chooses what she wants to put away in its place (sometimes a suggestion from me).

Her absolute favourite toys (eg tea set, dolls) don't get rotated at all cos she plays with them so much. She has a big arts and crafts box too which has a variety of stuff in it and that never gets put away.

[creations]

I rotate less often, monthly or less.  Like Cath said if DS wants something he will ask for swapsy, he chooses things that are out and asks to go to swap it.

Personally I would rotate daily or in the way you listed only because my DS would want/need the cars out along with the duplo so he could build a garage or a zoo and then drive the cars of visitors to it.  For that reason we have a lot of toys available at any one time (all in baskets/boxes, tidy and ordered) so he is able to play imaginatively. So we have blocks, animals, characters, food/kitchen, music, books and puzzles, train or crane, garage or fires station and car wash, a ride on.
Some toys are never rotated out such as the musical instruments, wooden letter blocks, fridge magnets, the kitchen is never rotated out but the food and utensils are split in 2 so half are out, books and jigsaws are rotated but there are always both available.

I think what you describe sounds a bit like an invitation to play - where you actually get the toys RIGHT out and position them on the floor or a little table etc.  I used to do this with DS but this year he started to get upset by it instead of excited by it so I stopped. But at one time he just loved it, he'd come down in the morning or from nap and discover a whole line of characters along the rug, or characters standing on letter blocks on his table, or animals half hiding on the book shelf, a chalk board with chalks and eraser on his little table etc etc. It would be extra exciting for him and kick start a whole session of play with those things. Now he would just walk int eh room and kick off that everything is in the wrong place or hasn't been put away 

[pinkladyangel]

Hi there i work in a playschool and i find that children of this age like variety. I would suggest putting a selection of things out then if they get bored swap around with other things. Treasure baskets are brilliant as they offer lots of different ways for you to interact with your child as well as letting them explore and play alone.

[creations]

Personally I would rotate daily or in the way you listed

oops typo there, I intended to say I "wouldn't" rotate in the way you listed (because he likes to mix it up).

Treasure baskets are great too, we have several but he only has one out at a time.  We call them busy boxes, they are full of all sorts of things, he's always loved a good rummage through.

[Proud Mammy]

Thanks ladies. Plenty of great ideas thereto help me. 

[goldmom]

Thanks for this post, DS is the same age and I'm also starting to think he has too many toys and doesn't play with a lot of them. Rotation would be a great idea. Thanks for all the suggestions!