Rotating materials at intervals determined by children's interests along with varying material according to skills needed will enrich play and the learning environment.
To rotate items on your shelf:
As a good practice don't switch all toys if possible, kids feel compelled to take each new toy off the shelf and play with it a short while before moving on to the next one. Switching only a few toys each week also allows the children an opportunity to remember where the new toys go back to on the shelf and also engage for long enough to master skills.
I also rotate toys such as:
Using these items as part of a structured play rotation during the week ensures engagement and also balanced approach to learning content. It is also ideal to rotate craft activities, art and sensory activities. These activities keeps children active as it brings the creativity in them.
Find storage space in your home
Group all toys that you do not plan to display on the shelf into categories and then store in labeled the boxes or bins so that everyone can clearly see where everything is. For example; Get boxes labeled blocks, stuffed animals, language development, math, self care, baby stacking toys, cars & trucks, airport set, dolls, dress up clothes, puzzles, games, farm set, doll house set, castle set, finger puppets. Place the toys in the appropriate box. Store in a place that your child can't access, but make sure these boxes/bins are easy for you to pull out and access.
Find alternative or extra storage space
Everyone will wishes to have space for storage but not all of us have the luxury of a storage room in our basements to store extra toys or learning materials. As a solution to this problem, store items out of sight in decorative boxes or furniture that has a storing feature ie. ottomans, cedar chests, benches. The most important thing is to have items 'out of rotation' in places above kid reaching level or out of sight.
Finally, I will leave you with some words of caution. Don’t let the kids into the storage room to choose a toy or to take them out. If your child is anything like mine everything will eventually be on your shelf and that is not what we want. :-)
To rotate items on your shelf:
- Decide on rotating schedule of either once a week, bi-weekly or even monthly depending on how often your child has access to the shelves.
- Switch out the activities for another of the same type.
- Activities that aren’t in use must be categorized and stored. I store ours on a labeled shelf and also in bins in a closet. This makes it easy to just switch them out without any sorting or hassle.
As a good practice don't switch all toys if possible, kids feel compelled to take each new toy off the shelf and play with it a short while before moving on to the next one. Switching only a few toys each week also allows the children an opportunity to remember where the new toys go back to on the shelf and also engage for long enough to master skills.
I also rotate toys such as:
- Legos /Duplos
- Matchbox cars
- musical instruments
- blocks
- different types of dress up clothes
- stuffed animals
- Kitchen items
- Dolls
Using these items as part of a structured play rotation during the week ensures engagement and also balanced approach to learning content. It is also ideal to rotate craft activities, art and sensory activities. These activities keeps children active as it brings the creativity in them.
Find storage space in your home
Group all toys that you do not plan to display on the shelf into categories and then store in labeled the boxes or bins so that everyone can clearly see where everything is. For example; Get boxes labeled blocks, stuffed animals, language development, math, self care, baby stacking toys, cars & trucks, airport set, dolls, dress up clothes, puzzles, games, farm set, doll house set, castle set, finger puppets. Place the toys in the appropriate box. Store in a place that your child can't access, but make sure these boxes/bins are easy for you to pull out and access.
Find alternative or extra storage space
Everyone will wishes to have space for storage but not all of us have the luxury of a storage room in our basements to store extra toys or learning materials. As a solution to this problem, store items out of sight in decorative boxes or furniture that has a storing feature ie. ottomans, cedar chests, benches. The most important thing is to have items 'out of rotation' in places above kid reaching level or out of sight.
Finally, I will leave you with some words of caution. Don’t let the kids into the storage room to choose a toy or to take them out. If your child is anything like mine everything will eventually be on your shelf and that is not what we want. :-)
