To tell you the truth, I do not know why I have not tried this sooner because as an early childhood educator this is something I practiced in my classroom.  Therefore, I do have some prior experience with rotating toys but not in my home until recently.  I will tell you that it has made a world of difference with Lola’s willingness to stay & play in her playroom. (Because after all, that is the point of dedicating a whole room in your small house to toys, right?!)

It is a pretty simple concept but you just need to find some type of organization with your toys.  I found two categories of toys that worked for our house.

They are toys that she will use WITH me and toys that she can use WITHOUT me.

The toys she can use WITHOUT me I put into baskets.  These baskets were from the Dollar Store and I used them in my classroom.  Now that I am home, I can use them in the playroom.  I use larger manipulatives in these baskets and I rotate them every few weeks.  I am able to keep the other baskets in the basement because we have a ton of storage (or junk) space down there!  Others without as much storage space could throw them into a zip-lock and put them into a storage tub.  When you are ready to use them, you would just switch the basket with the zip-lock!  If you have space it is nice to have them all in baskets because #1 the baskets are cheap, #2 its easier & #3 its quicker!

The toys that she will preferably use WITH  me are in zip-lock baggies (classy, I know!) Another way you could organize those are in small tubs or baskets.  Zip-locks was the most space efficient for me because I actually keep these out of reach IN the playroom. These items I put in a large bowl & lay on her play table every morning for her to play with. I generally try to make time to work with her on these materials because they are a more structured activity. For example, pattern blocks or stringing beads!

I have found that taking toys away for even a week makes them much more exciting to play with when they make it back out again!  We have been working hard on self-directed-play lately and this really helps her.  If you are interested to learn more about self-directed-play check out this article!